Nebraska men’s basketball hopped on a plane Sunday and headed to Columbus for what is a quick turnaround game at Ohio State Monday night.
The game will be televised on FS1 with Brandon Gaudin and Steve Smith on the call. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. CT.
The Huskers needed to focus their attention quickly on the Buckeyes after what was one of the biggest home wins in program history Friday over Michigan State.
“It was fun to see our guys celebrate,” Husker coach Fred Hoiberg said after Michigan State. “But once we got in the locker room they’re ready to move past it. We’ve got to bounce back tomorrow with a good mental day of prep and get one more day. We’ll practice a little bit 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.
“Huge win for our program, but we’ve got to get past it, move on to Ohio State.”
At 14-0, Nebraska is unbeaten entering the month of January for the first time since the 1928-29 season. That team was 1-0 with a win over South Dakota State. Since the end of World War I, Nebraska has entered January with a perfect record only two other times (1919-20, 2-0; 1928-29, 1-0).
The 3-0 start to Big Ten play ties the Huskers’ best Big Ten start since joining the conference in 2011-12. A win at Ohio State on Monday would be the first 4-0 start to conference play since the 1975-76 season.
Handling this type of success — top 25 wins, an unbeaten season and national attention — is something the Huskers have done perfectly this season.
“The most impressive thing to me about this group is how they’ve handled it,” Hoiberg said. “They haven’t gotten big-headed. A lot of things have been written. And listen, if it flips, it’s going to go the other way and they’ve got to handle that well. Hopefully it doesn’t.
“It’s been a fun ride with this team. 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.”
Old Versus Old
The Huskers’ players and coaches have frequently mentioned the team’s maturity this season, and the numbers prove it.
The Buckeyes and Huskers are both ranked among the top 30 teams in the country in terms of experienced players.
Nebraska’s roster has 2.37 years of Division I experience, which is 25th in the country according to KenPom. The Buckeyes are just behind at 26th with the same average of 2.37.
The national average is 1.46.
Scouting Ohio State
The Buckeyes (10-3), 2-1) have won two in a row and three of their last four after trailing by 15 in the first half at Rutgers Friday night.
Two of their three losses have been by one point, 67-66 to Pittsburgh and 71-70 to North Carolina. Their third loss was at home to Illinois, 88-80 on Dec. 9.
All-time, Ohio State is 12-2 against Nebraska in Columbus. The Buckeyes are 22-8 all-time against Nebraska and 18-6 since the Cornhuskers joined the Big Ten. Nebraska has won three of the last five meetings in the series.
Bruce Thornton leads the Buckeyes. The senior guard is averaging 14 points per game in his four games against Nebraska. The Huskers have done a good job defensively against Thornton, holding him to under 10 points in two of those four games.
Thornton’s 20 points at Rutgers moved him into eighth place on the program’s all-time scoring list, passing Jay Burson (1986-89). His 70.9 true shooting percentage this season ranks seventh in the nation.
Thornton (45%) and sophomore guard John Mobley Jr. (40%) are amongst the nation’s best 3-point shooters.
Keys To the Game
Limiting points in the paint will be key for Nebraska. Ohio State ranks 23rd in the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency (121.6) and 17th in effective field goal percentage (57.9%).
The Buckeyes are seventh nationally in 2-point field goal percentage (62.7%). The Huskers rank 23rd nationally in 2-point field goal percentage allowed (45.3%).
Nebraska has done a good job of playing defense without fouling. Keeping the Buckeyes off the free-throw line will be another key. The Buckeyes rank 91st with an average of 22.1 attempts per game and are ninth nationally in accuracy, making 79.1% of their attempts.
