Huskers Look For B1G Road Win At Indiana Wednesday Evening

Huskers Look for B1G Road Win at Indiana Wednesday Evening
The Nebraska men's basketball team looks to extend a two-game winning streak on Wednesday, as the Huskers travel to Bloomington, Ind., to face the Indiana Hoosiers. Tipoff from Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall is set for shortly after 7:30 p.m. (central) and the matchup will be televised on BTN and available on the Huskers Radio Network.

Nebraska (18-8, 8-7 Big Ten) brings a two-game win streak to Bloomington following a 68-49 win over Penn State last Saturday. The Huskers held Penn State to 33 percent shooting and out-rebounded the Nittany Lions, 42-31. Keisei Tominaga led three Huskers in double figures with 17 points, including 12 in the second half as Nebraska extended a six-point halftime lead by out-scoring the Nittany Lions, 40-27 in the second half.  Nebraska held Penn State 25 points below its season average, while the 49 points allowed matched Nebraska's lowest total allowed in Big Ten play since 2015. 

The effort against Penn State continued a trend for the Huskers this month. Over the last five games, NU has allowed an average of 69.4 points per game, which is eight points per game fewer than during January. Nebraska has held all five opponents this month under 43 percent shooting, and the Huskers will be challenged by an Indiana team which is third in the Big Ten in field goal percentage. 

 Indiana (14-11, 6-8 Big Ten) looks to break a two-game losing streak following a 76-72 loss to Northwestern on Sunday. Kel'el Ware had 22 points and 16 rebounds while Mackenzie Mgbako had 20 points as Indiana nearly rallied back from a 16-point deficit in the final six minutes of the game. Indiana shot 51 percent from the field but went just 12-of-21 from the foul line while Northwestern went 22-of-28 from the charity stripe, including 13-of-17 in the second half.

Numbers to Know
19.5 - Keisei Tominaga is averaging 19.5 points per game over the last four games on 53 percent shooting, including 46 percent from 3-point range. 

9.3 - NU leads the Big Ten with 9.5 3-pointers per game as of Feb. 19, an average which is on pace to challenge the single-season school record for 3-pointers per game (9.5/gm, 2001-02). The Huskers are 9-4 this season when hitting at least 10 3-pointers.

17 - Nebraska has won its 17 games dating back to last season when holding an opponent to 70 points or less. This season, NU is 13-0 following the win over Penn State on Feb. 17.

2 - Rienk Mast became only the second Husker in the last 25 years to post a 30-point, 10-rebound game with his performance against Ohio State on Jan. 24. He joined Aleks Maric, who accomplished the feat four times in his career from 2005 to 2008.

11 - Fred Hoiberg has 11 career wins against top-10 teams and 28 wins over ranked opponents in his collegiate coaching career. This season, NU has wins over No. 1 Purdue and No. 6 Wisconsin.

Worth Noting 
• Nebraska has already exceeded its win total from last season (16) and the 18 wins this season are the most by the Huskers since the 2018-19 season. Under Fred Hoiberg, NU has increased its win total in each of the past three years, the first time that has happened in the program since the mid-1960s (1963-64 to 1965-66).

• Nebraska enters Wednesday's game with a 18-8 record, which matches the Huskers' best 26-game mark since joining the Big Ten in the 2011-12 season (also 18-8 in 2017-18).  The last time NU had a better record after 26 games was an 19-7 mark in 1991-92, as NU was also 18-8 in 2010-11 and 1992-93.

• A win Wednesday would give NU its first Big Ten road win of the season, but also give the Huskers a season sweep of Indiana for the first time since 2013-14. In addition, NU would match its Big Ten win total from last season.  The last time NU won at least nine conference games in consecutive seasons was 10 wins apiece in the Big 12 in 1997-98 and 1998-99.

• Nebraska has already broken several long losing streaks to teams this season. The Feb. 10 over Michigan snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Wolverines. It marked the fifth streak of at least seven games snapped this season: Michigan State (11 games); Michigan (eight games); Kansas State (seven games); Indiana (seven games) and Northwestern (seven games).

• With the win over No. 6 Wisconsin on Feb. 1, Nebraska has two top-10 wins for the first time since 2013-14 and the sixth time in school history (2023-24, 2013-14, 1993-94, 1991-92, 1990-91 and 1957-58).  The 1957-58 team was coached by Jerry Bush, the grandfather of current Husker Head Coach Fred Hoiberg. 

• Nebraska enters the Indiana game averaging 77.0 points per game to rank fourth in the Big Ten in scoring offense as of Feb. 19.   It is NU's highest points per game average since the 1995-96 season (80.2 ppg). NU has climbed from 149th to 41st nationally in offensive efficiency in KenPom as of Feb. 19. NU's highest average since joining the Big Ten was 73.3 points per game in 2021-22.

• A few Huskers are approaching milestones heading into Wednesday's game at Indiana. Keisei Tominaga:  Is three 3-pointers away from eighth place on NU's career list...Is 25 points away from moving past Terrance Badgett for 36th on NU's career scoring list...Needs 71 points to become the 31st player in school history to reach 1,000 points at Nebraska...C.J. Wilcher: Is 10 points from 800 for his career...Is one 3-pointer from 150 in his career.  Juwan Gary: Needs seven points to reach 700 for his career. 

•  Nebraska leads the Big Ten and ranks 29th nationally with 9.3 3-pointers per game as of Feb. 19. NU has 241 3-pointers this season, a total which is fifth on NU's single-season chart. The Huskers are just three 3-pointers away from the No. 4 spot on NU's single-season list. 

•  The Huskers have been one of the most consistent teams in the Big Ten for the last year. NU is 24-11 over the last 35 games dating back to Feb. 1, 2023, which ranks second only to Purdue in the Big Ten in winning percentage in that span. 

• While NU's offense garners much of the headlines, the Huskers rank second in the Big Ten in field goal defense, holding opponents to .399 shooting percentage. NU has held its last two opponents to under 35 percent shooting and six straight foes to under 43 percent dating back to Jan. 27th.

• Nebraska enters Wednesday's game ranked third in the Big Ten in free throw shooting at 76.0 percent.  It is on pace to be one of NU's highest season percentages in school history and the highest since the 2011-12 team set a school record with a .766 free throw percentage.  In Big Ten play, Nebraska is shooting 78.7 percent from the line as a team. 

• The Huskers are 24-6 under Fred Hoiberg when scoring at least 80 points, including 19-3 over the last three seasons. All three losses have come in overtime (104-100 in 4OT at NC State on Dec. 1, 2021; 87-82 in OT at Rutgers on Jan. 17, 2024; 87-84 at Illinois on Feb. 4). NU had won its last 17 games when reaching the 80-point plateau before the OT loss at Rutgers.

• One strength of the Huskers has been getting to the free throw line. NU has shot more free throws in 17 of 26 games in 2023-24 and its +83 differential is fourth in the Big Ten as of Feb. 19. NU is also second in the conference in keeping people off the line, allowing 16.3 free throw attempts per game. 

• Nebraska's bench has provided a spark, averaging a conference-best 23.1 points per game as of Feb. 19. The Huskers' leading scorer has come from the bench eight times (Hoiberg-Lindenwood; Wilcher-five times; Gary-Stony Brook; Allick-Iowa), and NU has had 23 double-figure efforts from its bench in 2023-24.

• The Huskers finished non-conference action with a 10-1 mark, matching their best non-conference record since joining the Big Ten (also 2018-19).  

About Indiana
Indiana comes into Wednesday's game with a 14-11 mark, including 6-8 in Big Ten play. The Hoosiers look to snap a two-game losing streak following Sunday’s loss to Northwestern.  

Former Indiana All-American Mike Woodson is in his third season at the helm of the Hoosier program. Woodson spent eight-plus seasons as an NBA head coach, guiding the Atlanta Hawks (2004-10) and the New York Knicks (2012-2014). He guided his teams to a trio of Eastern Conference semifinal appearances (2009, 2010, 2013) during his head coaching tenure. Woodson was the 1980 Big Ten Player of the Year before playing 11 seasons in the NBA.

Malik Reneau has been one of the breakout players in the Big Ten, as he averages 15.7 points per game on 56 percent shooting and 6.1 rebounds per game. Kel'el Ware, an Oregon transfer, is averaging 15.0 ppg on 57 percent shooting and is among the Big Ten leaders in rebounding (9.4 rpg) and blocked shots (1.6 bpg). Indiana has four players averaging double figures, and the Hoosiers average 72.9 points per game and rank third in the conference in field goal percentage (.475). 

Series History: Nebraska and Indiana meet for the 28th time on Wednesday and the 19th time since the Huskers joined the Big Ten in 2011-12. Indiana leads the all-time series, 19-8, but the Huskers are 7-11 against the Hoosiers since NU joined the Big Ten (7-10 regular season; 0-1 Big Ten Tournament). Nebraska snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Hoosiers in the first meeting. NU is looking for its first win in Bloomington since Jan. 14, 2019.

Last Meeting: Behind 28 points from Keisei Tominaga, Nebraska improved to 12-2 on the season with an 86-70 win over Indiana at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Jan. 3. Tominaga had 18 of his 28 in the second half, as Nebraska hit 12 3-pointers en route to its first win over Indiana since 2019.  Tominaga hit four 3-pointers, including three in the second half in helping Nebraska build a 22-point lead before cruising to a 16-point win.  He was one of four Huskers in double figures, as Brice Williams added 15 points, six boards and four steals, while Jamarques Lawrence and C.J. Wilcher added 12 and 11 markers, respectively.  Lawrence also set a career high with four steals. The Huskers had 15 steals and forced Indiana into 19 turnovers, leading to 27 Husker points.

Last Time Out
Nebraska relied on one of its strongest defensive efforts of the season to post a 68-49 win over Penn State on Feb. 17.  The Huskers held Penn State to a season-low 49 points, more than 25 points per game below the Nittany Lions’ season average. It marked the lowest total Nebraska had allowed in Big Ten play since the 2014-15 season. 

Keisei Tominaga had 12 of his team-high 17 points in the second half, while Juwan Gary and Rienk Mast added 13 and 12 points respectively, as Nebraska improved to 16-1 at Pinnacle Bank Arena this season. 

Leading 28-22 at the break, the Huskers opened the second half with a 10-2 run over the first 3:17 to stretch the margin to 14 after a Tominaga jumper. 

Penn State got to within 38-28, but a Tominaga 3-pointer and a Gary layup that saw NU use a 13-2 spurt to push the margin to 51-30 after a Gary tip-in with 9:47 left. Gary had six rebounds as Nebraska enjoyed a 42-31 advantage on the glass. 

Penn State would mount a comeback, trimming a 22-point deficit to 12 after a 12-2 run to get within 55-43 after an Ace Baldwin Jr. 3-pointer with 5:51 left, but Nebraska answered right back. A Tominaga 3-pointer and a Mast basket pushed the lead to 17 with just under five minutes remaining, and NU cruised to a 19-point margin.