When Nebraska men’s basketball tips off against Providence inside Mohegan Sun Arena on Saturday, the Huskers will be facing their most aggressive opponent so far this season.
At least that is what Fred Hoiberg said on Thursday afternoon when asked about the Friars.
“You try to simulate it; you can’t,” Hoiberg said. “This is by far the most aggressive team that we will have played. Very well coached — they run a lot of really good actions and they are dynamic. They get out in transition. They’re physical.”
He’s right. In the Friars’ first three contests, two exhibitions and their home opener, they averaged 11.6 steals per game with nine in the exhibition against Pittsburgh, another nine against Georgia Tech and 17 on Monday night against Maine.
“They’re really aggressive trapping the ball,” Hoiberg said. “You just have to do as good a job as he can to handle it, take care of it and try to expose it when you get out of it.”
Saturday’s game is technically a neutral site game. However, when the ball is tipped at 6 p.m. CT at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., the Huskers will be the road team.
“It’s going to be a road environment,” Hoiberg said. “They’ve always had great crowds at Providence, and it’s about an hour, hour-and-20-minute drive from their campus. So it’s going to be a really good opportunity for us. I think that’s the benefit of playing three different exhibitions in a home, a road and a neutral, to help prepare for what we’re going to see on Saturday night.”
“Nothing’s going to simulate the environment that we are going into on Saturday night,” Hoiberg expounded. “You hope your group handles it well. Whatever does happen, you learn from it, you grow from it and you continue to try to get better in those areas.”
What the Huskers will see is a Bryan Hogsdon-led team. Hogsdon is in his first season at Providence after leading South Florida to a 25-9 record and American Conference regular-season and postseason tournament titles in 2025-26.
It is a team that plays at a fast pace, one that likes to attack the basket and pressure the ball.
“If we don’t take care of the ball, if we don’t rebound the ball, if we don’t get back in transition, it doesn’t matter going through their stuff,” Hoiberg said. “That’s where they are so electric and they just feed off each other and that gets them going. The swagger that they go out and play with, you look at their games: they beat two ACC opponents by 25 and almost 30 points. It’s who they are. When they get rolling, it is impossible to shut them off.”
Orme a Game-Time Decision
Those outside of the program still haven’t seen Belmont transfer Sam Orme play in-person this season. The 6-foot-10 forward went through shooting drills prior to the Huskers’ exhibition win over Kansas State. He was suited up and did the full warm-up prior to Monday’s regular season win over Le Moyne.
“He practiced a lot today (Thursday) and then we got him out when he hit the load that we were looking for. He went a little bit lighter yesterday (Wednesday), and we’ll see how he’s feeling going into tomorrow (Friday) and then make a game-time decision. That’s what it was in the opener against Le Moyne. We just didn’t feel he was quite ready yet.”
It certainly feels like Orme is close to playing. At the same time, the Huskers need him for the long haul of the season, not just one game.
“He responded well to the treatment, but he’s got to make sure that he’s feeling 100% comfortable, that our medical team is comfortable, that this thing isn’t a lingering issue that lasts all season,” Hoiberg said about how they are handling Orme’s hamstring injury. “Got a long, long ways to go, so you don’t want to throw him out there if he’s not physically and mentally prepared. We need him. We need his size, we need his skill level and his skill set, especially against a team that we’re facing in this caliber.”
Saturday’s game will be televised on FS1 with Adam Giardino and Donny Marshall on the call. The game will also be carried on the Huskers Radio Network with Kent Pavelka and Jake Muhleisen describing the action.
