Huskers Look to Rebound vs. Southern on Tuesday

GAME 12: VS. SOUTHERN Date: Tuesday, Dec. 20 Time: 7:05 p.m. Arena: Pinnacle Bank Arena Tickets: Huskers.com/Tickets NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS 2016-17 Record: 5-6 Head coach: Tim Miles Record at Nebraska: 68-73 (5th year) Career Record: 351-293 (22nd year) SOUTHERN JAGUARS 2016-17 Record: 4-7 Head coach: Roman Banks Record at Southern: 103-74 (6th year) Career Record: Same PROMOTIONS Pregame: Herbie Claus will be in the lobby for photos beginning 50 minutes prior to tip. Halftime: World Famous Beale Street Flippers BROADCAST INFO Television: None Online: BTN Plus and BTN2Go (subscription required) Radio: IMG Husker Sports Radio Network, including KLIN (1400 AM) in Lincoln, KXSP (590 AM) in Omaha and KRVN (880 AM) in Lexington. Play-by-play: Kent Pavelka Expert Analysis: Matt Davison Also available online at Huskers.com, on the Huskers App and on TuneIn Radio and the TuneIn Radio App.

OPENING NUMBER
4 - Ed Morrow has four games with at least 10 rebounds following his 18-rebound effort against Gardner-Webb. Morrow is also tied for the Big Ten lead in offensive rebounding at 3.8 per contest.

Huskers Look to Bounce Back vs. Southern Tuesday Evening

Nebraska gets a quick opportunity to bounce back from Sunday's loss, as the Huskers return to the court Tuesday evening to take on Southern University in the final non-conference matchup of the season.

Tipoff between the Huskers and Jaguars is set for 7:05 p.m. and tickets for Tuesday's game are available by visiting Huskers.com/Tickets or calling the NU Athletics Ticket Office at 800-8-BIGRED during business hours. In addition, any remaining tickets, including student section holiday break tickets, will be available for sale at Pinnacle Bank Arena 90 minutes before tipoff.

Fans can listen to Tuesday's game and all of the action throughout the 2016-17 season on the Husker Sports Network with Kent Pavelka and Matt Davison on the call, including on Huskers.com and the Huskers app. The broadcast starts 60 minutes before tipoff and a complete list of HSN affiliates is on page 5 of the release.

While Tuesday's game is not televised, it is available online at BTN Plus and on the BTN2Go app on mobile devises. A subscription is required.

The Huskers (5-6) look to rebound from a disappointing 70-62 loss to Gardner-Webb Sunday afternoon. Nebraska shot just 39 percent from the field and went 15-of-26 from the foul line, well below the team's .783 percentage entering the contest. The Bulldogs were also opportunistic, converting 20 Husker turnovers into 21 points.

The loss squandered a strong performance from sophomore Ed Morrow Jr. who set personal bests in both rebounds (18) and blocked shots (four) in 28 minutes of action. Morrow's 18 boards were not only the most by a Husker since 2007, but the second-highest total in the Big Ten this season. The 6-foot-7 forward is currently fourth in the conference in rebounding at 8.9 per game while also averaging 10.5 points per game on 57 percent shooting.

If the Huskers are to snap a three-game losing streak, NU will have to top an experienced Southern squad which returned a trio of starters from a team that won 22 games and reached the NCAA Tournament. The Jaguars are 4-7 this season and are coming off a 75-74 overtime loss at UAB on Sunday when UAB's Chris Cokley tipped a rebound at the buzzer for the win. Trelun Banks led Southern with 20 points, including four 3-pointers.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
.196 - Nebraska's 3-point shooting over the last three games, as the Huskers are 9-of-46 from long range.

.786 - Despite an uncharacteristic 15-of-26 effort from the foul line on Sunday, the Huskers are still shooting .786 from the line at Pinnacle Bank Arena this season.

11.2 - Rebounds per game by Ed Morrow Jr. over the last five contests, including nearly five offensive boards per game. In that stretch, he is also chipping in 9.2 points and 1.8 blocks per contest.

12 - Consecutive games in double figures for Tai Webster, dating back to last year's Big Ten Tournament. It triples the previous long stretch of his career.

7 - Nebraska's seven points off turnovers matched its lowest total of the season (also vs. Sacramento State) and only the third time in the last 20 games dating back to last season that NU failed to have at least 10 points off turnovers.

SCOUTING SOUTHERN
Sixth-year coach Roman Banks has built the Jaguars into one of the top programs in the SWAC during his tenure at the Baton Rouge, La., school. In the last four years, the Jaguars have made two NCAA appearances, making trips in 2013 and 2016. Last year, the Jaguars went 22-13 and won the SWAC postseason tournament before falling to Holy Cross in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

This year, the Jaguars are 4-7 on the season while playing seven road games. Last week, the Jaguars lost to No. 4 Baylor before taking UAB to the wire and losing 75-74 in overtime on a tip-in at the buzzer. Southern returns three starters from its NCAA Tournament team and is an experienced club with five juniors and seniors in the starting lineup. Senior Shawn Phudhomme leads Southern in scoring at 17.5 points per game, including a 24-point effort at Baylor and a 26-point, 11-rebound effort vs. Sam Houston State. Junior forward Jared Sam is at 13.1 points and a team-high 7.2 rebounds per game and also had a season-high 24 point effort in the loss at Baylor.

SERIES HISTORY
Tuesday's meeting is only the second matchup between the two programs and the first since a 66-55 Husker win on Nov. 11, 2012, at the Devaney Center. Brandon Ubel had 21 points and 12 rebounds to pace three Huskers in double figures. Dylan Talley added 17 while Ray Gallegos chipped in 16, making a winner of Nebraska Coach Tim Miles in his Husker debut.

LAST TIME OUT
Nebraska’s struggles from the offensive end proved costly, as the Huskers fell to Gardner-Webb, 70-62, at Pinnacle Bank Arena Sunday afternoon.

The Huskers (5-6) shot just 39 percent from the field, including 3-of-17 from 3-point range, and just 15-of-26 from the line after entering the game 13th in the nation in free throw percentage.

Tyrell Nelson led all scorers with 24 points and nine rebounds for the visitors. His 3-pointer with 12:57 left gave the Bulldogs (7-5) the lead for good at 45-43, as Gardner-Webb used a 5-0 spurt to seize the lead for good.

Nelson also came up big after the Huskers whittled a seven-point deficit to 58-55 with 5:16 left, as he came up with a pair of baskets to stretch the lead back to 62-55 with 3:59 left.
The Huskers would make one last run as a Glynn Watson Jr. 3-pointer and a pair of Tai Webster free throws made it a two-point game, at 62-60, with 2:21 left, but NU was unable to get any closer than three points in the final two minutes.

Webster led NU with 17 points, five rebounds and four assists, but had seven of the Huskers’ season-high 20 turnovers. Watson, who came off the bench, finished with 14 points and three assists. Ed Morrow Jr. led NU with 18 rebounds – the most by a Husker since the 2006-07 season, along with four blocked shots and nine points.
David Efianayi added 11 points for the winners, who shot 48 percent in the second half and went 12-of-17 from the charity stripe in the final 20 minutes.

YOUTH IS SERVED
With seven freshmen and sophomores in the Huskers' current 10-man rotation, it is not surprising that most of the scoring and minutes have come from the underclassmen. Through the first 11 games, 66 percent of NU's minutes and 64 percent of the Huskers' points have come from the freshmen and sophomore classes.

TAI'S TAKING OVER
Last season, Tai Webster was one of the most improved players in the Big Ten, and the 6-foot-4 guard has taken another leap as a senior. Webster comes into the week fifth in the Big Ten in scoring at 17.6 points per game and also chipping in 5.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.2 steals per game.

• Webster is the only Big Ten player - and one of 16 players nationally - averaging at least 17 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.
  Since 1993-94, only 10 Big Ten players have finished the season at those thresholds, a list which includes Jalen Rose, Evan Turner, Denzel Valentine, D'Angelo Russell and Michael Finley among others.
• Webster's 17.6 points per game is on pace to be the highest by a Husker senior since Eric Piatkowski in 1994.
• Webster cracked NU's top-60 scoring list against Creighton on Dec. 7, and has quickly climbed into a tie for 51st place with 782 points. Webster needs nine points to tie Ray Gallegos for 50th place (791).
• He has been exceptional against NU's best foes, as he is averaging 20.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 2.0 steals per game in NU's three games against ranked opponents this season.
• He is the only Husker to score double figures in each of NU's 11 contests in 2016-17 and has been in double figures in 13 of his last 14 games dating back to the 2016 Big Ten Tournament (the other game was a nine-point effort in the win over Wisconsin).
• Webster had his fifth 20-point game of the season, a 22-point, five-assist effort, at No. 3 Kansas on Dec. 10. He has five 20-point games (also Sacramento State, Virginia Tech, Louisiana Tech and Creighton) this season after reaching that mark twice in his first three years, including a career-high 23 points against both Virginia Tech and Louisiana Tech.
• He turned in a strong performance at the Wooden Legacy, averaging 19.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists in three games. Webster had 19 points, seven rebounds and seven assists vs. No. 14 UCLA and had 23 points and eight rebounds against Virginia Tech.

As a junior, Webster put together one of the largest one-season scoring jumps by a Husker in recent years during the 2015-16 season. He improved his scoring average from 3.9 ppg to 10.1 ppg from his sophomore to junior campaigns, marking the largest one-season jump by a Husker in nine seasons. Webster reached double figures 16 times in 2015-16 after accomplishing the feat just seven times in his first two seasons and closed the year by averaging 14.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game at the Big Ten Tournament.

WATSON IS POINT OF IT ALL
Glynn Watson Jr. has continued his emergence as one of the best young guards in the Big Ten. The 6-foot sophomore enters the Southern game averaging 12.5 points, 2.8 assists and a Big Ten-best 1.9 steals per game. Watson comes from a basketball family, as his older brother Demetri McCamey was a first-team All-Big Ten performer at Illinois, but has quickly made his own name at Nebraska.

• Watson is second on the team in scoring and assists and ranks among the conference leaders in scoring (22th) and steals (first).
• Came off the bench on Sunday and had 14 points and three assists against Gardner-Webb.
• Has already posted four 20-point games after not scoring more than 17 points in any game as a freshman.
• Paced NU with 20 points, matched his career high with six rebounds and added four steals and four assists at Clemson.
• He played well at the Wooden Legacy, averaging 16.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.3 steals and 3.0 assists per game.
• Established a career high with 27 points on 10-of-18 shooting against No. 14 UCLA, scoring 21 of his 27 points in the second half as Nebraska rallied back and cut a 15-point deficit to two.
• Keyed NU's win over Dayton with 20 points, a career-high five steals and three assists while hitting a pair of game-winning free throws with 8.8 seconds left when the Huskers trailed 78-77.
• He opened the season with a then-career-high 23 points along with six assists and five rebounds in NU's win over Sacramento State on Nov. 13.
• Prior to Watson's effort in the opener, Shavon Shields was the last Husker with a 20-point, six-assist effort as he had 21 points and seven assists against Delaware State on Nov. 19, 2015. The last Husker guard to do that was Jamel White against Western Kentucky during the 2006-07 season.

As a freshman, Watson played in all 34 games and made 16 starts for the Huskers. He averaged 8.6 points per game and was in double figures 15 times.

• Watson was one of five Husker freshmen to finish his initial campaign on NU's top-10 list for both freshmen points and assists, joining Eric Piatkowski (1991), Tyronn Lue (1996), Cookie Belcher (1997) and Jake Muhleisen (2002).
• Finished fourth among Big Ten freshmen in both assists and steals per game in 2015-16.
• His 2.44-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio in 2015-16 was the best by a Husker guard in nearly a decade and the fourth-best over the last 30 years.

MORROW ENJOYS BREAKOUT SEASON
Sophomore Ed Morrow Jr. has enjoyed a breakout season. One of the "Five Most Improved" players in the Big Ten by BTN analyst Shon Morris, Morrow has raised his scoring average from 4.1 points to 10.5 points per game on 57 percent shooting, while ranking among the Big Ten leaders with 8.9 rebounds per game. Morrow comes into Tuesday's game with Southern fourth in the Big Ten in rebounding and 10th in field goal percentage.

• Morrow's 8.9 rebounds per game is on pace to be the highest average by a Husker sophomore since Leroy Chalk averaged 9.9 caroms per outing in 1968-69. Only seven Husker sophomores since the 1953-54 season have averaged at least eight rebounds per game.
• Comes off one of the best rebounding efforts in recent memory, as he had a career-high 18 rebounds vs. Gardner- Webb on Dec. 18. It was the highest total by a Husker since the 2006-07 season and the second-highest total in the Big Ten this season.
• Turned in a strong effort at No. 3 Kansas, finishing with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting and seven rebounds.
• Snagged a career-high 13 rebounds against No. 10 Creighton on Dec. 7, matching the highest rebound total by a Husker in seven years.
• Reached double figures six times in Nebraska's 10 games after reaching double figures just four times as a freshman.
• Earned his second career double-double at Clemson on Nov. 30, grabbing a then-career-high 12 rebounds and adding 10 points and a season-high three blocked shots.
• Collected his first career double-double against Dayton, scoring 19 points on 9-of-11 shooting and grabbing a career-high 10 rebounds in the 80-78 win.
• Reached double figures in the loss to Virginia Tech, scoring 13 points and grabbing seven boards, as he averaged 13.3 points and 8.0 rebounds during the three games at the Wooden Legacy.
• Morrow's mother, Nafeesah Brown, was a standout basketball player for the Huskers in the mid-1990s, as she averaged 16.3 points and 8.6 rebounds per game during her Husker career. As a senior, she averaged 20.2 points and 10.1 rebounds per game in earning first-team All-Big Eight honors.