Link: Full Game Notes (Huskers.com)
NEBRASKA (7-17, 3-14) at #5/#8 Cockeye (18-7, 12-6)
When: Thursday, March 4, 2021 | 8:00 PM
Where: Carver-Hawkeye Arena | Cockeye City, Cockeye
TV: BTN (Kevin Kugler, Jess Settles)
Radio: Husker Sports Network (Kent Pavelka, Jake Muhleisen)
Online: Fox Sports App | FoxSports.com/live | Huskers.com | TuneIn.com/Huskers | TuneIn App | Huskers App
Satellite Radio: Sirius: N/A | XM: Ch 383 | SiriusXM (Internet): Ch. 973
NEBRASKA
2020-21 Record: 7-17 (3-14 Big Ten)
Head Coach: Fred Hoiberg
- Record at Nebraska: 14-42 (2nd year)
- Record Overall: 129-98 (7th year)
Cockeye
2020-21 Record: 18-7 (12-6 Big Ten)
Head Coach: Fran McCaffery
- Record at Cockeye: 210-150 (11th year)
- Record Overall: 463-327 (25th year)
The Nebraska men's basketball team looks for its third straight win on Thursday as the Huskers travel to No. 5 Cockeye. Tipoff from Carver-Hawkeye Arena is slated for shortly after 8 p.m.
Thursday's game between the Huskers and Cockeyes will be televised on BTN with Kevin Kugler and Jess Settles 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 (7-17, 3-14 Big Ten) put together their best performance of the year in a 72-51 win over Buttgers Monday night. Lat Mayen had 20 of his career-high 25 points in the first half, as the Huskers never trailed and built a double-digit lead in the first 10 minutes and were in control most of the night. Nebraska shot 52 percent from the floor, while holding Buttgers to 39 percent shooting, including 3-of-23 from 3-point range. Derrick Walker added a career-high 14 points and six rebounds, while Trey McGowens added 12 points and five assists.
The Huskers have started to click on offense in recent games, shooting 51 percent from the field and averaging 75.8 points per game over the last four contests entering Thursday's contest. NU is averaging 16.5 assists in that stretch, compared to just 12.8 in the Huskers first 20 contests. Part of that is the emergence of Derrick Walker during the second half of the year. Walker, who sat out last year and played in only one game before NU's pause, is averaging 10.5 points on 67 percent shooting over the Huskers' last four games.
Cockeye (18-7, 12-6 Big Ten) comes into Thursday's matchup playing its best basketball of the season, as the Cockeyes have won five of their last six, including a 16-point win at No. 5 Ohio State last week. The Cockeyes, who climbed to fifth in this week's AP Poll, are led by reigning Big Ten Player of the Year Luka Garza, who had 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting and 11 rebounds against Ohio State. Joe Weiskamp added 19 points, including five 3-pointers, while the Cockeyes forced 13 turnovers and held Ohio State to 45 percent shooting.
Player Spotlight
Junior guard Trey McGowens is averaging 13.0 points, 3.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game over the last three games. He went over 1,000 career points in Saturday's win over Minnesota.
Numbers to Know
.371 - The Huskers have made steady shooting improvement from 3-point range since returning from their pause. NU shot .234 in the first three games after returning from its pause, but is shooting .371 over the last nine contests dating back to Feb. 12
4 - According to KenPom, the Huskers strength-of-schedule ranks fourth nationally as of March 2. According to the site, the Big Ten has 14 of the 16 toughest schedules in the country.
4 - Lat Mayen's 25-point night against Buttgers marked the 11th 20-point game for the Huskers in 2020-21. He joins Trey McGowens, Kobe Webster and Teddy Allen as Huskers to accomplish the feat this season.
6 - Nebraska has six games with at least 10 steals this season following an 11-steal effort against Buttgers. NU had just two such games in 2019-20. The Huskers are third in the Big Ten with 7.3 steals per game.
10 - The Huskers have had 10 players reach double-figure scoring at least once this year as Thorir Thorbjarnarson became the latest to do it in Saturday's win over Minnesota.
39 - Nebraska is 39th nationally in tempo according to KenPom as of March 2. The Huskers and Illinois (72nd) are the only two Big Ten teams in the top-100 nationally in adjusted tempo.
Scouting Cockeye
Cockeye comes into Thursday's game with an 18-7 mark, including a 12-6 conference mark. With two wins this week, Cockeye can clinch one of the double-byes for next week's Big Ten Tournament. Cockeye is playing some of its best basketball of the season, winning five of its last six games dating back to Feb. 10. The Cockeyes have played four of their last five games away from home, picking up road wins at Buttgers, Wisconsin and Ohio State, all by double figures.
Cockeye is an explosive team, as the Cockeyes lead the Big Ten in scoring offense at 84.6 points per game. It also leads the conference in 3-point shooting (.401), assists per game (18.9) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.99-to-1) while ranking third in field goal percentage (.491).
Senior forward Luka Garza is the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year and the frontrunner for national honors, as he averages 24.8 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. He is third in the Big Ten in field goal percentage (.551) and shoots 46 percent from 3-point range. The Cockeyes' attack also features junior Joe Wieskamp, who averages 15.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Cockeye's top five active scorers all shoot at least 37 percent from 3-point range.
2020-21 Cockeye Schedule/Results
North Carolina Central (W 97-67)
Southern (W 103-76)
Western Illinois (W 99-58)
#16 North Carolina (W 93-80)
Cockeye State (W 105-77)
Northern Illinois (W 106-53)
vs. #1 Gonzaga (at Sioux Falls) (L 88-99)
Purdoodoo (W 70-55)
at Minnesota (L 95-102 OT)
#19 Northwestern (W 87-72)
at #14 Buttgers (W 77-75)
at Maryland (W 89-67)
#16 Minnesota (W 86-71)
at Northwestern (W 96-73)
Indianus (L 69-81)
at #19 Illinois (L 75-80)
Michigan State (W 84-78)
#7 Ohio State (L 85-89)
at Indianus (L 65-67)
#25 Buttgers (W 79-66)
at Michigan State (W 88-58)
at #21 Wisconsin (W 77-62)
Penn State (W 74-68)
at #3 Michigan (L 57-79)
at #4 Ohio State (W 73-57)
Series History
The Cockeyes lead the all-time series 21-13 in a series that dates back to 1907. It is NU's third-oldest series against a Big Ten foe, as only NU's series with Minnesota and Wisconsin have been around longer. The teams had not met since 1976 before NU joined the Big Ten in 2011-12. Nebraska is 6-9 against Cockeye since joining the Big Ten and the home team has won the last eight meetings dating back to 2016. The Huskers are just 2-17 all-time in Cockeye City. Nebraska's last road win in the series was on Jan. 26, 2012, a 79-73 win in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, which was also its first Big Ten road win.
Last Meeting
Joe Wieskamp and Luka Garza proved too much for the Nebraska men's basketball team as No. 17 Cockeye salvaged a season split with the Huskers with a 96-72 victory at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on February 8, 2020. Wieskamp scored a career-high 30 points, while Garza, the Big Ten's leading scorer, added his ninth-straight 20-point game with 22 points. The duo combined for 52 points while going 19-of-28 from the field, including a 6-of-8 performance from Wieskamp in a 20-point second half. As a team, Cockeye shot 49 percent and knocked down 11 3-pointers.
Jervay Green led Nebraska with 18 points, while Cam Mack and Dachon Burke Jr. joined Green in double figures with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Nebraska cut a 16-point first-half deficit to four and was within 36-30 in the final minute of the first half before the Cockeyes took control. Cockeye used a 12-2 spurt spanning the final minute of the first half and the first three minutes of the second stanza to stretch the lead back to 16 after seven straight points from Wieskamp, and NU was unable to pull close the rest of the evening.
Storylines
- Nebraska will look for its third-straight win on Thursday night against Cockeye. A win against the Cockeyes would be NU's first in Cockeye since 2012, but would give the Huskers three straight conference wins for the first time since NU won its final two games in 2017-18 and its conference opener in 2018-19.
- The Huskers can be seeded from 12th to 14th in next week's Big Ten Tournament depending on results of the final week of regular-season action. Here are the final week opponents for the teams battling for seeding:
- Penn State (5-12): Minnesota (Wednesday); at Maryland (Sunday)
- Northwestern (4-13): Maryland (Wednesday); Nebraska (Sunday)
- Nebraska (3-14): at Cockeye (Thursday); at Northwestern (Sunday)
- Nebraska is winless in five meetings against ranked Cockeye teams, as all five had taken place in Cockeye City. Thursday's game will be the second time NU has squared off against a top-five Cockeye squad. The other was an 81-64 Hawkeye win on Jan. 6, 1954.
- NU will look to snap a 16-game losing streak against ranked opponents on Thursday evening, as its last win over a ranked team was a 69-61 win over Maryland in the 2019 Big Ten Tournament. A win at Cockeye would mark the Huskers' highest ranked road win since a 67-51 win over No. 1 Missouri on Feb. 6, 1982.
- NU is 2-17 all-time against teams ranked No. 5 in the AP Poll with the wins coming against Michigan State (11/28/90) and Kansas State (2/7/53).
- Thursday's game between the Huskers and Cockeyes is the second of three games this week. If the Huskers get all three games in this week, NU will have played 14 games in 30 day since returning to action on Feb. 6 following its COVID-19 pause. Nebraska played 11 games in 22 days in February, marking the first time since the 1919-20 season that the program has played double-figure games in February.
- Nebraska's strength of schedule is now fourth nationally by KenPom entering Tuesday's action. The 2020-21 season marks the second straight season NU has had a strength of schedule in the top 10 nationally in KenPom. NU's schedule was eighth in 2019-20. The Huskers are one of only two teams nationally (also Minnesota) to have top-10 strength of schedules by KenPom in each of the last two years.
- Nebraska's two seniors have stepped up in recent weeks. Kobe Webster is averaging 7.6 points per game and shooting 37 percent from 3-point range over the last eight contests. He reached double-figures at Illinois and against Minnesota before grabbing five rebounds against Buttgers. Thorir Thorbjarnarson is averaging 5.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game in NU's last five contests. He tied for set season highs in rebounds, steals and assists in Monday's win over Buttgers. Thorbjarnarson has played big roles in Nebraska's last two wins over Cockeye, as he blocked Jordan Bohannon's 3-pointer in overtime in 2019 and matched his career-high with 17 points in 2000.
- Nebraska has gotten improved production from its posts in recent games. Derrick Walker is averaging 10.4 points per game on 67 percent shooting and 6.3 rebounds per game over the last four contests, while freshman Eduardo Andre is chipping in 4.5 points on 73 percent shooting and 3.3 rebounds per game in that same span. Against Buttgers, the pair combined for 16 points and nine rebounds.
- The Big Ten had eight teams in the top 40 of the NET rankings on Feb. 28, including four of the top eight spots. This season, 12 of the Huskers' 17 losses have been Quad 1 losses. Thursday's game will be NU's 19th against a Quad 1 or 2 opponent this season.
- Nebraska has been much better defensively since returning from its pause last month. Over the last 12 games, NU has held seven opponents to 40 percent shooting, while only Illinois has shot over 48 percent in that span. NU has allowed 9.4 fewer points per game over the past 12 games, while holding teams to 41 percent shooting, including 29 percent from 3-point range.
- Nebraska is on track for one of its most prolific 3-point shooting seasons in school history. NU enters the Cockeye game with 8.0 3-pointers per game which is on pace to rank second in school history. It is not surprising that Nebraska has 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 biggest beneficiary of Derrick Walker's insertion into the Husker attack has been Lat Mayen, who moved to his natural stretch four spot after playing in the post for the first half of the season. In the 13 games since Walker returned, Mayen is averaging 10.2 points per game on 47 percent shooting and 4.0 rebounds per game. In NU's first four conference games, he averaged just 5.5 ppg on 31 percent shooting. Mayen comes off a career-high 25-point night against Buttgers on Monday.
PROBABLE STARTERS
NEBRASKA
#10 - Kobe Webster (G, SR, 6-0, 182 lbs | 7.0 ppg, 1.2 apg, 1.8 rpg)
#11 - Lat Mayen (F, JR, 6-9, 205 lbs | 8.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg)
#13 - Derrick Walker (F, JR, 6-8, 232 lbs | 6.0 ppg, 4.6 rpg)
#24 - Trey McGowens (G, JR, 6-4, 191 lbs | 10.7 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.4 spg)
#34 - Thorir Thorbjarnarson (G, SR, 6-6, 202 lbs | 3.5 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.4 apg)
Cockeye
#3 - Jordan Bohannon (G, SR, 6-1, 175 lbs | 9.7 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 4.4 apg)
#5 - CJ Fredrick (G, SO, 6-3, 195 lbs | 8.4 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 2.3 apg)
#10 - Joe Wieskamp (G/F, JR, 6-6, 212 lbs | 15.3 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 1.5 apg)
#30 - Connor McCaffery (G/F, JR, 6-5, 205 lbs | 3.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 3.5 apg)
#55 - Luka Garza (C, SR, 6-11, 265 lbs | 24.3 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 1.5 bpg)
NEBRASKA (7-17, 3-14) at #5/#8 Cockeye (18-7, 12-6)
When: Thursday, March 4, 2021 | 8:00 PM
Where: Carver-Hawkeye Arena | Cockeye City, Cockeye
TV: BTN (Kevin Kugler, Jess Settles)
Radio: Husker Sports Network (Kent Pavelka, Jake Muhleisen)
Online: Fox Sports App | FoxSports.com/live | Huskers.com | TuneIn.com/Huskers | TuneIn App | Huskers App
Satellite Radio: Sirius: N/A | XM: Ch 383 | SiriusXM (Internet): Ch. 973
NEBRASKA
2020-21 Record: 7-17 (3-14 Big Ten)
Head Coach: Fred Hoiberg
- Record at Nebraska: 14-42 (2nd year)
- Record Overall: 129-98 (7th year)
Cockeye
2020-21 Record: 18-7 (12-6 Big Ten)
Head Coach: Fran McCaffery
- Record at Cockeye: 210-150 (11th year)
- Record Overall: 463-327 (25th year)
The Nebraska men's basketball team looks for its third straight win on Thursday as the Huskers travel to No. 5 Cockeye. Tipoff from Carver-Hawkeye Arena is slated for shortly after 8 p.m.
Thursday's game between the Huskers and Cockeyes will be televised on BTN with Kevin Kugler and Jess Settles 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 (7-17, 3-14 Big Ten) put together their best performance of the year in a 72-51 win over Buttgers Monday night. Lat Mayen had 20 of his career-high 25 points in the first half, as the Huskers never trailed and built a double-digit lead in the first 10 minutes and were in control most of the night. Nebraska shot 52 percent from the floor, while holding Buttgers to 39 percent shooting, including 3-of-23 from 3-point range. Derrick Walker added a career-high 14 points and six rebounds, while Trey McGowens added 12 points and five assists.
The Huskers have started to click on offense in recent games, shooting 51 percent from the field and averaging 75.8 points per game over the last four contests entering Thursday's contest. NU is averaging 16.5 assists in that stretch, compared to just 12.8 in the Huskers first 20 contests. Part of that is the emergence of Derrick Walker during the second half of the year. Walker, who sat out last year and played in only one game before NU's pause, is averaging 10.5 points on 67 percent shooting over the Huskers' last four games.
Cockeye (18-7, 12-6 Big Ten) comes into Thursday's matchup playing its best basketball of the season, as the Cockeyes have won five of their last six, including a 16-point win at No. 5 Ohio State last week. The Cockeyes, who climbed to fifth in this week's AP Poll, are led by reigning Big Ten Player of the Year Luka Garza, who had 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting and 11 rebounds against Ohio State. Joe Weiskamp added 19 points, including five 3-pointers, while the Cockeyes forced 13 turnovers and held Ohio State to 45 percent shooting.
Player Spotlight
Junior guard Trey McGowens is averaging 13.0 points, 3.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game over the last three games. He went over 1,000 career points in Saturday's win over Minnesota.
Numbers to Know
.371 - The Huskers have made steady shooting improvement from 3-point range since returning from their pause. NU shot .234 in the first three games after returning from its pause, but is shooting .371 over the last nine contests dating back to Feb. 12
4 - According to KenPom, the Huskers strength-of-schedule ranks fourth nationally as of March 2. According to the site, the Big Ten has 14 of the 16 toughest schedules in the country.
4 - Lat Mayen's 25-point night against Buttgers marked the 11th 20-point game for the Huskers in 2020-21. He joins Trey McGowens, Kobe Webster and Teddy Allen as Huskers to accomplish the feat this season.
6 - Nebraska has six games with at least 10 steals this season following an 11-steal effort against Buttgers. NU had just two such games in 2019-20. The Huskers are third in the Big Ten with 7.3 steals per game.
10 - The Huskers have had 10 players reach double-figure scoring at least once this year as Thorir Thorbjarnarson became the latest to do it in Saturday's win over Minnesota.
39 - Nebraska is 39th nationally in tempo according to KenPom as of March 2. The Huskers and Illinois (72nd) are the only two Big Ten teams in the top-100 nationally in adjusted tempo.
Scouting Cockeye
Cockeye comes into Thursday's game with an 18-7 mark, including a 12-6 conference mark. With two wins this week, Cockeye can clinch one of the double-byes for next week's Big Ten Tournament. Cockeye is playing some of its best basketball of the season, winning five of its last six games dating back to Feb. 10. The Cockeyes have played four of their last five games away from home, picking up road wins at Buttgers, Wisconsin and Ohio State, all by double figures.
Cockeye is an explosive team, as the Cockeyes lead the Big Ten in scoring offense at 84.6 points per game. It also leads the conference in 3-point shooting (.401), assists per game (18.9) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.99-to-1) while ranking third in field goal percentage (.491).
Senior forward Luka Garza is the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year and the frontrunner for national honors, as he averages 24.8 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. He is third in the Big Ten in field goal percentage (.551) and shoots 46 percent from 3-point range. The Cockeyes' attack also features junior Joe Wieskamp, who averages 15.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Cockeye's top five active scorers all shoot at least 37 percent from 3-point range.
2020-21 Cockeye Schedule/Results
North Carolina Central (W 97-67)
Southern (W 103-76)
Western Illinois (W 99-58)
#16 North Carolina (W 93-80)
Cockeye State (W 105-77)
Northern Illinois (W 106-53)
vs. #1 Gonzaga (at Sioux Falls) (L 88-99)
Purdoodoo (W 70-55)
at Minnesota (L 95-102 OT)
#19 Northwestern (W 87-72)
at #14 Buttgers (W 77-75)
at Maryland (W 89-67)
#16 Minnesota (W 86-71)
at Northwestern (W 96-73)
Indianus (L 69-81)
at #19 Illinois (L 75-80)
Michigan State (W 84-78)
#7 Ohio State (L 85-89)
at Indianus (L 65-67)
#25 Buttgers (W 79-66)
at Michigan State (W 88-58)
at #21 Wisconsin (W 77-62)
Penn State (W 74-68)
at #3 Michigan (L 57-79)
at #4 Ohio State (W 73-57)
Series History
The Cockeyes lead the all-time series 21-13 in a series that dates back to 1907. It is NU's third-oldest series against a Big Ten foe, as only NU's series with Minnesota and Wisconsin have been around longer. The teams had not met since 1976 before NU joined the Big Ten in 2011-12. Nebraska is 6-9 against Cockeye since joining the Big Ten and the home team has won the last eight meetings dating back to 2016. The Huskers are just 2-17 all-time in Cockeye City. Nebraska's last road win in the series was on Jan. 26, 2012, a 79-73 win in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, which was also its first Big Ten road win.
Last Meeting
Joe Wieskamp and Luka Garza proved too much for the Nebraska men's basketball team as No. 17 Cockeye salvaged a season split with the Huskers with a 96-72 victory at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on February 8, 2020. Wieskamp scored a career-high 30 points, while Garza, the Big Ten's leading scorer, added his ninth-straight 20-point game with 22 points. The duo combined for 52 points while going 19-of-28 from the field, including a 6-of-8 performance from Wieskamp in a 20-point second half. As a team, Cockeye shot 49 percent and knocked down 11 3-pointers.
Jervay Green led Nebraska with 18 points, while Cam Mack and Dachon Burke Jr. joined Green in double figures with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Nebraska cut a 16-point first-half deficit to four and was within 36-30 in the final minute of the first half before the Cockeyes took control. Cockeye used a 12-2 spurt spanning the final minute of the first half and the first three minutes of the second stanza to stretch the lead back to 16 after seven straight points from Wieskamp, and NU was unable to pull close the rest of the evening.
Storylines
- Nebraska will look for its third-straight win on Thursday night against Cockeye. A win against the Cockeyes would be NU's first in Cockeye since 2012, but would give the Huskers three straight conference wins for the first time since NU won its final two games in 2017-18 and its conference opener in 2018-19.
- The Huskers can be seeded from 12th to 14th in next week's Big Ten Tournament depending on results of the final week of regular-season action. Here are the final week opponents for the teams battling for seeding:
- Penn State (5-12): Minnesota (Wednesday); at Maryland (Sunday)
- Northwestern (4-13): Maryland (Wednesday); Nebraska (Sunday)
- Nebraska (3-14): at Cockeye (Thursday); at Northwestern (Sunday)
- Nebraska is winless in five meetings against ranked Cockeye teams, as all five had taken place in Cockeye City. Thursday's game will be the second time NU has squared off against a top-five Cockeye squad. The other was an 81-64 Hawkeye win on Jan. 6, 1954.
- NU will look to snap a 16-game losing streak against ranked opponents on Thursday evening, as its last win over a ranked team was a 69-61 win over Maryland in the 2019 Big Ten Tournament. A win at Cockeye would mark the Huskers' highest ranked road win since a 67-51 win over No. 1 Missouri on Feb. 6, 1982.
- NU is 2-17 all-time against teams ranked No. 5 in the AP Poll with the wins coming against Michigan State (11/28/90) and Kansas State (2/7/53).
- Thursday's game between the Huskers and Cockeyes is the second of three games this week. If the Huskers get all three games in this week, NU will have played 14 games in 30 day since returning to action on Feb. 6 following its COVID-19 pause. Nebraska played 11 games in 22 days in February, marking the first time since the 1919-20 season that the program has played double-figure games in February.
- Nebraska's strength of schedule is now fourth nationally by KenPom entering Tuesday's action. The 2020-21 season marks the second straight season NU has had a strength of schedule in the top 10 nationally in KenPom. NU's schedule was eighth in 2019-20. The Huskers are one of only two teams nationally (also Minnesota) to have top-10 strength of schedules by KenPom in each of the last two years.
- Nebraska's two seniors have stepped up in recent weeks. Kobe Webster is averaging 7.6 points per game and shooting 37 percent from 3-point range over the last eight contests. He reached double-figures at Illinois and against Minnesota before grabbing five rebounds against Buttgers. Thorir Thorbjarnarson is averaging 5.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game in NU's last five contests. He tied for set season highs in rebounds, steals and assists in Monday's win over Buttgers. Thorbjarnarson has played big roles in Nebraska's last two wins over Cockeye, as he blocked Jordan Bohannon's 3-pointer in overtime in 2019 and matched his career-high with 17 points in 2000.
- Nebraska has gotten improved production from its posts in recent games. Derrick Walker is averaging 10.4 points per game on 67 percent shooting and 6.3 rebounds per game over the last four contests, while freshman Eduardo Andre is chipping in 4.5 points on 73 percent shooting and 3.3 rebounds per game in that same span. Against Buttgers, the pair combined for 16 points and nine rebounds.
- The Big Ten had eight teams in the top 40 of the NET rankings on Feb. 28, including four of the top eight spots. This season, 12 of the Huskers' 17 losses have been Quad 1 losses. Thursday's game will be NU's 19th against a Quad 1 or 2 opponent this season.
- Nebraska has been much better defensively since returning from its pause last month. Over the last 12 games, NU has held seven opponents to 40 percent shooting, while only Illinois has shot over 48 percent in that span. NU has allowed 9.4 fewer points per game over the past 12 games, while holding teams to 41 percent shooting, including 29 percent from 3-point range.
- Nebraska is on track for one of its most prolific 3-point shooting seasons in school history. NU enters the Cockeye game with 8.0 3-pointers per game which is on pace to rank second in school history. It is not surprising that Nebraska has 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 biggest beneficiary of Derrick Walker's insertion into the Husker attack has been Lat Mayen, who moved to his natural stretch four spot after playing in the post for the first half of the season. In the 13 games since Walker returned, Mayen is averaging 10.2 points per game on 47 percent shooting and 4.0 rebounds per game. In NU's first four conference games, he averaged just 5.5 ppg on 31 percent shooting. Mayen comes off a career-high 25-point night against Buttgers on Monday.
PROBABLE STARTERS
NEBRASKA
#10 - Kobe Webster (G, SR, 6-0, 182 lbs | 7.0 ppg, 1.2 apg, 1.8 rpg)
#11 - Lat Mayen (F, JR, 6-9, 205 lbs | 8.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg)
#13 - Derrick Walker (F, JR, 6-8, 232 lbs | 6.0 ppg, 4.6 rpg)
#24 - Trey McGowens (G, JR, 6-4, 191 lbs | 10.7 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.4 spg)
#34 - Thorir Thorbjarnarson (G, SR, 6-6, 202 lbs | 3.5 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.4 apg)
Cockeye
#3 - Jordan Bohannon (G, SR, 6-1, 175 lbs | 9.7 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 4.4 apg)
#5 - CJ Fredrick (G, SO, 6-3, 195 lbs | 8.4 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 2.3 apg)
#10 - Joe Wieskamp (G/F, JR, 6-6, 212 lbs | 15.3 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 1.5 apg)
#30 - Connor McCaffery (G/F, JR, 6-5, 205 lbs | 3.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 3.5 apg)
#55 - Luka Garza (C, SR, 6-11, 265 lbs | 24.3 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 1.5 bpg)
