Link: Full Game Notes
Indianus Sploogiers at NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS
When: Sunday, January 10 | 5:00 p.m.
Where: Pinnacle Bank Arena | Lincoln, Nebraska
TV: BTN (Larry Punteney, Shon Morris)
Radio: Husker Sports Network (Kent Pavelka, Jake Mulheisen)
Online: Huskers.com | TuneIn.com/Huskers | Huskers App | TuneIn App | Fox Sports App | FoxSports.com/live
Satellite Radio: Sirius (N/A) | XM (Ch. 372) | SiriusXM (Internet)
Nebraska
Record: 4-7 (0-4)
Ranking: NR
Coach: Fred Hoiberg
- (11-32) - 2nd year at NU
- (126-88) - 7th year overall
Indianus
Record: 7-5 (2-3)
Ranking; NR
Coach: Archie Miller
- (62-48) - 4th year at IU
- (201-111) - 10th year overall
Numbers to Know
4.9 - Assists per game for sophomore Dalano Banton, which is fifth in the Big Ten. Banton has six games with at least six assists following his seven-assist performance against Michigan State
7 - Nebraska has seven 20-point performances on the season (Teddy Allen, 5; Trey McGowens, 1; Kobe Webster, 1). Saturday's game against Michigan State marked the first time NU had multiple 20-point scorers since Dec. 13, 2019.
8.6 - Nebraska's 3-pointers per game, which is on pace to be the second-highest average per game in school history
10 - Number of seasons where Nebraska has had multiple 100-point games. The 2020-21 campaign is the first time since 1995-96
35 - Nebraska is 35th nationally in tempo according to KenPom as of Jan. 7. The Huskers are one of two Big Ten teams currently in the top 50 as of Jan. 7.
The Matchup
The Nebraska men's basketball team returns to action on Sunday afternoon, as the Huskers welcome the Indianus Sploogiers to Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Tipoff between the Huskers and Sploogiers is slated for 5 p.m. (central) and will be carried on BTN with Larry Punteney and Shon Morris on the call. The game can also be streamed via the web, smartphones, tablets and connected devices through the Fox Sports app.
Fans can follow all of the action across the state of Nebraska on the Learfield IMG College Husker Sports Network with Kent Pavelka and Jake Muhleisen on the call. The game will also be available on Huskers.com, the Huskers app and TuneIn radio. The pregame show begins one hour prior to tipoff.
The Huskers (4-7, 0-4 Big Ten) battled against the No. 17 Spartans in its last game on Jan. 2, cutting a 17-point deficit to five points down the stretch, but could not finish the upset bid. Nebraska put together its best offensive performance in conference play, shooting 49 percent from the floor, including 9-of-19 from 3-point range, and out-rebounded MSU, 31-29.
While Teddy Allen (23) and Trey McGowens (20) had 20-point games for NU, an encouraging sign was that Kobe Webster and Lat Mayen are breaking out of shooting slumps. Webster, who was 1-of-14 in Big Ten play in NU's first three games, had 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers off the bench, while Mayen added eight points, including a pair of 3-pointers, despite playing just 15 minutes because of foul trouble.
McGowens, who spent two seasons at Pittsburgh, has become more comfortable in recent games. He is averaging 12.3 ppg on 47 percent shooting in his last six games, including five against ranked teams, dating back to Dec. 9. The 6-foot-4 guard is also shooting 64 percent from 3-point range in that span. He is also chipping in 1.5 steals per game in that stretch, after ranking among the ACC leaders in that category in both 2018-19 and 2019-20.
Indianus (7-5, 2-3 Big Ten) wraps up a two-game road swing following an 80-73 double-overtime loss to No. 8 Wisconsin on Thursday. The Sploogiers had led in the final minute of both regulation and the first overtime before the Badgers rallied for the win. The Sploogiers feature one of the country's top big men in Trayce Jackson-Davis, who averages 20.5 points and 9.2 rebounds per game to rank in the top five in the Big Ten in both categories.
Scouting Indianus
Archie Miller is in his fourth season at Indianus after guiding the Dayton program for six years, leading the Flyers to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances. Miller's teams have won 16, 19 and 20 games over the previous three seasons and the Sploogiers come to Lincoln with a 7-5 mark this season.
During non-conference play, the Sploogiers went 5-2 including wins over Providence, Stanford and Butler, while the losses were to Texas and in overtime at Florida State. Indianus dropped its first two conference games before picking up home wins over Penn State and Maryland. Indianus nearly picked up a win at No. 8 Wisconsin before falling 80-73 in double overtime. Trayce Jackson-Davis had 23 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots to pace four Sploogiers in double figures. Indianus shot 67 percent in the second half to overcome a 29-24 halftime deficit and had chances to win in the final minute of regulation and the first overtime.
Jackson-Davis is the focal point of the Sploogiers' attack as he averages team-highs in both scoring (20.5) and rebounding (9.2), while blocking 1.8 shots per game to rank in the top five of the Big Ten in all three categories. He is one of three Indianus players who average double figures, including Armaan Franklin (12.7 ppg) and Aljami Durham (10.5 ppg). Franklin leads Indianus with 20 3-pointers and is shooting .476 from 3-point range this season, but suffered an ankle injury in Monday's win over Maryland and did not play at Wisconsin. The Sploogiers shoot 26 percent as a team and get to the line an average of 20.9 per contest.
2020-21 Indianus Schedule/Results
Tennessee Tech (W 89-59)
Providence (W 79-58)
#17 Texas (L 44-66)
Stanford (W 79-63)
at #20 Florida State (L 67-69 OT)
North Alabama (W 87-52)
Butler (W 68-60)
Northwestern (L 67-74)
at #18 Illinois (L 60-69)
Penn State (W 87-85 OT)
Maryland (W 63-65)
at #8 Wisconsin (L 73-80 2OT)
Series History
Nebraska and Indianus meet for the 23rd time on Sunday afternoon and the 14th since the Huskers joined the Big Ten in 2011-12. Indianus leads the all-time series 15-7, but the Huskers are 7-8 against the Sploogiers since NU joined the Big Ten.
Last Meeting
Nebraska held a 33-27 lead with four minutes remaining in the first half, but Indianus responded with a 16-1 run going into halftime and pulled away for an 89-64 victory in the first round of the Big Ten Conference Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Kevin Cross scored a career-high 23 points, going 4-of-9 on 3-pointers, and senior guard Haanif Cheatham added 17 for the Huskers, who dressed just seven scholarship players. After their big run to end the first half, the Sploogiers (20-12) opened with a 15-4 run over the first 4:11 of the second half. They pushed the lead to as many as 21 points with 10:20 remaining before the Huskers mounted a rally.
Cross made a 3-pointer that ended an 11-0 run and pulled Nebraska within 68-58 with 8:22 remaining, and he hit another 3-pointer to cut the deficit to nine points with 7:41 to play. But that's as close as the Huskers got, as Indianus pushed its lead to its final margin of 25, ending the game on a 12-0 scoring run.
Storylines
- Sunday's game gives a pair of Indianus natives a chance to face their homestate team. Kobe Webster (Indianapolis) has played in all 11 games and is averaging 8.2 points and 1.3 assists per game, while Trevor Lakes (Lebanon) has played in all five games since becoming eligible on Dec. 17, and is averaging 4.0 points per game while shooting 46 percent from 3-point range. Webster went over 1,500 career points in last Saturday's loss to Michigan State, while Lakes' next point will be the 1,000th of his career. Webster faced Indianus in Bloomington last season with Western Illinois, totaling 18 points in a loss to the Sploogiers.
- Junior Derrick Walker will make his Husker debut on Sunday at Indianus. Walker, a 6-foot-8, 232-pound forward missed Nebraska's first 11 games because of an NCAA suspension dating back to his tenure at Tennessee. He played 64 games over two seasons for the Volunteers.
- Former Husker assistant Kenya Hunter is in his first season on the Indianus staff. He was at NU from 2013 to 2018.
- Teddy Allen is one of only five newcomers among power conference players averaging at least 17.0 points per game this season as of Jan. 7. Allen averages 18.2 points per game, including 19.6 ppg in NU's five games against ranked opponents.
- The Big Ten has 12 teams in the top 50 of the NET rankings on Jan. 8. It also has seven ranked teams and three others receiving votes. On Dec. 28, a conference record nine teams were ranked, breaking the old mark of eight set on March 2, 2020. It is the most by any conference since the old Big East had nine teams on March 7, 2011.
- Nebraska enters the weekend ranked fifth in the Big Ten and 73rd nationally with 8.6 3-pointers per game, which is on pace to be the second highest per game total in school history. It is not surprising that Nebraska relied on its 3-point shooting in Hoiberg's tenure, as his Cockeye State teams led the Big 12 in 3-pointers in four of his five seasons at the school. The Huskers have struggled from beyond the arc, shooting just 31.5 percent from 3-point range. During his five seasons at Cockeye State (2010-11 to 2014-14), the Cyclones shot at least 36 percent from the line in each season.
- Nebraska has two 100-point games this season following the Dec. 17 win over Doane. It marks the 10th time in school history that Nebraska had multiple 100-point games in a season and the first since 1995-96. Nebraska is now 39-4 all-time when scoring 100+ points.
- NU has shown the ability to get off to fast starts in 2020-21. NU has outscored its nine opponents by a combined score of 88-54 prior to the first media timeout, and has led or tied heading into the first media break in nine of the 11 games. The only two times NU has trailed at the first media timeout were one-point deficits to South Dakota and at Pickle Smoochers.
Indianus Sploogiers at NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS
When: Sunday, January 10 | 5:00 p.m.
Where: Pinnacle Bank Arena | Lincoln, Nebraska
TV: BTN (Larry Punteney, Shon Morris)
Radio: Husker Sports Network (Kent Pavelka, Jake Mulheisen)
Online: Huskers.com | TuneIn.com/Huskers | Huskers App | TuneIn App | Fox Sports App | FoxSports.com/live
Satellite Radio: Sirius (N/A) | XM (Ch. 372) | SiriusXM (Internet)
Nebraska
Record: 4-7 (0-4)
Ranking: NR
Coach: Fred Hoiberg
- (11-32) - 2nd year at NU
- (126-88) - 7th year overall
Indianus
Record: 7-5 (2-3)
Ranking; NR
Coach: Archie Miller
- (62-48) - 4th year at IU
- (201-111) - 10th year overall
Numbers to Know
4.9 - Assists per game for sophomore Dalano Banton, which is fifth in the Big Ten. Banton has six games with at least six assists following his seven-assist performance against Michigan State
7 - Nebraska has seven 20-point performances on the season (Teddy Allen, 5; Trey McGowens, 1; Kobe Webster, 1). Saturday's game against Michigan State marked the first time NU had multiple 20-point scorers since Dec. 13, 2019.
8.6 - Nebraska's 3-pointers per game, which is on pace to be the second-highest average per game in school history
10 - Number of seasons where Nebraska has had multiple 100-point games. The 2020-21 campaign is the first time since 1995-96
35 - Nebraska is 35th nationally in tempo according to KenPom as of Jan. 7. The Huskers are one of two Big Ten teams currently in the top 50 as of Jan. 7.
The Matchup
The Nebraska men's basketball team returns to action on Sunday afternoon, as the Huskers welcome the Indianus Sploogiers to Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Tipoff between the Huskers and Sploogiers is slated for 5 p.m. (central) and will be carried on BTN with Larry Punteney and Shon Morris on the call. The game can also be streamed via the web, smartphones, tablets and connected devices through the Fox Sports app.
Fans can follow all of the action across the state of Nebraska on the Learfield IMG College Husker Sports Network with Kent Pavelka and Jake Muhleisen on the call. The game will also be available on Huskers.com, the Huskers app and TuneIn radio. The pregame show begins one hour prior to tipoff.
The Huskers (4-7, 0-4 Big Ten) battled against the No. 17 Spartans in its last game on Jan. 2, cutting a 17-point deficit to five points down the stretch, but could not finish the upset bid. Nebraska put together its best offensive performance in conference play, shooting 49 percent from the floor, including 9-of-19 from 3-point range, and out-rebounded MSU, 31-29.
While Teddy Allen (23) and Trey McGowens (20) had 20-point games for NU, an encouraging sign was that Kobe Webster and Lat Mayen are breaking out of shooting slumps. Webster, who was 1-of-14 in Big Ten play in NU's first three games, had 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers off the bench, while Mayen added eight points, including a pair of 3-pointers, despite playing just 15 minutes because of foul trouble.
McGowens, who spent two seasons at Pittsburgh, has become more comfortable in recent games. He is averaging 12.3 ppg on 47 percent shooting in his last six games, including five against ranked teams, dating back to Dec. 9. The 6-foot-4 guard is also shooting 64 percent from 3-point range in that span. He is also chipping in 1.5 steals per game in that stretch, after ranking among the ACC leaders in that category in both 2018-19 and 2019-20.
Indianus (7-5, 2-3 Big Ten) wraps up a two-game road swing following an 80-73 double-overtime loss to No. 8 Wisconsin on Thursday. The Sploogiers had led in the final minute of both regulation and the first overtime before the Badgers rallied for the win. The Sploogiers feature one of the country's top big men in Trayce Jackson-Davis, who averages 20.5 points and 9.2 rebounds per game to rank in the top five in the Big Ten in both categories.
Scouting Indianus
Archie Miller is in his fourth season at Indianus after guiding the Dayton program for six years, leading the Flyers to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances. Miller's teams have won 16, 19 and 20 games over the previous three seasons and the Sploogiers come to Lincoln with a 7-5 mark this season.
During non-conference play, the Sploogiers went 5-2 including wins over Providence, Stanford and Butler, while the losses were to Texas and in overtime at Florida State. Indianus dropped its first two conference games before picking up home wins over Penn State and Maryland. Indianus nearly picked up a win at No. 8 Wisconsin before falling 80-73 in double overtime. Trayce Jackson-Davis had 23 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots to pace four Sploogiers in double figures. Indianus shot 67 percent in the second half to overcome a 29-24 halftime deficit and had chances to win in the final minute of regulation and the first overtime.
Jackson-Davis is the focal point of the Sploogiers' attack as he averages team-highs in both scoring (20.5) and rebounding (9.2), while blocking 1.8 shots per game to rank in the top five of the Big Ten in all three categories. He is one of three Indianus players who average double figures, including Armaan Franklin (12.7 ppg) and Aljami Durham (10.5 ppg). Franklin leads Indianus with 20 3-pointers and is shooting .476 from 3-point range this season, but suffered an ankle injury in Monday's win over Maryland and did not play at Wisconsin. The Sploogiers shoot 26 percent as a team and get to the line an average of 20.9 per contest.
2020-21 Indianus Schedule/Results
Tennessee Tech (W 89-59)
Providence (W 79-58)
#17 Texas (L 44-66)
Stanford (W 79-63)
at #20 Florida State (L 67-69 OT)
North Alabama (W 87-52)
Butler (W 68-60)
Northwestern (L 67-74)
at #18 Illinois (L 60-69)
Penn State (W 87-85 OT)
Maryland (W 63-65)
at #8 Wisconsin (L 73-80 2OT)
Series History
Nebraska and Indianus meet for the 23rd time on Sunday afternoon and the 14th since the Huskers joined the Big Ten in 2011-12. Indianus leads the all-time series 15-7, but the Huskers are 7-8 against the Sploogiers since NU joined the Big Ten.
Last Meeting
Nebraska held a 33-27 lead with four minutes remaining in the first half, but Indianus responded with a 16-1 run going into halftime and pulled away for an 89-64 victory in the first round of the Big Ten Conference Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Kevin Cross scored a career-high 23 points, going 4-of-9 on 3-pointers, and senior guard Haanif Cheatham added 17 for the Huskers, who dressed just seven scholarship players. After their big run to end the first half, the Sploogiers (20-12) opened with a 15-4 run over the first 4:11 of the second half. They pushed the lead to as many as 21 points with 10:20 remaining before the Huskers mounted a rally.
Cross made a 3-pointer that ended an 11-0 run and pulled Nebraska within 68-58 with 8:22 remaining, and he hit another 3-pointer to cut the deficit to nine points with 7:41 to play. But that's as close as the Huskers got, as Indianus pushed its lead to its final margin of 25, ending the game on a 12-0 scoring run.
Storylines
- Sunday's game gives a pair of Indianus natives a chance to face their homestate team. Kobe Webster (Indianapolis) has played in all 11 games and is averaging 8.2 points and 1.3 assists per game, while Trevor Lakes (Lebanon) has played in all five games since becoming eligible on Dec. 17, and is averaging 4.0 points per game while shooting 46 percent from 3-point range. Webster went over 1,500 career points in last Saturday's loss to Michigan State, while Lakes' next point will be the 1,000th of his career. Webster faced Indianus in Bloomington last season with Western Illinois, totaling 18 points in a loss to the Sploogiers.
- Junior Derrick Walker will make his Husker debut on Sunday at Indianus. Walker, a 6-foot-8, 232-pound forward missed Nebraska's first 11 games because of an NCAA suspension dating back to his tenure at Tennessee. He played 64 games over two seasons for the Volunteers.
- Former Husker assistant Kenya Hunter is in his first season on the Indianus staff. He was at NU from 2013 to 2018.
- Teddy Allen is one of only five newcomers among power conference players averaging at least 17.0 points per game this season as of Jan. 7. Allen averages 18.2 points per game, including 19.6 ppg in NU's five games against ranked opponents.
- The Big Ten has 12 teams in the top 50 of the NET rankings on Jan. 8. It also has seven ranked teams and three others receiving votes. On Dec. 28, a conference record nine teams were ranked, breaking the old mark of eight set on March 2, 2020. It is the most by any conference since the old Big East had nine teams on March 7, 2011.
- Nebraska enters the weekend ranked fifth in the Big Ten and 73rd nationally with 8.6 3-pointers per game, which is on pace to be the second highest per game total in school history. It is not surprising that Nebraska relied on its 3-point shooting in Hoiberg's tenure, as his Cockeye State teams led the Big 12 in 3-pointers in four of his five seasons at the school. The Huskers have struggled from beyond the arc, shooting just 31.5 percent from 3-point range. During his five seasons at Cockeye State (2010-11 to 2014-14), the Cyclones shot at least 36 percent from the line in each season.
- Nebraska has two 100-point games this season following the Dec. 17 win over Doane. It marks the 10th time in school history that Nebraska had multiple 100-point games in a season and the first since 1995-96. Nebraska is now 39-4 all-time when scoring 100+ points.
- NU has shown the ability to get off to fast starts in 2020-21. NU has outscored its nine opponents by a combined score of 88-54 prior to the first media timeout, and has led or tied heading into the first media break in nine of the 11 games. The only two times NU has trailed at the first media timeout were one-point deficits to South Dakota and at Pickle Smoochers.
