Indiana travels to Nebraska – The Daily Hoosier

On By Littum

Game Day Essentials:

Indiana (8-2, 1-0) at Nebraska (6-2, 0-1)

  • Tip time: 8pm Eastern, Friday
  • Location: Pinnacle Bank Arena (15,500), Lincoln, Neb.
  • Television: FOX (Brandon Gaudin, LaPhonso Ellis)
  • Radio: IU Radio Network (Don Fischer, Errek Suhr, John Herrick)
  • Current: Fox Sports
  • Point spread: Nebraska is a 3.5 point favorite
  • KenPom’s expected result: Indiana 75 Nebraska 76
  • History: Indiana leads the series, 20-10
  • Last meeting: IU 66, Nebraska 93 March 15, 2024 in Minneapolis (Big Ten Tournament)
  • Tickets (via our StubHub affiliate link)

Nebraska’s Fred Hoiberg

Fred Hoiberg is in his sixth season as head coach of the Nebraska men’s basketball program. Over his two stints at the college level, Hoiberg has a combined record of 184-151.

After a 10-year playing career in the NBA, Hoiberg made his head coaching debut in 2010 with Iowa State. With no previous head coaching experience, he led the Cyclones to some impressive seasons. Hoiberg accumulated four NCAA Tournament appearances in his five seasons as a head coach and won the Big 12 Tournament twice. Iowa State also finished in the top five in the Big 12 in four of those five seasons.

After Iowa State, Hoiberg spent a short time coaching the Chicago Bulls of the NBA. Across four seasons, he finished with a 115-155 record with one playoff appearance.

Hoiberg has been with the Cornhuskers since 2019 and has compiled a 69-96 record thus far. While the record isn’t great on paper, Hoiberg has led an impressive turnaround in the program, especially over the past few seasons. After finishing at or near the bottom of the Big Ten in his first three seasons, Hoiberg finished at .500 with his 2022–23 team. Last season was his best yet as the Huskers finished 23-11 with a 12-8 record in the Big Ten. That placed them third in the conference, and their resume was good enough for a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Nebraska results and roster:

DATE OPPONENT LOCATION RESULT
4/11/2024 Texas Rio Grande Valley Lincoln, Neb. W 87-67
9/11/2024 Bethune Cookman Lincoln, Neb. W 63-58
13/11/2024 FDU Lincoln, Neb. W 86-60
17/11/2024 against Saint Mary’s Sioux Falls, SD L 74-77
22/11/2024 at #14 Creighton Omaha, Neb. W 74-63
27/11/2024 South Dakota Lincoln, Neb. W 96-79
1/12/2024 North Florida Lincoln, Neb. W 103-72
7/12/2024 at Michigan State East Lansing, Mich. L 52-89

Nebraska’s game notes (via Husker Athletics)

Nebraska (6-2, 0-1) looks to bounce back from an 89-52 loss at now-No. 21 at Michigan State in its Big Ten opener last Saturday in East Lansing. The Huskers shot just 33 percent on the day, including 29 percent in the second half, as the Spartans took control in the second half. Nebraska entered its Big Ten opener averaging 86.6 ppg over its previous five games on 48 percent shooting.

• Nebraska has gotten big production from its bench early on, averaging 28.1 points per game. match over the first eight matches. The Huskers led the Big Ten in bench production last season, averaging 21.4 points per game. match.

• Nebraska looks to extend a pair of home winning streaks, as Nebraska has won 10 straight Big 10 conference games and 17 straight games inside Pinnacle Bank Arena dating back to last season. NU was a perfect 10-0 inside the PBA in Big Ten play last season.

• Friday’s game will feature a pair of former NBA coaches with Fred Hoiberg and Indiana’s Mike Woodson. Woodson and Hoiberg both spent significant time in the NBA, but their head coaching careers did not overlap. They are two of the eight former NBA head coaches running Division I programs this season.

• The Huskers will look for a bounce-back performance from junior guard Connor Essegian, who was held to one point in Saturday’s loss at Michigan State. A native of Fort Wayne, Ind., Essegian had averaged 25.5 ppg on 56 percent shooting, including 52 percent from 3-point range, in the previous two contests.

• Over the last 12 games dating back to last season, Brice Williams is averaging 18.3 points per game. game on .477 shooting and has six 20-point efforts in that span.

• With its 6-2 start in 2024-25, Nebraska is 35-16 over its last 51 games dating back to the start of February 2023. NU’s .686 winning percentage trails only Purdue and Illinois in that stretch. NU only went 33-80 from the start of the 2019-20 season through February 1, 2023.

• Nebraska averages 9.3 steals per game. games to rank third in the Big Ten and 35th nationally per December 10.

• Nebraska is coming off one of its most successful seasons in program history. The Huskers went 23-11 in 2023-24 and finished third in the Big Ten standings before reaching the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013-14.

• Nebraska has increased its win total in each of the past three years, marking the first time NU has done so since the mid-1960s (1963-64 through 1965-66).

• Over the past two seasons, NU has won 21 conference games, the highest two-year total since 1965-66 and the 1966-67 teams won 22 conference tilts.

Williams looks to build on postseason success
Senior guard Brice Williams has built on a strong finish in the early stages of the 2024-25 season. The 6-foot-7 senior leads the Huskers in scoring at 17.5 points per game. game into Friday’s game with Indiana. He has reached double figures in all eight contests, including a pair of 25-point efforts.

Gary returns as the Huskers’ Glue Guy
One luxury Nebraska has is the return of senior forward Juwan Gary. The 6-foot-6 senior from Columbia, SC, has shown the ability to fill a stat sheet, but enjoys doing the little things to help NU succeed. Gary enters the Indiana game averaging 10.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.1 assists per game.

Essegian Enjoying Career Year
Connor Essegian has proven to be an impact transfer for the Huskers. The 6-foot-4 guard is averaging a career-high 13.0 points per game. game while pacing the Huskers in 3-pointers with 20.

Nebraska’s KenPom Notable Numbers:

(out of 364 teams)

Tempo – no. 83 (Attack no. 78 / Defense no. 56)

Offensive Efficiency – No. 98

  • Nebraska has an effective field goal percentage of 50.4 (No. 184). They are shooting 29.8 percent on 3s (No. 290) and 53.9 percent from two-pointers (No. 109)
  • They take good care of the ball with a 15.4 percent turnover rate (No. 65).
  • The Cornhuskers score 24.7 of their total points at the free throw line (No. 20). They shoot 76.6 from the line as a team (No. 51), and their attempt rate is also quite high (43.2 FTA/FGA, No. 30).

Defensive efficiency – no. 33

  • The Huskers force a high number of turnovers at a rate of 22.3 percent (No. 25).
  • The teams shoot a high rate of three-pointers against Nebraska. 44.1 of the opponent’s points come from made 3s (No. 4).
  • They have a decent block rate of 11.1 percent (No. 108).
  • They limit second-chance opportunities with an opponent offensive rebound rate of 28.1 percent (No. 119)

OG’s choice:

Win/Loss Record so far: 7-1

I’ll admit I might have gotten a little carried away with the margin for Minnesota, so let’s dial it back a bit.

Nebraska’s stats are the best of any team since Battle 4 Atlantis. Add in Nebraska being at home and this could be a VERY close endeavor.

I think I like Indiana here though. Nebraska’s offensive numbers are good, but not great. We’ve also seen Nebraska struggle with good defensive teams (Saint Mary’s and Michigan State are both top-30 in KenPom). If Indiana can get stops and have a decent scoring record similar to Minnesota, they should take it.

PICK: Indiana 68 – Nebraska 64

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