IU basketball game day essentials: Indiana travels to Nebraska

Game Day Essentials:

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

• Tip Time:  8 p.m. 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)
• Stream: Fox Sports
• Point Spread:  Nebraska is a 3.5-point favorite
• KenPom Projected Score:  Indiana 75  Nebraska 76
• History: Indiana leads the series, 20-10
• Last Meeting: IU 66, Nebraska 93 on 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 Nebraska’s men’s basketball program. Over his two stints at the college level, Hoiberg has a 184-151 overall record.

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

Following Iowa State, Hoiberg spent a short time coaching for the Chicago Bulls in 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 amassed a 69-96 record so far. Although the record isn’t great on paper, Hoiberg has led an impressive turnaround in the program, especially in the last 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 squad. Last season was his best yet, as the Huskers finished 23-11 with a 12-8 record in the Big Ten. That placed them at third in the conference, and their resume was good enough for a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Nebraska’s results and roster:

Nebraska’s Game Notes (via Husker Athletics)

Nebraska (6-2, 0-1) looks to rebound following an 89-52 loss at now No. 21 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 great production from its bench in the early going, averaging 28.1 points per game over the first eight games. The Huskers led the Big Ten in bench production last season, averaging 21.4 points per game.

• Nebraska looks to extend a pair of home winning streaks, as Nebraska has won 10 straight Big Ten Conference games and 17 straight games inside Pinnacle Bank Arena dating back to last season. NU was a perfect 10-0 inside 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. Essegian, a native of Fort Wayne, Ind., 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 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 the 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 went just 33-80 from the start of the 2019-20 season until Feb. 1, 2023.

• Nebraska is averaging 9.3 steals per game to rank third in the Big Ten and 35th nationally as of Dec. 10.

• Nebraska comes off one of its most successful seasons in program history. The Huskers went 23-11 in 2023-24 and tied for 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 that since the mid-1960s (1963-64 to 1965-66).

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

Williams Looks to Build on Postseason Success
Senior guard Brice Williams has built upon 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 entering Friday’s game with Indiana. He has reached double figures in all eight contests, including a pair of 25-point efforts.

Gary Returns as Huskers’ Glue Guy
One luxury Nebraska has is the return of senior forward Juwan Gary. The 6-foot-6 senior from Columbia, S.C, has shown the ability to stuff a stat sheet, but revels in doing the little things to help NU be successful.  Gary comes into 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 proved to be an impact transfer for the Huskers. The 6-foot-4 guard is averaging a career-high 13.0 points per game while pacing the Huskers in 3-pointers with 20.

Nebraska’s KenPom notable numbers:

(out of 364 teams)

Tempo – No. 83 (Offense No. 78 / Defense No. 56)

Offensive Efficiency – No. 98

• Nebraska holds a 50.4 effective field goal percentage (No. 184). They shoot 29.8 percent on 3s (No. 290) and 53.9 percent from two-pointers (No. 109)
• They take care of the ball well with a 15.4 percent turnover percentage (No. 65).
• The Cornhuskers get 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 pretty high (43.2 FTA/FGA, No. 30).

Defensive Efficiency – No. 33

• The Huskers force a high amount of turnovers with a 22.3 percent rate (No. 25).
• Teams are shooting a high rate of three-pointers against Nebraska. 44.1 of the opponent’s points have 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 Pick:

Win/Loss Record so far: 7-1

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

Nebraska’s metrics are the best among any team since the Battle 4 Atlantis. Add in that Nebraska is at home, and this one could be a VERY close endeavor.

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

PICK: Indiana 68 – Nebraska 64

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