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| GAME 4: VS. NORTH DAKOTA |
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Date: Sunday, Nov. 19 NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS NORTH DAKOTA FIGHTING HAWKS BROADCAST INFO Internet Video: BTN.com, BTN2Go and Fox Sports Go Radio: Husker Sports Network, including 590 AM (Omaha), 1400 AM (Lincoln) and 880 AM (Lexington) Online Radio: Available online at Huskers.com, on the Huskers App and on TuneIn Radio and the TuneIn Radio App. |
Nebraska returns to Pinnacle Bank Arena for a Sunday matinee, as the Huskers host North Dakota. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m., and tickets are available by visiting Huskers.com or at the Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Sunday's game will be televised on BTN (DirecTV Ch. 610, Dish Ch. 410, Spectrum Ch. 24, Allo Ch. 25) with Jeff Levering and Shon Morris on the call. The game is also available on BTN.com, BTN2go and Fox Sports Go for smart phones and mobile devices. It is the first of at least 20 Husker games on BTN during the 2017-18 campaign.
Fans can follow all of the action across the state of Nebraska on the IMG Husker Sports Network with Kent Pavelka and Matt Davison on the call. The game will also be available on Huskers.com, on the Huskers app, on TuneIn Radio and on the TuneIn Radio app. The broadcast begins one hour prior to tipoff.
The Huskers (2-1) struggled from the floor in Thursday's loss at St. John's, shooting just 28.1 percent, including 6-of-26 from 3-point range. The Huskers cut a 13-point halftime deficit to 40-32 in the opening minutes of the second half, but could not get any closer, as St. John’s forced 16 Husker turnovers and pulled away down the stretch. For the Huskers, James Palmer Jr. was the only Husker to finish in double figures, totaling 13 points, while Evan Taylor had nine points and five rebounds.
Palmer paces the Huskers in both scoring (14.3 ppg) and assists (2.7 apg), as the Huskers have four players averaging double figures entering Sunday's contest. Sophomore forward Isaiah Roby leads Nebraska in both rebounding (8.7 rpg) and blocked shots (2.7 bpg) while coming off the bench for the Big Red.
North Dakota has been off since an 80-71 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Monday to wrap up three games in Hawaii. UND comes off a 22-win season a year ago as the Fighting Hawks won the Big Sky Tournament title and reached the NCAA Tournament. Junior guard Gino Crandell ranks 15th nationally in scoring at 27.3 points per game, including a nation-best 41-point outburst in the opener.
Sunday's game is a men's and women's doubleheader at Pinnacle Bank Arena, as the Husker women will face Creighton at 7 p.m. Fans who have tickets to the NU-North Dakota game can also use their tickets for general admission seating for the women's game that evening. The KC Disc Dogs will perform at halftime of both of Sunday’s games.
OPENING NUMBER
9 - Glynn Watson needs nine points to move into the top-60 of NU's career scoring list. Watson also needs seven steals to reach 100 for his career.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
.271 - Nebraska looks to break out of a 3-point shooting slump on Sunday, as the Huskers went just 6-of-26 from 3-point range at St. John's and are shooting 27 percent from long range.
4.0 - Jordy Tshimanga is one of three Big Ten players averaging over 4.0 rebounds per game, joining Minnesota's duo of Jordan Murphy and Reggie Lynch.
7.7 - Nebraska is averaging 7.7 blocks per game to rank third in the Big Ten and in the top-20 nationally. Last year, NU averaged just 3.7 blocked shots per game.
36.0 - Nebraska has averaged 36.0 free throw attempts per game in its first three contests. Last year, the Huskers averaged just 18.3 free throws per contest.
10 - Number of Husker opponents either ranked or receiving votes in the AP or Coaches preseason polls. In addition, the Huskers could play West Virginia (10/11) and Missouri (RV) in the AdvoCare Invitational.
SCOUTING NORTH DAKOTA
North Dakota comes to town with a 2-1 record after playing three games in Hawaii to open the season. Under 12th-year Head Coach Brian Jones, UND posted wins over Troy (83-80) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (80-71) with the only loss coming in an 81-78 loss to Hawaii. The Fighting Hawks return a pair of starters and six letterwinners from a team that went 22-10 and won the Big Sky championship. Junior guard Geno Crandall has been exceptional early, averaging 27.3 points per game while shooting 64 percent from the floor and 65 percent from 3-point range. Crandall, who averaged 15.5 points per game as a sophomore, opened the year with a 41-point outburst against Troy, as he hit 15-of-19 shots from the floor, including 7-of-9 from 3-point range. He has scored 20-or-more points in all three games and was one of three UND players averaging double figures. Junior guard Cortez Seales is at 13.3 points per game, while Iowa transfer Dale Jones chips in 10.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per outing. Jones is one of two transfers making an impact in the UND lineup, as Creighton transfer Marlon Stewart averages 8.7 points and a team-high 3.7 assists per game. Series History: Nebraska leads the all-time series, 2-1, but the teams have not squared off since a 77-46 Husker win on Jan. 2, 2011. The other two meetings took place during the 1933 and 1934 seasons. The Huskers are 31-8 all-time against current Big Sky Conference members.
LAST TIME OUT
James Palmer Jr. had a team-high 13 points, but the Huskers could not survive a cold-shooting performance, falling to St. John’s 79-56 Thursday night at Carnesecca Arena in the Gavitt Tipoff Games.
Palmer’s third straight double-figure effort was one of the few highlights on the night, as the Huskers shot just 28 percent from the floor, including 6-of-26 from 3-point range, and committed 16 turnovers in suffering their first loss of the season. Shamorie Ponds paced four St. John’s players in double figures with 22 points, seven rebounds and five assists, as Nebraska was unable to slow down the Red Storm backcourt after closing to within eight in the opening minute of the second half.
Nebraska was within 40-32 after a Glynn Watson Jr. 3-pointer, but St. Johns extended the margin with a 12-6 spurt to push the lead back to 13, as the Red Storm opened the half by hitting six of its first seven shots, including a trio of 3-pointers, and Nebraska was unable to cut into the deficit.
BUILDING BLOCKS
One of the biggest differences between previous seasons and 2017-18 is the Huskers' interior size and it made a defensive impact in the Huskers' first three games.
- Nebraska ranks 11th nationally and third in the Big Ten in blocked shots per game with 7.7 per outing. While it is very early in the season, NU's school record for blocks is 6.1 per game set by the 1996-97 team. That team blocked a school-record 202 shots that season.
- Nebraska has blocked five or more shots in all three games, including nine blocked shots against both Eastern Illinois and North Texas.
- Nebraska's nine blocked shots in each of the first two games marked the two highest single-game totals at Nebraska under Tim Miles. Previously, NU's team high in blocked shots was seven.
- Both Isaiah Roby (2.7 bpg) and Isaac Copeland (2.3 bpg) are in the top five of the Big Ten in blocked shots. The Huskers have not had a player average 2.0 blocked shots per game since Kimani Ffriend averaged 2.6 blocks per game in 2000-01.
- Isaiah Roby's six blocks against Eastern Illinois was the most by a Husker since the 2005-06 season. In fact, no Husker had totaled five or more blocked shots since the 2011-12 campaign.
- In the win against North Texas, Isaac Copeland established his personal best with four blocked shots while Duby Okeke added three blocks off the bench.
GILL RETURNS TO ACTION
One of the highlights of Thursday’s loss to St. John's was a return to action for senior guard Anton Gill. The 6-foot-3 senior missed NU’s first two regular-season games after suffering a groin injury, but had not played a regular-season game since suffering a knee injury last Christmas night in practice. Gill totaled seven points and two rebounds in 24 minutes of work.
WATSON LEADS HUSKER ATTACK
Glynn Watson Jr. may be one of the most underrated guards in the Big Ten Conference. Last year, the 6-foot junior averaged 13.0 points, 2.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game in 2016-17. He is ninth among all Big Ten returnees in scoring and third in steals.
This season, Watson comes into the North Dakota game averaging 13.7 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. He opened the season with a game-high 21 points and three assists in the 72-68 win over Eastern Illinois. It was his eighth career 20-point effort. On Monday, Watson had 15 points in NU's rout of North Texas, but was held to just five points on 1-of-9 shooting at St. John's
- With 737 points entering Sunday's game, Watson is just nine points away from 60th place on Nebraska's career scoring list. He is on pace to be NU's 29th 1,000-point scorer later this season and would become NU's fourth 1,000-point scorer in Tim Miles' six seasons at Nebraska.
- Watson’s 13.0 points per game was the second-highest returning average by a Husker guard in the last decade, trailing only All-Big Ten performer Terran Petteway’s 18.1 ppg entering the 2014-15 season.
- Watson had 21 double-figure performances as a sophomore, including a career-high 34 points in a double-OT win over Iowa. His 34-point effort tied for 10th on NU's single-game scoring list, while his seven 3-pointers was the second-highest single-game total in school history.
- Last season, he had three games with five steals (vs. Dayton, Clemson and at Indiana) and finished third all-time among Husker sophomores with 50 steals. Only Cookie Belcher (75) and Erick Strickland (60) had more as sophomores.
- Watson has always been in the clutch, as he shot 40 percent from 3-point range, 85 percent from the foul line and had a 3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio in the last four minutes and OT last season. In the opener, Watson went 5-of-6 from the foul line in the last four minutes, including four straight in the final 11 seconds to preserve the win.
COPELAND, PALMER TRANSFER INTO HUSKER STARTERS
While Watson is a two-year starter for the Huskers, junior transfer Isaac Copeland is the Husker with the most starting experience. Copeland started 49 games in two-plus seasons at Georgetown, helping the Hoyas to the 2015 NCAA Tournament. In his last full season in 2015-16, Copeland started 33 games, averaging 11.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. He played in seven games last season before he was sidelined with an injury.
This season, Copeland is averaging 7.0 points per game, but leads the team in steals (1.3 spg) and is second on the team in both rebounding (6.7 rpg) and blocked shots (2.3 bpg). Copeland has led NU in rebounds and blocked shots in each of the past two contests.
James Palmer Jr. has quickly made his mark in his first season of action at Nebraska, averaging 14.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. He had a career-high 18 points, including 11 points in NU's game-opening 25-2 run, against North Texas and is the only Husker in double figures in each of NU's first three contests.
Palmer played at the University of Miami for two seasons, averaging 3.4 points on the Hurricanes' Sweet 16 team in 2016. Palmer and Copeland will look to join a list of all-conference performers in their first season under Miles, joining Andy Ogide (CSU, 2009), Terran Petteway (NU, 2014) and Andrew White III (NU, 2016).
STRONGER ROBY EMERGES AS STAT STUFFER
After serving as a role player as a freshman, Isaiah Roby spent the summer bulking up to prepare for the rigors of the season. Now, the 6-foot-8, 225-pound sophomore has the strength to match his skillset.
- He enters the North Dakota game averaging 10.0 points and team-highs in both rebounds (8.7) and blocked shots (2.7) per game.
- Roby has reached double figures twice in three games after hitting double figures once as a freshman.
- He opened the season with the best performance of his career, an 11-point, 13-rebounds, six block performance against Eastern Illinois, as he set personal bests in all three categories. Roby's six blocks were the most by a Husker in six seasons.
- Roby totaled eight points, six rebounds and a pair of assists in 22 minutes at St. John's.
ROBY COMPARISON
Player MPG PPG FG Pct. RPG BPG
Roby (Fr.) 15.2 3.1 .394 2.9 0.8
Roby (So.) 22.7 10.0 .500 8.7 2.7