Huskers Host Cal State Fullerton in Sunday Matinee
The Nebraska men's basketball team looks to start a season with a 7-0 record for the first time in more than 30 years on Sunday afternoon, as the Huskers host Cal State Fullerton at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Tipoff between the Huskers and Titans is set for 1 p.m. and tickets are available for the matchup by visiting Huskers.com/Tickets or at PBA beginning at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday.
The Huskers (6-0) came off a hard-fought 89-79 win over Duquesne on Wednesday night. Juwan Gary scored nine of his career-high 20 points in a 13-0 second-half run that broke open a one-point game. The Huskers shot 52 percent from the floor in the second half and went 28-of-31 from the charity stripe, including 21-of-22 in the second half.
Gary has been a force since returning to the lineup on Nov. 15, averaging 17.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per game over the last three contests. He has tied or set career highs in scoring twice and is shooting 65 percent from the floor.
NU has done it with balance, as four Huskers average at least 14.0 ppg and the team ranks fourth in the Big Ten in scoring at 81.0 points per game. NU had five players in double-figures on Wednesday, including a season-high 23 from Keisei Tominaga.
Cal State Fullerton (2-3) has been off since a 74-67 win over Southern Miss on Monday. Max Jones led the Titans with 19 points while DJ Brewton added 15 points, as Cal State Fullerton shot 52 percent from the floor while holding Southern Miss to 40 percent shooting. Jones, an All-Big West selection last season, leads the Titans in scoring at 16.2 points per game.
Looking at Cal State Fullerton
Cal State Fullerton comes to Lincoln with a 2-3 record following a 1-1 showing at the Jacksonville Classic. The Titans lost to Cornell in the opener but bounced back with a 74-67 win over Southern Miss on Monday. Cal State Fullerton has played four of its first five games away from home, including games at San Diego State and UCF. Following Sunday's game, the Titans will leave the state one more time before Big West play begins on Dec. 28.
The Titans returned a trio of starters from a team that won 20 games and was the Big West Tournament runner-up. Junior guard Max Jones leads the returnees, as the All-Big West selection is averaging 16.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. Jones has a pair of 20-point efforts, including 23 points against Cornell. DJ Brewton has emerged as a scoring threat after transferring from Alcorn State. Brewton, a first-team All-SWAC selection in 2022-23, is averaging 13.0 ppg and has been in double figures in four of the first five contests. The Titans have missed the services of Tory San Antonio, who was a three-year starter and reigning Big West Defensive Player of the Year. He missed the first five games with an injury.
Dedrique Taylor is in his 11th season at Cal State Fullerton and helped the Titans become a consistent threat in the Big West. He guided the Titans to the Big West Tournament title game in four of the past six events, including tournament titles in 2018 and 2022. He is the only coach to take the Titans to multiple NCAA Tournament appearances and has guided Cal State Fullerton to three 20-win seasons, including each of the past two years. Previously, he was an assistant coach at Arizona State from 2006 to 2013, serving as associate head coach in his final three seasons at the school.
Nebraska is 2-0 all-time against Cal State Fullerton, including an 86-62 Husker win in Lincoln on Dec. 22, 2018. The other meeting was a 111-74 Husker win on Dec. 4, 1967. NU is 14-10 all-time against members of the Big West Conference and Sunday's meeting is the first for NU against a Big West foe since the 2018 game with Cal State Fullerton.
Numbers to Know
2 - Nebraska tied a school record with two turnovers in the win over Duquesne on Wednesday. The Huskers did not commit a turnover in the final 37:01 of action in matching a school record originally set in 2013.
5 - Nebraska has had five runs of at least 10-0 in the first six games of the season, including a 20-0 run against Oregon State and 17-0 against Rider.
6 - The 6-0 start marks the 10th time in school history that Nebraska has opened a season with a 6-0 mark. Only four teams in school history have opened a year with seven-or-more wins (1992-93, 1984-85, 1977-78 and 1915-16). It is the Huskers' best start since joining the Big Ten in 2011-12.
9.2 - Nebraska is second in the Big Ten with 9.2 3-pointers per game entering this weekend's action. NU has averaged more than 8.0 3-pointers/game twice in program history (2001-02 and 2020-21).
Last Time Out
Juwan Gary had nine of his career-high 20 points in a 13-0 second-half run as Nebraska improved to 6-0 for the first time since 2008-09 with an 89-79 win over Duquesne. The Huskers led 55-54 with 13:35 left before the Huskers took control behind Gary. The junior forward had nine points in the spurt including five straight points to give NU a 68-54 lead. NU held the Dukes scoreless for nearly four minutes to finally get some breathing room in the second half.
Gary hit 7-of-10 shots from the floor, including a pair of 3-poitners, and went 4-of-4 from the line. He also added five boards in the win. Keisei Tominaga led NU with 23 points as the Huskers put five players in double figures and went 28-of-31 from the foul line, including 21-of-22 in the second half. Josiah Allick had 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists while Brice Williams and Rienk Mast added 11 and 10 points respectively.
Worth Noting
- The Huskers are 12-3 over the last 15 games dating back to Feb. 1, 2023. A big reason for that is NU's offense, as NU has averaged 77.1 ppg on 48 percent shooting in that stretch. For the first 23 games last year until Feb. 1, NU was at 65.4 ppg. NU has scored 70+ points in 13 of the past 15 games after reaching that mark just seven times in the first 23 games of last season.
- Nebraska has been stout on the defensive end during the early portion of the season. The Huskers are among the Big Ten leaders in points per game (60.2, third), field goal percentage defense (.351, second) and rebound margin (+9.8, third).
- Nebraska's bench has provided a spark early on, averaging 27.3 points per game in the first six contests. The Huskers' leading scorer has come from the bench three times (Hoiberg-Lindenwood; Wilcher-Rider; Gary-Stony Brook), and NU has had at least one double-figure effort from its bench in the first six contests.
- Juwan Gary's 20-point effort against Duquesne marked the seventh time under Fred Hoiberg that NU had a player score at least 20 points off the bench.
- Nebraska had multiple 20-point scorers against Duquesne (Keisei Tominaga-23; Juwan-Gary 20) for the eighth time in Fred Hoiberg's five seasons.
- Rienk Mast now has 23 career double-doubles entering Sunday's game with Cal State Fullerton. The 6-foot-10 forward is 20th nationally among all active players and trails only Zach Edey (44) among current Big Ten players. Mast's three double-doubles is second in the Big Ten and 10th nationally.
- Nebraska is 19-4 under Hoiberg when scoring at least 80 points including 14-1 over the last three seasons. The only loss was a 104-100 quadruple overtime game at North Carolina State on Dec. 1, 2021. NU has won its last 12 games when reaching the 80-point plateau.
- Nebraska regained its top two returning scorers last week, as Keisei Tominaga (13.1 ppg in 2022-23) returned from an ankle injury on Monday and Juwan Gary (9.6 ppg, 6.5 pg) made his 2023-24 debut on Wednesday vs. Stony Brook. Tominaga missed NU's first two games, while Gary, who had off-season shoulder surgery had not played since suffering the injury on Jan. 10, 2023.
- Nebraska is 61-15 (.805) in non-conference games at Pinnacle Bank Arena since the building opened in 2013.
Finding Balance
Nebraska relied on its depth and balance early in the season. While the Huskers have four players averaging double figures, five others are between 4.0 and 7.7 ppg after six games.
- Nebraska has had eight different players reach double figures and have had a different leading scorer in each of the first six games.
- No Husker averages more than 28 minutes per game, while 10 Huskers are averaging double figures in minutes. Despite the number of different lineups NU has been forced to use, the Huskers have had at least eight players play double-figure minutes in each of the first six games.
- NU has gotten at least one double-figure effort from its bench in each of the first six contests. The Huskers have gotten over 33 percent of their scoring from the bench over the first six contests.
Mast's Massive Night
Rienk Mast put together a strong performance in Nebraska's win against Florida A&M on Nov. 9. The 6-foot-10 forward had game highs of 20 points and 16 rebounds for his first double-double as a Husker.
- • He became the first Husker in the Big Ten era (2011-12 to present) to have a game with at least 20 points and 15 rebounds, and the first Husker to do so since All-Big 12 performer Aleks Maric in 2008.
- • Since 1990, only six Huskers have had games with at least 20 points and 15 rebounds. That list includes Aleks Maric, Kimani Ffriend, Venson Hamilton, Mikki Moore and Eric Piatkowski.
- • Mast’s 16 rebounds were the most by a Husker since Yvan Ouedraogo had 19 rebounds against Northwestern on March 1, 2020, and the second-highest rebound total in Hoiberg’s four-plus seasons at Nebraska.
- • Mast is in the top 20 in the Big Ten in both scoring (14.0 ppg) and rebounding (10.3 rpg) while averaging 2.8 assists per game. Mast is the only power conference player in the nation averaging a double-double with at least 2.5 assists per game as of Nov. 24.
New Faces, New Roles
Nebraska made a big splash in the transfer portal, adding five players to the roster, and their impact is already being felt during the early portion of the season. The group of Josiah Allick (New Mexico), Jarron Coleman (Bradley), Rienk Mast (Bradley), Ahron Ulis (Iowa) and Brice Williams (Charlotte) combined for more than 4,300 points, 2,100 rebounds and 800 assists entering this year.
Mast is averaging 14.0 points per game while leading the Huskers in rebounding (10.3 rpg) and ranks second in assists (2.8 apg). He is the only power conference player as of Nov. 24 averaging at least 10.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. Mast currently ranks third in the Big Ten in rebounding and 17th in scoring. The 6-foot-10 forward has been in double figures in all six contests - the only Husker to do so - including a 20-point, 16-rebound effort against Florida A&M.
Allick has been a force inside, averaging 7.7 points per game and 6.2 rebounds per game. He is second on the team and 17th in the Big Ten in rebounds and is a big reason why the Huskers are among the Big Ten leaders in rebounding margin. Allick has three double-figure efforts, including 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists vs. Duquesne.
Williams has started all six contests and is second on the team in scoring (15.4 ppg) while averaging 4.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. The 6-foot-7 guard is 15th in the Big Ten in scoring and has been in double figures five times this season, highlighted by a 25-point effort in the win against Oregon State on Nov. 17 and a 17-point, nine-rebound, four-assist effort against Stony Brook on Nov. 15.
Coleman has come off the bench in all five contests and leads Nebraska in assists at 3.0 per game. He has a 2.6-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio while chipping in 3.2 points and 2.8 rebounds per outing.
Improved Board Work
One of the areas where Nebraska has made significant improvement is on the boards. The additions of Rienk Mast, Josiah Allick and Brice Williams along with the return of Juwan Gary have made the Huskers formidable on the glass.
- Nebraska has a +9.8 rebound margin through six games to tie for third in the Big Ten. Last season the Huskers were 11th in rebound margin (-1.0)
- NU had a positive rebound margin (+3.1) prior to Juwan Gary's season-ending injury last January. Gary was second on the team in rebounding (6.5 rpg) and 15th in the Big Ten in that category on Jan. 10. Over the final 16 games of the 2022-23 season, NU was outrebounded by 5.1 rebounds per game.
- Mast (MVC) and Allick (Mountain West) both ranked second in their respective conferences in 2022-23 in rebounding, while Williams was 15th in Conference USA. In addition, Mast led the MVC in rebounding during the 2021-22 season.
- NU out-rebounded four straight opponents by at least 10 boards, the first time that has happened since the first four games of the 2004-05 season, before the streak was snapped on Wednesday. .
Tominaga Named Preseason All-Big Ten
Nebraska senior guard Keisei Tominaga was honored as one of 10 players selected to the preseason All-Big Ten team. He became just the third Husker to be named preseason All-Big Ten since Nebraska joined the conference in 2011-12, joining James Palmer Jr. (2018) and Terran Petteway (2014). Last season, he averaged 13.1 points per game on 53 percent shooting, including 40 percent from 3-point range, while appearing in all 32 contests. Tominaga led the Huskers in 3-pointers with 66 and was one of only six players nationally to average double figures and shoot 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range and 85 percent from the foul line.
During Big Ten play, he led NU in scoring at 14.2 ppg to rank 15th in the conference while also ranking among Big Ten leaders in field goal percentage (.512, seventh) and 3-pointers per game (2.3, sixth) as he shot 41 percent from beyond the arc. He had seven of his nine 20-point games during Big Ten contests, including a career-high 30-point effort against Penn State, and added 23 points in NU’s loss to Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament.
Tominaga has played in NU's last four games since returning against Rider on Nov. 13 and is averaging 14.0 points per game. His two 3-pointers in the second half against Rider started a 17-0 spurt that put the game away. Tominaga comes off a season-high 23-point effort against Duquesne on Wednesday.