Huskers travel to Iowa City Tuesday Evening

The Nebraska men's basketball team begins a two-game road swing on Tuesday night, as the Huskers travel to Iowa City for a matchup with the Iowa Hawkeyes. Tipoff from Carver-Hawkey Arena is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be streamed on Peacock and carried on the Huskers Radio Network as well as on Huskers.com and the Huskers app.

Nebraska (12-2, 2-1 B1G) comes off a 66-58 win over No. 15 UCLA on Jan. 4. Brice Williams led four Huskers with 16 points and seven boards, while NU used a 17-6 second-half run to build a 13-point lead. The Huskers withstood UCLA's rally by going 21-of-25 from the foul line in the second half. NU held UCLA to 58 points - its second-lowest total of the season - on just 39 percent shooting. 

Nebraska’s defense has played a major role in the Huskers’ six-game win streak, as NU has held its last five opponents to an average of 56.2 points per game on 35 percent shooting while out-rebounding teams by +6.0 rebounds per game. Nebraska enters Tuesday's game in the top three in the Big Ten in both scoring defense (64.6 ppg) and opponent field goal percentage (.381).

The Huskers' 12-2 record matches NU's best start since the 1990-91 season and is only the eighth time since World War II that NU has started with a 12-2 record or better in the first 14 games. Only the 1990-91 team had a better record after 14 games, as that squad won 16 of its first 17 games en route to a school-record 26 wins.

Iowa (10-4, 1-2 B1G) will pose a stern test for Nebraska's defense. The Hawkeyes lead the Big Ten in scoring offense at 84.9 ppg following last Friday's 116-85 loss at Wisconsin. Drew Thelwell's 25 points paced five Hawkeyes in double figures but Wisconsin shot 65 percent from the field, including 21-of-31 from 3-point range, to pick up its first Big Ten win.

Getting Defensive

Opponent	2024-25 Avg.	vs. Nebraska
Indiana	78.9	68
Murray State	76.8	49
Hawai'i	71.9	55
Oregon State	76.1	66
Southern	75.6	43
UCLA	76.0	58

Averages as of 1/6/25

Worth Noting
• Nebraska's 12-2 mark is only the 10th time since the end of World War I in 1918 that Nebraska has opened a season with at least 12 wins in the first 14 contests. The 12-2 start matches the best start for the Huskers since going 13-1 in the 1990-91 season.

• Nebraska looks to improve to 5-2 away from Pinnacle Bank Arena on Tuesday at Iowa. The Huskers are 1-1 on the road, including a win at Creighton, and 3-1 at neutral sites. 

• With road wins at No. 14 Creighton and Hawai'i, Nebraska won multiple non-conference road games for the first time since the 2011-12 season and just the second time in the last 25 years. Nebraska’s two non-conference road wins account for half of the Big Ten's true road wins in non-conference play, as Oregon (1) and Penn State (1) collected the other ones. 

• Following Saturday's win over UCLA, Nebraska is 2-0 against ranked teams, as NU defeated then-No. 14 Creighton on Nov. 22. NU is 4-2 in its last six games against ranked teams dating back to the win over No. 1 Purdue on Jan. 9, 2024.

• Nebraska is No. 33 in the NET on Jan. 6 and enters this week as one of 11 Big Ten teams in the top 50 of the NET. The Big Ten currently has 16 teams in the top-25 while 17 of the 18 conference teams are in the top-100 of the NET.

• Nebraska's strength has been on the defensive end, where it ranks 10th nationally in KenPom's defensive efficiency as of Jan. 6. NU has held three of its last five opponents (Murray State, Hawai'i and Southern) to season-low point totals while UCLA's 58 points were the Bruins' second-lowest total of the year. Entering this week's action, six of the top 20 teams in defensive efficiency are in the Big Ten. 

• The Huskers tied a school record for consecutive home wins with the win over UCLA. Nebraska has now won 20 straight home games, matching a school record which had been set twice previously. Nebraska's next home game is against Rutgers on Jan. 16. 

• The Dec. 30 win over Southern wrapped up a successful non-conference slate. NU went 10-1 in non-conference action, only the seventh time since WWII that NU finished its non-con slate with one loss (also 10-1, 2023-24; 10-1, 2018-19; 10-1, 2003-04; 12-1, 1991-92; 15-1, 1990-91; 11-1, 1977-78).

• Nebraska's 2024 Diamond Head Classic title marked the program's first MTE event title since the 2000 San Juan Shootout. With the win, Nebraska Coach Fred Hoiberg became the first coach to win multiple Diamond Head Classic titles, as he coached Iowa State to the 2013 championship.

• With its 12-2 start in 2024-25, Nebraska is 41-16 over the last 56 games dating back to the start of February 2023. NU's .719 winning percentage trails only Purdue among Big Ten programs in that stretch.  NU would still be second if you included the four new Big Ten schools (Oregon, UCLA, Washington and USC) during that same stretch. NU went just 33-80 from the start of the 2019-20 season until Feb. 1, 2023.

• Over the last 18 games dating back to last season, Brice Williams is averaging 19.1 points per game on .493 shooting and has nine 20-point efforts in that span. He has been in double figures in 17 of 18 games in that stretch. He averaged just 12.5 ppg over his first 30 games at Nebraska. 

• Brice Williams earned MVP honors at the Diamond Head Classic, as he averaged 22.0 points per game on 56 percent shooting, 3.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Williams averaged 19.3 ppg on 57 percent shooting in seven December games following his 11-point, seven-rebound effort against Southern. 

• Juwan Gary is playing some of the best basketball of his career over the last three weeks. The senior is averaging 12.8 ppg on 47 percent shooting during Nebraska’s six-game win streak. Gary also has played a major role in holding opponents to 35 percent shooting in that stretch. 

• Senior guard Ahron Ulis will face his former team for the first time since transferring to Nebraska following the 2022-23 season. Ulis spent three seasons at Iowa, starting 27 games on Iowa's 2023 NCAA Tournament team. Ulis returned to action on Saturday after missing four games because of a sprained ankle. 

• NU has relied on its depth during the early going, with six players averaging at least 7.5 points per game over the first 14 games. Eight different players have posted double-figure efforts, while three players (Brice Williams, Connor Essegian and Juwan Gary) have recorded 20-point games. In addition to the eight who have reached double figures at least once, two others have scored at least eight points at least once in a game this season. Williams is the only Husker in the top 40 of the Big Ten in scoring as of Jan 6.

• With a pair of 30-point games since Dec. 13, Williams is just the sixth Husker in the Big Ten era to have multiple 30-point games.  He had 30 points in the win over Indiana on Dec. 13 and tied his career high with 32 points against Hawai’i on Dec. 23. In addition, he is tied for the Big Ten lead in 30-point games this season with two, joining Rutgers' Dylan Harper, Ohio State's Bruce Thornton and Wisconsin's John Tonje and John Blackwell.

• Nebraska has been prolific at getting to the foul line for most of the season. Nebraska ranks among the Big Ten leaders in free throws made and attempted per game and free throw percentage. NU ranks in the top 25 nationally in free throws made and free throw percentage following Saturday's game when Nebraska went 25-of-29 from the charity stripe.  Nebraska's 77.3 percent shooting from the foul line through the first 14 contests is above last year's percentage (76.0). 

• Nebraska comes into Tuesday's game averaging 76.9 points per game.  NU has scored 70+ points in nine of 14 games, including five games with at least 80 points. Last season, NU averaged 77.7 points per game for 34 games, its highest offensive total since the 1995-96 season. 

• Nebraska is averaging 8.1 steals per game to rank sixth in the Big Ten as of Jan. 6. Four Huskers average at least one steal per game led by Sam Hoiberg's 1.5 spg.  Of the 47 players averaging at least one steal per game as of January 6, Hoiberg is the only one playing less than 20 minutes per contest. 

• The Huskers are 37-3 over the last two seasons when out-rebounding opponents. NU had won 27 straight games when out-rebounding opponents before the streak was snapped against Saint Mary's on Nov. 17. NU has been out-rebounded only once in 14 games this season.

• 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. The Huskers’ 23 wins were the most since setting a school-record with 26 wins in 1990-91, while NU’s 12 conference wins also ranked second in school history.

• 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). If Nebraska can improve its win total this year, it would mark the first time since a four-year stretch from 1945-46 to 1948-49 that the Huskers improved their win total in four consecutive seasons.

• Over the past two seasons (2022-23 and 2023-24), NU has won 21 conference games, the highest two-year total since the 1965-66 and 1966-67 teams won 22 conference tilts. The last two seasons under Fred Hoiberg mark just the fourth time in school history that Nebraska has won 20 or more conference games in a two-year span.

Numbers to Know
6 - Nebraska became just the sixth team in 14 games to score more than 65 points against UCLA this season. The Bruins entered Saturday's game eighth nationally in scoring defense at 58.7 ppg. 

30 - Fred Hoiberg has 30 wins over ranked opponents, including 11 career wins against top-10 teams, in his collegiate coaching career following Nebraska's 66-58 win over UCLA.

26.0 - Nebraska has gotten great production from its bench in the early going, averaging 26.0 points per game over the first 14 games. Nebraska has gotten 15 double-figure efforts from its bench this season (Morgan-8, Essegian-6, Ulis-1). The Huskers led the Big Ten in bench production last season, averaging 21.4 points per game.

70 - Over the last two-plus seasons, Nebraska has been exceptional when holding opponents to 70 points or less. The Huskers are 41-4 (.911) when holding opponents to 70 points, including 36 straight wins since a 65-62 overtime loss to No. 4 Purdue on Dec. 10, 2022.

3902 - Career points scored between Brice and his father, Henry, who played at Charlotte from 1988 to 1992. Henry, who was Charlotte's all-time leading scorer, totaled 2,383 points in his career while Brice went over the 1,500-point mark for his career on Dec. 30 against Southern.

Last time Out
Behind four Huskers in double figures, the Nebraska men’s basketball team won its sixth straight game with a 66-58 win over No. 15 UCLA on Jan. 4. The Huskers took control with a 17-6 surge after UCLA pulled to within 36-34 with 13:35 left. NU held the Bruins to two field goals over a stretch of nearly five minutes and built a 53-40 lead on Juwan Gary’s third 3-pointer of the afternoon. 

UCLA made a run of its own and got within 61-58 after a layup by Dylan Andrews with 24.3 seconds left, but Sam Hoiberg was fouled and made both free throws to push it back to a five-point game. On UCLA’s next possession, Andrews drove in for a layup, but it was blocked by Gary and Hoiberg got the rebound before getting it to Williams, who hit both free throws to put the game out of reach.

Nebraska went 25-of-29 from the foul line, including 21-of-25 in the second half to offset 33 percent shooting. 

Brice Williams scored a game-high 16 points for Nebraska while Andrew Morgan had 12 off the bench, including five straight after UCLA took a 32-31 lead early in the second half.  Rollie Worster added 11 points and four rebounds while Gary added 10 points for Nebraska, which knocked off its second ranked team of the season. 
The Huskers, who tied a school record with their 20th consecutive home win, held UCLA to 58 points, the Bruins second-lowest total of the season and just 38.6 percent shooting. NU also forced 15 Bruin turnovers which led to 17 Husker points.