No. 25 Nebraska men’s basketball will look to improve to 3-0 on the season when the Huskers face Lindenwood on Wednesday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Tip-off is set for 8:05 p.m. CT on FS1 with Jack Rinaldi and Nick Bahe on the call. The game will also be carried on the Huskers Radio Network with Kent Pavelka and Jeff Smith.
The Huskers returned home in the middle of the night Saturday into Sunday morning after an impressive 67-58 win over Providence at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.
“We get home at 3 in the morning, probably getting to bed at 3:30, 3:45,” Hoiberg said on Monday during his media availability. “Yesterday was a day off and then how are you going to bounce back? How are you going to respond? I talked about the highs and the lows over the course of the season. It doesn’t matter. You’ve got to prepare the same way, and I was proud of our guys for getting back in the gym and having a good, productive practice today (Monday).”
The Huskers shook off a slow start Saturday night. The Friars forced six turnovers and converted five offensive rebounds into nine second-chance points in the first eight 8:10 of the game.
That is when the switch flipped for Nebraska. The Huskers got used to the Friars’ trapping pressure and started to knock down shots.
On Monday, Hoiberg said he learned a lot about the Huskers’ toughness in the win, which was a neutral site game but felt more like a road environment.
The Huskers used an 11-0 run in the later portion of the first half to extend a lead and held Providence to 2-for-14 from the field in the last 11 minutes of the first half.
“I’ve talked a lot about the process of how your guys are going to handle adversity, and you really don’t ever truly know until it happens in a game like that,” Hoiberg said. “I’m telling you, it was electric in there when they turned us over on those first couple possessions and got an offensive rebound on that first one. You couldn’t even hear in that building.”
In the second half, the Huskers used their defense to turn into offense and attacked the basket to find easy scores. They were quicker on their closeouts and limited the Friars’ chances offensively.
“We turned it over 15 times, but we forced 18 turnovers on the other end,” Hoiber said. “We converted those into points, which we had to do as tough as they are defending in the half court.”
The Huskers held the Friars to just 30.6% shooting in the game and forced 18 Providence turnovers, which led to 20 points on the other end.
“That was as good a defensive performance,” Hoiberg said. “Coach Nate (Loenser) continues to put great game plans together on that end and our guys went out and really executed well … We talk a lot about wall-ups. Cale Jacobson’s wall-ups in that game, he even got called for a couple fouls that I thought were textbook as far as jumping up with verticality and taking it in the chest, and that’s where I think I’ve seen the most growth with our team.”
Look at Lindenwood
The Lions come to Lincoln with a 2-1 record after a 115-44 victory over East-West University on Saturday. The Lions’ first win of the season came against Central Bible University, which plays in the National Christian College Athletic Association.
Lindenwood officially completed the transition from Division II to Division I on Aug.1, 2025. The Lions finished last season, their first as a full-fledged Division I program, with an 18-15 record and in sixth place in the Ohio Valley Conference regular season standings (11-9).
From the start of the transition to Division I in 2022 to now, the Lions are 0-8 against power conference foes. That includes this season’s 98-59 loss to TCU to open the season.
There are some Nebraska connections on Lindenwood. Former Husker Matar Diop has started all three games for the Lions while averaging 3.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Millard North product Derek Rollins has played in all three games with one start and is averaging 9.7 points and 5.3 rebounds. The 2025 grad spent a year at Spire Academy Post Grad in Geneva, Ohio, before committing to Lincenwood.
