Nebraska
Challenging Week Ahead in Nebraska Men’s Basketball
If this were a football road trip for Nebraska, yikes. The Huskers this week visit Ohio State and Indiana.
But maybe, given Nebraska’s 14-0 basketball start, it’s the Buckeyes and Hoosiers who should be concerned.
The basketball version of the Buckeyes and Hoosiers is difficult enough, as both Nebraska opponents are formidable, both are capable of making the NCAA Tournament and both are capable of pinning that first loss on the Huskers.
Nebraska has played one true road game, a victory at Illinois. The Huskers play Ohio State on Monday and Indiana on Saturday, Jan. 10. The No. 13 Huskers are flying, coming off a 58-56 victory over No. 9 Michigan State on Friday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Defeating the Spartans was the kind of tense victory over a legitimate basketball powerhouse that could define the Huskers’ season.
Back to reality for Huskers
“Everybody that played, I think, made a big contribution,” Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg said at a postgame news conference about the victory over Michigan State.
The victory led to a wild, court-filled celebration at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
But, now, back to the harsh reality of life in the difficult Big Ten. There’s not much turnaround time for Nebraska before the Ohio State game.
“We’ve got to bounce back [Saturday, Jan. 3] with a good mental day [of] prep and get one more day,” Hoiberg said.
“We’ll practice a little bit, and travel day, but it was a hell of a tough turnaround to play back-to-back 8 o’clock games with two days’ prep, and now you go on the road for two.
“So, it’s a great win for us. I’m not going to discount that. Huge win for our program but we got to get past it and move on to Ohio State.”
The Huskers are tied for first place in the Big Ten with Michigan and Purdue at 3-0. One of these teams is not the like the others, at least based on preseason projections and historical precedent. Purdue and Michigan were expected to be Big Ten contenders. Nebraska was not, but has become one of the best national college basketball success stories so far this season.
‘It’s been a fun ride’
“We’ve done something that hasn’t been done in this program ever … running the table in the non-conference hasn’t been done in almost 100 years,” Hoiberg said. “So, there’s a lot of things these guys can be proud of, but at the same time, the most impressive thing to me about this group is how they’ve handled it. They haven’t gotten big-headed.
“You know, a lot of things have been written and listen, if it flips, it’s going to go the other way and they got to handle that well.
“Hopefully, it doesn’t, but it’s been a fun ride with this team and they’ve seen how much effort and time you’re putting into it to go out and execute game plans, get chewed out at halftime and handle it and respond.
“Again, I’ve talked a lot about this group. They’ve been a joy to be around and they’ve been fun because of their daily approach …
“When you go on the road, you got to be fresh physically and mentally as much as possible. Had guys play a lot. Rienk [Mast] hadn’t played this amount of minutes in awhile. So, it’s going to be important to get him back fresh and go out and hopefully play well on the road.”
Nebraska at Ohio State
When: Monday, 5:30 p.m. CT
Where: Schottenstein Center, Columbus
Records: Nebraska 14-0, 3-0 in Big Ten; Ohio State, 10-3, 2-1 in Big Ten. The Buckeyes are 7-1 at home.
TV: FS1
Rankings updated based on games through Saturday.
Ohio State rankings
* Associated Press Top 25: Not ranked
* NCAA Net Ratings: 46 (dropped two places)
* USA Today Coaches Poll: Not ranked
* Kenpom.com: 39
* ESPN Power Rankings: 36
* Top 25 and 1: Not ranked
* Team Rankings.com: 62
In Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology projections, Ohio State is an 11-seed as one of the “last four in” for the 68-team NCAA Tournament.
Nebraska rankings
* Associated Press Top 25: 13 (new poll is released Monday)
* NCAA Net Ratings: 11 (improved four places)
* USA Today Coaches Poll: 13
* Kenpom.com: 22
* ESPN Power Rankings: 26 (dropped one place)
* Top 25 and 1: 9 (improved four places)
* Team Rankings.com: 7 (improved one place)
In Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology projections, Nebraska is a 4-seed for the 68-team NCAA Tournament.
Nebraska-Ohio State analysis
Something to watch: How Nebraska bounces back from a highly emotional win over Michigan State. The Ohio State crowd will be revved up at the sight of the 14-0 Huskers. The Buckeyes can enhance their NCAA resume with a win over the Huskers. If Hoiberg has his team focused and the players are “business-like” as the coach says they are, Nebraska could be in good position to keep the winning streak going. Last season, the Huskers lost in Columbus, 116-114, in double overtime on March 4, a defeat that likely hurt their NCAA chances.
Nebraska at Indiana
When: Saturday, 11 a.m. CT
Where: Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, Bloomington
Records: Nebraska 14-0, 3-0 in Big Ten; Indiana, 10-3, 1-1 in Big Ten. The Hoosiers are 9-0 at home.
TV: BTN
Indiana rankings
* Associated Press Top 25: Not ranked
* NCAA Net Ratings: 33
* USA Today Coaches Poll: 39
* Kenpom.com: 28
* ESPN Power Rankings: 17 (improved by two places)
* Top 25 and 1: Not ranked
* Team Rankings.com: 68 (dropped three places)
In Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology projections, Indiana is an 11-seed as one of the “last four byes” for the 68-team NCAA Tournament.
Nebraska rankings
* Associated Press Top 25: 13 (new poll is released Monday)
* NCAA Net Ratings: 11 (improved four places)
* USA Today Coaches Poll: 13
* Kenpom.com: 22
* ESPN Power Rankings: 26 (dropped one place)
* Top 25 and 1: 9 (improved four places)
* Team Rankings.com: 7 (improved one place)
In Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology projections, Nebraska is a 4-seed for the 68-team NCAA Tournament.
Nebraska-Indiana analysis
Indiana is 9-0 at home and has two games before Nebraska comes to Bloomington — Sunday vs. Washington (the Hoosiers’ first game since Dec. 22), and Wednesday at Maryland.
If the Hoosiers can stay focused and not be distracted by the football team’s run to the College Football Playoff semifinals, IU won’t be easy for Nebraska.
Indiana features balanced scoring. Indiana guard Lamar Wilkerson — no relation to the legendary Hoosier Bobby Wilkerson of the 1976 NCAA championship team — should be the focus of the Huskers’ defense. Wilkerson, a 6-foot-6 senior, can light it up, averaging 20.2 points in home games and 19.0 points overall.
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Nebraska Game and Parks is offering residents a chance to win prizes simply for getting outside and moving, as part of a challenge honoring America’s 250th birthday.
The Outdoor Nebraska 250-Mile Challenge invites participants to log miles through activities like walking, running, kayaking, horseback riding and more using any fitness app. The goal is to reach 250 miles before the end of the year. Once completed, participants fill out a form on the Nebraska Game and Parks website to become eligible for prizes.
Mike Selman, a regular walker at Zorinsky Lake, said the challenge caught his attention.
“I think it’s great, as long as you put in the time and effort,” Selman said.
Selman said getting outdoors is already a big part of his routine.
“I absolutely love it, I love being outdoors, just the beauty, the nature, the trees, the water,” Selman said.
He said one of his favorite aspects of the challenge is the opportunity to explore Nebraska’s many outdoor spaces.
“Especially here, around Zorinsky, Standing Bear, Flanagan, you got great opportunities and great places to go,” Selman said.
When asked if he planned to submit his miles, Selman did not hesitate.
“I’ll definitely think about it, most definitely,” Selman said.
Between Memorial Day and the end of the year, logging just over 1 mile a day would be enough to reach the 250-mile goal and qualify for prizes.
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We’ll have to wait a bit longer to get into the Cowgirls’ Super Regional.
A rainy night in Lincoln meant the teams only managed to get four outs into the Super between Oklahoma State and Nebraska. The game is tied at 0. The weather delay lasted about two hours before they called it.
The game will resume at 4 p.m. Friday and be televised on ESPN2. They will not play another game Friday, as Game 2 will now take place at 4 p.m. Saturday.
The Nebraska football team added its third 2027 offensive line commitment and addition from the state of Georgia on Wednesday.
Loganville (Ga.) Grayson offensive lineman KD Jones officially announced his commitment to NU this week. The 6-foot-4, 270-pound Jones picked the Huskers over Georgia Tech, Auburn, Kentucky and Virginia Tech. He visited Lincoln on May 6 and is scheduled to take his official visit to Nebraska on June 6.
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The Huskers first offered Jones in April, after offensive line coach Geep Wade had previously been recruiting him at Georgia Tech.
“Coach Wade called me and offered me today,” Jones told HuskerOnline on Apr. 25. “He has been on me for a long time, ever since he was at Tech. So his interest wasn’t anything new to me. He came to watch me train at school and was amazed. He offered the next day.”
Jones joins safety Corey Hadley from the state of Georgia in NU’s 2027 recruiting class.
“I knew nothing about Nebraska before the offer,” Jones said in April. But now that Coach Wade and Coach (Lonnie) Teasley are there, I know I can trust them.”
Jones had planned to take official visits to all the schools recruiting him, but his early commitment to NU appears to have shut down those visits.
He jones Omaha (Neb.) Millard North’s Matt Erickson and fellow Grayson product Jordan Agbanoma are the other offensive linemen in the Huskers’ 2027 recruiting class. He’s now the 10th commitment in Nebraska’s class of 2027.
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