Story by NU Athletic Communications
The Nebraska men's basketball team hosts its biggest challenge of the season Tuesday evening, as the Huskers host No. 1 Purdue at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
(Radio Coverage in the Panhandle begins at 6 pm MT on KCOW, and panhandlepost.com) This note is seperate from release
It is the first time that the Nebraska men has hosted a No. 1 team since 2002, and just the sixth time in program history that NU has welcomed the nation's top-ranked team to town.
Nebraska (12-3, 2-2 Big Ten) looks to bounce back following an 88-72 loss at No. 21 Wisconsin on Saturday. The Huskers ran into a hot-shooting Badger team who shot 55 percent from the floor and hit a season-high 13 3-pointers to snap Nebraska's five-game win streak. Nebraska performed well offensively, shooting nearly 50 percent from the field and tied a season high with 12 3-pointers in a losing effort.
Senior guard Keisei Tominaga led three Huskers in double figures with 17 points, as he continued a strong week. Tominaga averaged 22.5 points per game on 64 percent shooting, including 44 percent from 3-point range, in Nebraska's two games this week.
Purdue (14-1, 3-1 Big Ten) comes off an 83-78 win over No. 9 Illinois on Friday night. While Zach Edey posted a double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds, it was Trey Kaufman-Renn who shined with a team-high 23 points to lead four Boilermakers in double figures. Purdue built a 21-point lead with just over 12 minutes remaining and withstood a furious Illinois comeback in the final minutes.
Huskers vs. No. 1 Tuesday's game against Purdue will mark Nebraska's 17th game against the nation's No. 1 team in program history and first since Feb. 13, 2013. It is also the first time that the Huskers have hosted a No. 1 team since Feb. 24, 2002, when Keith Langford’s 3-pointer with 33 seconds left lifted Kansas to an 88-87 win over the Huskers. NU is 3-13 all-time against No. 1 teams and short recaps of the three wins are below.
vs. Kansas State (3/3/58): Wilson Fitzpatrick's 19 points and 10 rebounds led the Huskers to a 55-48 win over a Kansas State team coached by Tex Winter and led by All-American Bob Boozer. It was Nebraska's second top five win in as many games, as Nebraska had topped No. 4 Kansas and Wilt Chamberlain, 43-41 in the previous contest. NU's head coach was Jerry Bush - the grandfather of current Husker coach Fred Hoiberg.
vs. Michigan (12/12/64): Fred Hare tipped in a rebound in the last second to lead Nebraska back from a 14-point deficit and a 74-73 win. With eight seconds remaining, Hare missed a 15-footer but got his own rebound and put it back in the final second to give Nebraska a win.
at Missouri (2/6/1982): Jack Moore and Greg Downing combined for 26 points leading Nebraska to a 67-51 win in Columbia. Missouri entered the game with a 19-0 mark and a 29-game home winning streak, but Nebraska's defense held Big Eight Player of the Year Ricky Frazier to just six points. NU went 25 of 31 from the line in earning its first win in Columbia since 1974.
Worth Noting • Nebraska enters Tuesday's game with a 12-3 record, the program's best start in the Big Ten era (2011-12 to present) and best since the 2010-11 team won 13 of its first 15 contests.
• The Huskers have snapped several streaks over the last month. 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 last Wednesday’s win over Indiana was its first since 2019, as Indiana had won seven straight meetings entering the contest.
• Nebraska will look to break another streak on Tuesday, as NU has lost its last five games to ranked teams dating back to a 63-53 win at No. 7 Creighton on Dec. 4, 2022. The Huskers are 3-5 in their last seven games against ranked opponents dating back to March 1, 2002.
• The Huskers are 18-6 over the last 23 games dating back to Feb. 1, 2023, which is second only to Purdue in terms of winning percentage. A big reason for that is NU's offense, as NU has averaged 76.5 ppg on 46 percent shooting in that stretch.
• Nebraska enters the Purdue game averaging 77.8 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 15-game mark in 2002-23. NU has climbed from 149th to 44th nationally in offensive efficiency in KenPom as of Jan. 7.
• The Huskers are now 23-4 under Fred Hoiberg when scoring at least 80 points, including 18-1 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 16 games when reaching the 80-point plateau.
• 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.
• The Huskers held South Carolina State to 11 first-half points on Dec. 29. The 11 points allowed broke a Pinnacle Bank Arena record for fewest points allowed in a half, breaking the mark of 13 set two times. It was also the fewest points NU allowed in a half since allowing nine to Jackson State in 2009.
• One strength of the Huskers has been getting to the free throw line. NU has shot more free throws in 12 of 15 games in 2023-24 and its +89 differential ranks fourth in the Big Ten as of Jan. 8. Nebraska has had more free throws made (236) than opponents have attempted (228). NU allows just 15.2 free throw attempts per game to rank fourth in the Big Ten as of Jan. 8.
• Nebraska enters Tuesday's game ranked fourth in the Big Ten in free throw shooting at 74.4 percent. While it is still early in the season, 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 23.4 points per game. The Huskers' leading scorer has come from the bench five times (Hoiberg-Lindenwood; Wilcher-Rider, North Dakota and South Carolina State; Gary-Stony Brook) and NU has had 13 double-figure efforts from its bench in 2023-24, including three straight from C.J. Wilcher.
• 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 itheir best non-conference record since joining the Big Ten (also 2018-19).
Numbers to Know1 - Rienk Mast is one of six players nationally and the only power conference player as of Jan. 4 averaging at least 10 points, 9 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game this season.
1.42 -Nebraska's assist-to-turnover ratio this season, which is sixth in the Big Ten as of Jan. 8. NU's best assist-to-turnover ratio in the last decade is 1.32, set in the 2018-19 season. That season, NU had 9.96 turnovers per game, the lowest average since assists were tracked in 1978-79.
2 - Wisconsin became just the second Husker opponent in the last 22 games to shoot 50 percent against Nebraska. The previous season high for a Husker opponent was .472 at Minnesota on Dec. 6. NU ranks fourth in the Big Ten in field goal percentage defense (.390) as of Jan. 8.
4 - The 14-point deficit against North Dakota on Dec. 20 was NU's largest comeback of the season and fourth time under Fred Hoiberg that Nebraska has overcome a double-digit deficit. It was also NU's largest comeback vs. a non-conference foe since the 2014-15 season.
9.3 - NU ranks second in the Big Ten with 9.3 3-pointers per game as of Jan. 8. NU has averaged more than 8.0 3-pointers/game just twice in program history (2001-02 and 2020-21). The Huskers are 7-1 this season when hitting at least 10 3-pointers.
18.5 - Keisei Tominaga is averaging 18.5 points per game on 58 percent shooting in Nebraska's games against ranked opponents this season. In his last six games againt ranked foes dating back to last year, Tominaga is shooting 52 percent, including 50 percent from 3-point range.
79.7 - Nebraska is shooting 79.7 percent from the foul line (149-187) over the last 10 contests dating back to Nov. 22. Keisei Tominaga is shooting a team-best 91.7 percent (33-of-36) in that span.
1,004 - Career points for Nebraska guard Brice Williams, who went over the 1,000-point mark in Saturday's loss at No. 21 Wisconsin. Williams had 10 points and dished out a career-high six assists against the Badgers.
About PurduePurdue comes to Lincoln with a 14-1 record following an 83-78 win over No. 9 Illinois last Friday. The Boilermakers have been battle tested with wins over Gonzaga, Tennessee, Marquette, Alabama and Arizona during non-conference action. Purdue's only loss is a three-point OT loss at Northwestern on Dec. 1.
Purdue returned all five starters from a team that swept the Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles and won 29 games last season for Matt Painter, who is in his 19th season at Purdue.
Purdue's attack starts with Zach Edey, as the 7-foot-4 center looks to become a two-time national player of the year. Edey leads the Big Ten in scoring (22.3 ppg), rebounding (10.6 rpg) and field goal percentage (.634) and has nine double doubles in Purdue’s 15 contests. Edey is one of four Boilermakers averaging double figures, as guards Braden Smith (13.0 ppg, 6.7 apg), Fletcher Loyer (10.9 ppg) and Lance Jones (11.2 ppg) provide perimeter scoring. Purdue averages over 85 points per game and leads the Big Ten in 3-point percentage (.394).
Series History: Tuesday's game between the Huskers and Purdue will be the 27th all-time meeting between the two programs in a series that dates back to 1947. Purdue holds a 20-6 lead in the all-time series, including a 13-4 mark (13-3 in regular season; 1-1 in Big Ten Tournament) since Nebraska joined the Big Ten in 2011-12. Nebraska’s last win over Purdue in 2019 featured the first triple-double in school history by Cam Mack. Last year in Lincoln, Nebraska rallied back from a 14-point deficit to send the game into overtime after Keisei Tominaga's 3-pointer with nine seconds left. In overtime, Fletcher Loyer's basket with 1:30 remaining in OT gave Purdue the lead for good, as he scored a game-high 22 points. Purdue also posted an 73-55 win in West Lafayette.