Game 18: at Rutgers
Date: Wed., Jan. 17
Tipoff: 6 p.m. (CT)
Location: Piscataway, N.J.
Arena: Jersey Mike’s Arena
On the Air
Radio: Wednesday’s game will be carried on the Huskers Radio Network with Kent Pavelka and Jake Muhleisen on the call, including KLIN (1400 AM) in Lincoln, KXSP (590 AM) in Omaha and KRVN (880 AM) in Lexington and will also be available on Huskers.com and the Huskers app. The pregame show begins an hour before tipoff.
The Nebraska men’s basketball team wraps up a stretch of three road games in a four-game span this Wednesday, Jan. 17, as the Huskers travel to Rutgers for a matchup with the Scarlet Knights. Tipoff at Jersey Mike’s Arena is slated for 6 p.m. (central) and the game will be carried on the Big Ten Network and the Huskers Radio Network.
Nebraska (13-4, 3-3 Big Ten) looks to regroup after dropping a 94-76 decision at Iowa Friday night in blizzard conditions that forced the Huskers to stay in Iowa City until Saturday. After falling behind 17-2 in the first seven minutes, Nebraska fought all the way back and led 50-49 with 16:50 left in the second half before the Hawkeyes took control with an 18-4 run. Iowa shot 59.4 percent in the second half with eight 3-pointers to seize control. Rienk Mast and Josiah Allick led NU with 14 points apiece, but the Huskers struggled from 3-point range, going 4-of-26 from beyond the arc. That snapped a streak of three straight games with at least 10 3-pointers for the Big Red.
Mast has been an anchor for the Husker frontcourt, as the 6-foot-10 junior averages 13.3 points, 8.5 rebound and 2.9 assists per game in his first year after transferring from Bradley. He is averaging 14.3 ppg over the last four games after missing NU’s final two non-conference games following a procedure on his knee. Allick, who started the two games that Mast missed, has been efficient on the offensive end, averaging 7.5 points per game on 77 percent shooting over NU’s last six contests.
Rutgers (9-7, 1-4 Big Ten) comes off a 73-55 loss at Michigan State on Sunday in East Lansing. Aundre Hyatt finished with a team-high 14 points, including a trio of 3-pointers, while Mawot Mag added 12 points and five boards. The Spartans held Rutgers to 37 percent shooting and were outrebounded 37-30. Rutgers has been tough at home, going 8-1 in Jersey Mike’s Arena.
Numbers to Know
.801 – Nebraska is shooting 80.1 percent from the foul line (177-221) over the last 11 contests dating back to Nov. 22. Keisei Tominaga is shooting a team-best 92.5 percent (37-of-40) in that span, while Brice Williams is at an 88.9 clip (32-of-36).
80.5 – Nebraska has averaged 80.5 points per game during its four games this month. NU will be tested against a Rutgers defense that allows 64.3 points per game to rank second in the Big Ten.9
9.2 – NU leads the Big Ten with 9.2 3-pointers per game as of Jan. 15, 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 8-1 this season when hitting at least 10 3-pointers.
15 – Nebraska has held 15 of 17 opponents under 50 percent shooting. Dating back to last season, NU has held 21 of its last 24 opponents to under 50 percent shooting.
8.5 – Rienk Mast leads the Huskers and ranks fifth in the Big Ten with 8.5 rebounds per game. It is on pace to be NU’s highest rebounding average since the 2007-08 season (Aleks Maric, 10.2 rpg).
4 – Nebraska’s 2023-24 roster features four career 1,000-point scorers (Josiah Allick, Jarron Coleman, Rienk Mast and Brice Williams). Williams became the most recent member of the 1,000-point club at Wisconsin on Jan. 6.
1.48 – Nebraska’s assist-to-turnover ratio this season, which is sixth in the Big Ten as of Jan. 15. Over the last decade, NU’s best assist-to-turnover ratio is 1.32, set in the 2018-19 season. Nebraska’s 16.2 assists per game is the program’s highest average since 1995-96 (17.37 apg).
Worth Noting
• While Lincoln is nearly 1,300 miles from Piscataway, Wednesday’s game at Rutgers will be a homecoming for a pair of Huskers from the tri-state area. Jamarques Lawrence and C.J. Wilcher are from Plainfield, N.J., which is less than 10 miles away from Jersey Mike’s Arena. In addition, NU strength coach Kurt Joseph also has ties to the area, as he is from Morganville, less than 20 miles from the Rutgers campus.
• Nebraska enters Wednesday’s game with a 13-4 mark, which matches NU’s best 17-game record since joining the Big Ten (also in 2018-19). A win on Wednesday would match NU’s best 18-game start since the 1991-92 team opened the year with a 15-2 mark.
• The Huskers have snapped several streaks in 2023-24. The Dec. 10 win over Michigan State snapped an 11-game losing streak to the Spartans dating back to 2016. The Dec. 17 win over Kansas State broke a seven-game losing streak to the Wildcats dating back to 2009, while the win over Indiana on Jan. 3 was NU’s first since 2009, breaking another seven-game losing streak to an opponent.
• The Huskers are 19-7 over the last 26 games dating back to Feb. 1, 2023, which ranks second in winning percentage as of Jan. 16. A big reason for that is NU’s offense, as NU has averaged 77 ppg on 47 percent shooting in that stretch.
• Nebraska enters the Rutgers game averaging 78.3 points per game. It is NU’s highest points per game average since averaging 80.2 points per game in the 1995-96 season and on pace to finish in the top 10 in single-season scoring average. It is also more than 10 points per game higher than NU’s average at the 17-game mark in 2002-23. NU has climbed from 149th to 28th nationally in offensive efficiency in KenPom as of Jan. 10.
• The Huskers are now 24-4 under Fred Hoiberg when scoring at least 80 points, including 19-1 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 17 games when reaching the 80-point plateau.
• C.J. Wilcher has been on a tear in recent weeks, averaging 12.4 points per game on 61 percent shooting over the last six contests to raise his season average to 8.2 ppg. He is 15-of-26 from 3-point range (.577) in that stretch with four double-figure efforts in NU’s last six games.
• Nebraska held Kansas State to 46 points on Dec. 17 in holding the Wildcats to their fewest points since the 2020-21 season and third-fewest total at home since Bramlage Coliseum opened in 1988. It marked the fewest points NU allowed on the road since joining the Big Ten and was only the second time NU had held an opponent under 50 points on the road since the 2011-12 season. Nebraska allowed just 0.68 points per possession, its lowest total in the Big Ten era.
• One strength of the Huskers has been getting to the free throw line. NU has shot more free throws in 14 of 17 games in 2023-24 and its +94 differential ranks fourth in the Big Ten as of Jan. 15. Nebraska has had more free throws made (264) than opponents have attempted (257). NU allows just 15.2 free throw attempts per game to rank second in the Big Ten as of Jan. 15.
• Nebraska enters Wednesday’s game ranked second in the Big Ten in free throw shooting at 75.2 percent. It is on pace to be one of NU’s highest season percentages. NU has not shot over 74 percent from the foul line since the 2011-12 season when NU shot a school-record 76.6 percent.
• Nebraska’s bench has provided a spark, averaging 24.4 points per game. The Huskers’ leading scorer has come from the bench six times (Hoiberg-Lindenwood; Wilcher-Rider, North Dakota and South Carolina State; Gary-Stony Brook; Allick-Iowa) and NU has had 16 double-figure efforts from its bench in 2023-24.
• Nebraska won its first seven games by 10 or more points. It was just the second time in over 100 years – the other was from Dec. 3-30, 1990 – that the Huskers won seven straight games by double figures.
• 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 Rutgers
Rutgers comes into Wednesday’s game with a 9-7 mark following Sunday’s loss to Michigan State. Rutgers just finished a stretch of playing three of four on the road to resume Big Ten action. Wednesday’s game begins a stretch where they have three home games over the next four contests to close the month.
The Scarlet Knights are coached by Steve Pikiell, who is in his eighth season at the school. He guided Rutgers to postseason appearances in each of the past three seasons, including NCAA Tournament berths in 2021 and 2022. Prior to 2021, Rutgers had not been to the NCAA Tournament since 1991.
The Scarlet Knights returned a pair of starters and nine letterwinners from a team that won 19 games last season. Aundre Hyatt leads Rutgers with 12 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, while Mawot Mag is at 10.9 ppg and 5.1 rpg. All-Big Ten performer Clifford Omoruyi is one of the conference’s top big men as he averages 9.9 ppg and is among the Big Ten leaders in rebounding (9.0 rpg) and blocked shots (3.4 bpg). As a team, Rutgers averages 5.8 blocks per game and holds teams to under 40 percent shooting.
Series History: Wednesday’s matchup will be the 19th all-time meeting with the Scarlet Knights. Nebraska leads the all-time series 10-8 and has won nine of the 15 meetings since Rutgers joined the Big Ten in 2014-15. Nebraska won the only meeting last year, an 82-72 win in Piscataway. In that game, Keisei Tominaga had 22 points while C.J. Wilcher added 17, including five 3-pointers. Prior to the Scarlet Knights joining the Big Ten, the two teams split a home-and-home series in 2006 and 2007. The only other meeting was a 19-point Rutgers win at the 1999 Hoop and Quill Classic in St. Charles, Mo.
A Red-Letter Day: Huskers Knock Off No. 1 Purdue
The 88-72 win over No. 1 Purdue on Jan. 9 marked Nebraska’s fourth all-time win against a No. 1 team and first since a 67-51 win at Missouri on Feb. 6, 1982.
• The Huskers’ other wins against No. 1 teams came in 1958 (Kansas State) and Michigan (1964).
• Nebraska snapped an 11-game losing streak against AP No. 1 teams dating back to 1982.
• Of Nebraska’s four all-time wins against No. 1 teams, Fred Hoiberg’s family has been part of two of them. His grandfather, Jerry Bush, coached the Huskers to their 1958 win over No.1 Kansas State.
• The win over Purdue was NU’s 25th all-time win against a top-10 team in program history.
• Nebraska has now beaten at least one top-10 team in each of the past three seasons, the first time that has happened since NU knocked off top-10 teams in four consecutive seasons (1990-91 to 1993-94) under Danny Nee.