By Danielle Daniels

2 9 2025

Huskers Host Buckeyes Sunday Afternoon
The Nebraska men’s basketball team looks to extend its winning streak to four games, as the Huskers welcome Ohio State to Lincoln Sunday afternoon.

Tipoff between the Huskers and Buckeyes from Pinnacle Bank Arena is set for shortly after 1 p.m. and the contest will be televised on BTN and carried on the Huskers Radio Network, as well as on Huskers.com and the Huskers app. The game will also be available on the Fox Sports App.  A very limited number of 300 Level tickets are available for purchase for Sunday’s matchup by visiting Huskers.com/Tickets or at the PBA box office beginning at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday if available.

Nebraska (15-8, 5-7 B1G) returned from a 2-0 swing on the West Coast with an 86-72 win at Washington on Wednesday. The Huskers overcame a 10-point halftime deficit by outscoring the Huskies, 49-25, in the second half, holding the Huskies to 40 percent shooting, including 1-of-9 from 3-point range. The Huskers shot 52 percent from the field, including 11-of-19 from long distance, and put three players in double figures. Brice Williams led NU with 23 points while Juwan Gary (17) and Connor Essegian (16) also finished in double figures. With the win over then No. 16 Oregon and Washington, Nebraska joined Michigan, Purdue and Illinois as teams who swept its West Coast games.

Nebraska’s senior leaders have led the charge during the Huskers’ win streak. Williams is averaging 26.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game and has three straight 20-point efforts, while Gary is averaging 17.7 ppg on 57 percent shooting and 6.7 rebounds per contest. Gary scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half at Washington, including six points in a 15-2 run to open the second half.

The Huskers return home for two major Quad 1 opportunities beginning with Sunday’s matchup with Ohio State. The Buckeyes are 14-9 on the season and have won four of their last five games following a 73-70 win over No. 18 Maryland Thursday evening. In that game, OSU overcame a 17-point deficit behind a game-high 31 points from Bruce Thornton, who hit a game-winning 3-pointer with less than eight seconds left to cap the comeback.

Sunday’s Game Is Nebraska’s Heart Association Game
Nebraska men’s basketball has partnered with the American Heart Association to help spread awareness of cardiovascular health for Sunday’s game against Ohio State. February is also American Heart Month, as heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Nebraska Head Coach Fred Hoiberg‘s playing condition ended in 2005 because of an aneurysm in his aortic root and has benefited by the advances in cardiovascular health over the past two decades. Some of the activations for Sunday’s game include:

• Pregame will feature a CPR demonstration with Lincoln Fire Department on the concourse above section 103.
• Fans can pick up I Heart Nebraska T-Shirt while supplies last.
• The Husker basketball program will recognize a member of the Lincoln community for their work during the first timeout.
• Both Nebraska and Ohio State’s coaching staffs will be wearing pins on Sunday to raise awareness.

For more information on Heart Health Month, visit Heart.org.

Numbers to Know
6 – Brice Williams is one of six Huskers in the Big Ten era to have at least 10 games with 20 or more points. His 11 games this season with 20+ points ties Bryce McGowens for the most in Fred Hoiberg‘s six seasons at NU.

32 – Fred Hoiberg has 32 wins over ranked opponents, including 11 career wins against top-10 teams, in his collegiate coaching career following Sunday’s win at Oregon. In addition, his five road wins against ranked opponents is second only to Danny Nee (seven) all-time among NU men’s basketball coaches.

.633 – Over the last three seasons, Nebraska has played some of its best basketball down the stretch and NU is already 2-0 in the month this season. Over the last three-plus seasons, NU is 19-11 in Big Ten games after Feb. 1.

25.1 – Nebraska has gotten great production from its bench, averaging 25.1 points per game this season to rank third in the Big Ten.  Nebraska has gotten 23 double-figure efforts from its bench this season (Morgan-10, Essegian-11, Ulis-1; Worster-1). The Huskers led the Big Ten in bench production last season, averaging 21.4 points per game.

Worth Noting
• Nebraska enters the weekend ranked No. 49 in the NET and Sunday game with Ohio State starts a stretch of five straight Quad 1 games over the next two and a half weeks. The Buckeyes are No. 25 in the NET, one of seven Big Ten teams in the top 25 of the NET.  All 18 teams are currently in the top 100 of the NET, including 16 in the top 75.

• Nebraska has shot over 50 percent from the field in consecutive games for the first time this season on the Huskers’ West Coast trip. In Wednesday’s win at Washington, the Huskers shot over 50 percent from the field and 3-point line for the first time since Dec. 13.

• Brice Williams looks for his fourth straight 20-point game on Sunday against Ohio State, as the senior guard has had four straight 20-point games spanning the 2024 Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments and the season opener against UTRGV.

• With back-to-back wins over No. 18 Illinois and No. 16 Oregon, Nebraska has tied a school record for wins in a season with four. It tied the school record set three other times, most recently in 1998-99.

• Nebraska has won multiple games against ranked foes in three of the past four years and is now 9-9 in its last 18 games against ranked teams dating back to March 1, 2022.

• The Huskers have been much better away from home this season. Following Wednesday’s win at Washington, Nebraska is now 4-5 on the road this year and 6-6 away from Pinnacle Bank Arena. Two of NU’s four road wins are against ranked foes. During non-conference action, NU was 4-1 in road/neutral games while its two wins (at Creighton and at Hawai’i) were half of the Big Ten’s entire non-conference total.

• Of the six games in NU’s recently ended losing streak, Nebraska has been within three points in the final 10 seconds of regulation four times.

• Nebraska had its fourth multiple 20-point game this season at Oregon with Brice Williams (28) and Juwan Gary (23). It marked the fourth time this season and 15th time in Fred Hoiberg‘s tenure that Nebraska had multiple players score 20+ points in a game.

• Over the last 27 games dating back to last season, Brice Williams is averaging 19.3 points per game on .474 shooting and has 14 20-point efforts in that span. He has been in double figures in 25 of the last 27 contests. Williams averaged just 12.5 ppg over his first 30 games at Nebraska in 2023-24.

• On Jan. 26, Brice and his father, Henry, became the seventh father-son duo to combine for 4,000 career points at the college level. Brice now has 1,697 career points and is now only 104 points away from reaching 1,000 as a Husker. Henry Williams, who passed away in 2018, was Charlotte’s all-time leading scorer with 2,383 career points.

• Nebraska has been better defensively in its three-game win streak, holding Illinois (0.94 ppp) and Oregon (1.02 ppp) in check offensively.  NU is 11-0 when holding opponents to under one point per possession, but 4-8 when opponents are above 1.0 PPP. Nebraska has won its last 28 games dating back to the 2022-23 season when holding an opponent under 1.0 PPP.

• Connor Essegian has been one of the Big Ten’s best sixth men, as the junior guard enters Sunday’s game with Ohio State averaging 11.3 points per contest. Essegian is one of only two Big Ten reserves currently averaging double figures while making five or fewer starts.

• Nebraska comes into Sunday’s game with Ohio State averaging 76.1 points per game.  NU has scored 70+ points in 14 of 23 games, including nine 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.

• NU has relied on its depth with six players averaging at least 6.8 points per game. Eight players have posted double-figure efforts, while three players (Brice Williams, Connor Essegian and Juwan Gary) have recorded 20-point games.  Williams is the only Husker in the top 25 of the Big Ten in scoring as of Feb. 6.

• With its 15-8 record in 2024-25, Nebraska is 44-22 over the last 66 games dating back to the start of February 2023. NU’s .667 winning percentage ties for second among Big Ten programs in that stretch.  NU went just 33-80 from the start of the 2019-20 season until Feb. 1, 2023.

• A pair of Huskers eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for their career on Jan. 19 at Maryland. Andrew Morgan reached the mark in the first half on his way to a season-high 17-point effort, while Juwan Gary reached the milestone late in the second half. NU’s roster now has five career 1,000-point scorers (Brice Williams, Rienk Mast, Rollie Worster, Andrew Morgan and Juwan Gary).

• Brice 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. He is one of eight Big Ten players with multiple 30-point games this season.

• Ahron Ulis dished out a career-high 10 assists on Jan. 19 at Maryland. It more than tripled his previous season high of three and marked the first time a Husker had 10 assists in a game since Alonzo Verge Jr. in 2022.  It also marked the first 10-assist game by a Husker reserve since Tom Wald had 11 in a win over Appalachian State on Dec. 31, 1994.  According to Stathead.com, Ulis became the first Big Ten player to come off the bench and have 10 assists in a Big Ten game since A.J. Huggard had 10 assists against Purdue in the 2022 Big Ten Tournament.

• Nebraska is averaging 7.6 steals per game to tie for third in the Big Ten as of Feb. 6. Five Huskers average at least one steal per game led by Sam Hoiberg, who is 12th in the conference with 1.4 spg. Hoiberg had three steals at Washington, his sixth game with at least three steals this season.

• The Huskers are 38-6 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. Nebraska has been out-rebounded just six times in 23 games this season. Nebraska has won while getting out-rebounded against both Illinois and Oregon, the only two games NU has won this year while getting out-rebounded.

• 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.

• 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.

• Nebraska is 38-7 (.844) inside Pinnacle Bank Arena over the last three seasons. The Huskers had a school-record 20-game home win streak snapped against Rutgers on Jan. 16.

• 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.

About Ohio State
Ohio State comes to Lincoln with a 14-9 record following a 73-70 win over No. 18 Maryland on Thursday in Columbus.  Coach Jake Diebler is in his first full season after taking over in mid-February. He went 8-3 and guided the Buckeyes to the NIT to remove the interim tag.

The Buckeyes went 8-3 during non-conference action, highlighted by neutral-site wins over Texas and Kentucky. The losses were to current top-10 teams Auburn and Texas A&M and a one-point overtime loss to Pittsburgh. In Big Ten Conference play, OSU started 2-5 but turned its season around with a win at Purdue, snapping the Boilermakers home win streak. That started a three-game win streak before OSU fell at Illinois on Feb. 5.

OSU averages 79.7 points per game and is one of the Big Ten’s best 3-point shooting teams, averaging 8.0 3-pointers per game on 37.4 percent shooting. The Buckeyes have four players averaging double figures, led by junior guard Bruce Thornton and sophomore Devin Royal. Thornton leads the Buckeyes in scoring (17.7 ppg) and assists (4.3 apg) and sophomore Devin Royal, who averaged 14.3 ppg and a team-high 7.5 rpg. Freshman John Mobley Jr. averages 12.7 ppg and leads the Buckeyes in 3-pointers with 53 while shooting over 40 percent from the 3-point line. San Diego State transfer Micah Parrish is the fourth Buckeye in double figures at 11.3 ppg while averaging 4.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals per outing.

Series History: Ohio State leads the all-time series, 21-7, in a series that dates back to 1936. The Buckeyes are 17-5 against the Huskers since Nebraska joined the Big Ten in 2011-12, but Nebraska has won three of the last four matchups dating back to March of 2022. Sunday’s game will be just the ninth time in 23 meetings that OSU has not been ranked at game time against the Huskers since Nebraska joined the Big Ten. Nebraska has won the last two meetings in Lincoln, including last season’s game when Rienk Mast had 34 points and 10 rebounds.

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