Tag: Nebraska Basketball

Nebraska upsets No. 14 Creighton in Omaha 74-63

Nebraska will return home to face South Dakota on Wednesday night.

The Nebraska men’s basketball team visited Omaha for its first big test of the season, No. 14 Creighton. The Huskers delivered a fierce battle on the night, stunning the Blue Jays 74-63.

This is Nebraska’s second straight win on the road against Creighton, and the Huskers delivered a defensive front to halt the Blue Jays’ offense. The Huskers held Creighton to 17-of-52 from the field with 12 of the Blue Jays’ shots coming from beyond the arc.

Nebraska meanwhile shot 24-of-57 from the field and kept its lead over Creighton for nearly the entire game. Though the Blue Jays attempted to claw their way back into the fight, the Huskers never broke.

Brice Williams and Juwan Gary led the team in scoring, each dropping 16 points on the night. Williams earned half of his points from the free throw line, going a perfect 8-of-8. Gary hauled in seven rebounds along with his 16 points.

Connor Essegian finished directly behind the duo with 15 points, going 4-of-6 from the field and 6-of-9 from the free throw line. Berke Büyüktuncel scored 12 points, going 4-of-7 from the field, and hauled in a team-high nine rebounds. Rollie Worster rounded out Nebraska’s top-five scorers, landing 11 points on the night.

Nebraska improves to 4-1 on the season and will return home to face South Dakota on Wednesday night. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. on Big Ten Network.

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How Wisconsin transfer guard has fared through Nebraska’s first three games

How former Wisconsin guard has fared through Nebraska’s first three games

Former Wisconsin Badgers guard Connor Essegian started his first career game with the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Wednesday night.

In more than 16 minutes of action, Essegian logged eight points in an 86-60 victory over the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights. The former Badger nailed two of his seven 3-point field goal attempts and notched two rebounds.

Related: Biggest takeaways from Wisconsin basketball’s big win over Arizona

Through three games of the 2024-25 season, Essegian is averaging 9.7 points and 2.7 rebounds per game off nearly 36% shooting from beyond the arc. In his debut for the Cornhuskers, Essegian logged 13 points and four rebounds with three made looks from outside.

At 3-0, Nebraska is tied with Penn State, Iowa, Illinois, Purdue, Wisconsin, Oregon, USC and Maryland atop the Big Ten.

Essegian transferred to Nebraska in April after two years in Madison. In 2023-24, he averaged 7.3 minutes and 3.2 points per game after falling in Greg Gard’s rotation.

His ceiling, however, is much higher. Essegian averaged 27.4 minutes and 11.7 points per game on 40% shooting and 36% from 3 during his freshman year in 2022-23.

Nebraska’s next game is Sunday against St. Mary’s (California).

Nebraska’s Alexis Markowski earns preseason All-Big Ten honors

Nebraska women’s basketball star Alexis Markowski earned Big Ten preseason honors this week.

Nebraska women’s basketball star center Alexis Markowski has earned All-Big Ten preseason honors ahead of the 2024-25 season.

On Thursday, Markowski was one of 11 standouts to earn preseason All-Big Ten honors as selected by Big Ten women’s basketball head coaches.

Markowski is entering this season after recording a career-best 15.7 points and 10.5 rebounds per game last season in 35 starts.

Through her first three seasons with the program, Markowski has played in 101 games, making 87 starts while averaging 13.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per contest. She’s a career 46.3% shooter from the field, including 35.4% from three-point range.

She holds multiple Nebraska records, including being the Husker’s all-time career double-doubles leader and the Husker’s all-time top rebounder in rebounds per game with 9.5. She’s been an All-Big Ten selection in each of her last three seasons.

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Huskers land commitment from 2025 four-star forward

Nebraska basketball was able to pick up the first commitment for the 2025 recruiting class,

Nebraska basketball picked up a commitment from four-star forward Quentin Rhymes on Sunday. Rhymes made the announcement to HuskerOnline’s Robin Washut.

According to the 247Sports Composite Rankings, Rhymes is the 25th-ranked small forward in the 2025 class and the fifth-ranked player in his class from Arizona. He had a sizable offer sheet that included Nebraska, Boise State, New Mexico, and TCU. He most recently visited Lincoln on September 20.

Rhymes had a stellar summer for the AAU Las Vegas Knicks. He recorded 17.5 points, six rebounds, five assists, and one block per game. The program began making a strong push for him this summer, with assistant Ernie Ziegler being his primary recruiter.

This is the first commitment for the Nebraska basketball program in the 2025 class, which is now ranked 38th overall, according to the 247Sports Team Rankings.

Fred Hoiberg and this coaching staff have shown a solid ability to recruit. They certainly proved that with this commitment.

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Former Husker Keisei Tominaga shines in G League United debut

In his final year at Nebraska, Tominaga averaged 15.1 points per game

A former Nebraska basketball standout had an impressive debut off the bench on Wednesday night. Keisei Tominaga scored 12 points to help G League United defeat BC Mega MIS 99-81.

The G League United is a select squad of current and future G League stars. BC Mega MIS is a premier Serbian team known for developing three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić.

Tominaga is the only rookie on the 12-member squad. He spent three seasons at Nebraska and scored 1,074 points, good for seventh in school history. He recently signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Indiana Pacers.

In his final year at Nebraska, the guard averaged 15.1 points per game and landed 76 3-pointers, which ranked eighth on the Huskers’ single-season chart. His efforts helped Nebraska to a 23-11 record in 2023-24, a third-place Big Ten finish, and the school’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2014.

The team will also compete in Singapore’s 2024 FIBA Intercontinental Cup from Sept. 12 to 15.

https://twitter.com/nbagleague/status/1831525814682448149

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Nebraska women’s basketball signs Croatian star Petra Bozan

Head coach Amy Williams announced that the team signed Croatian star Petra Bozan to the lineup.

The Nebraska women’s basketball team added another player to its 2024-2025 roster just three months before the start of the season. Head coach Amy Williams announced that the team signed Croatian star Petra Bozan.

Bozan, a 6-foot-3 forward/center from Split, Croatia, joins the Huskers after competing for the KAZL Split in Croatia’s Premier League. Across 22 games, she averaged 15.6 points, 12.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.7 blocked shots per game.

She finished the season with a shooting percentage of .545 and recorded 17 double-doubles. She scored a season-high 31 points against Zagreb in October 2023 and hauled in a season-high 19 rebounds against Brod Na Savi in November 2023.

Bozan also represented Croatia in the FIBA European Championships for the last three years. She arrives at Nebraska following her recent outing in the FIBA U18 Women’s Eurobasket in Portugal.

Bozan led Croatia in both points (113) and rebounds (70) across seven tournament games. She ranked sixth among all players in the 16-team tournament in scoring, averaging 16.1 points per game, and third in rebounding, averaging 10.0 per game.

Bozan is one of four freshmen on Nebraska’s roster and one of two centers, the other being senior Alexis Markowski. Bozan plans to major in business at Nebraska.

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Nebraska Basketball reveals opening Diamond Head Classic opponent

Nebraska basketball will be looking to improve upon their successful 2023-24 season.

Nebraska basketball has their matchup set for the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii in December. They will open with Murray State and then face either Hawaii or Charlotte depending on the results of their opening game.

Murray State is coming off a 2023-24 season that saw them go 12-20 including a 9-11 record in the Missouri Valley Conference. They lost to Missouri State in the opening round of the Mountain Valley Conference Tournament.

In the meantime, Nebraska basketball is looking to build off an NCAA tournament appearance. They finished 23-11 in 2023-24, including 12-8 in the Big Ten Conference. They made it to the opening round of the NCAA tournament before losing to Texas A&M by an 83-98 margin.

Under coach Fred Hoiberg, the Huskers, with a slew of new transfers, look to make another run at a tournament appearance.

The mid-season tournament will be a nice tune-up before conference play begins in January. This could be an important stretch of games for a program looking to take the next step and get that elusive NCAA Tournament win.

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Nebraska basketball schedules official visit with top JUCO shooter

The Nebraska native has a shot at returning home

Nebraska basketball will be hosting a visitor in September. Top JUCO shooter Abdul Bashir will take an official visit on September 6-8, according to On3’s Robin Washut.

Bashir averaged 19.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 3.2 assists last season for Casper Community College.  The guard proved a dependable starter, playing in 33 games and starting 32.

Bashir shot 45% from three-point range and averaged 8.33-point attempts per game. He proved to be an effective shooter, making 124 three-point shots. This was good enough to lead the MJCAA, per a report from Inside Nebraska’s Steve Marik.

This has been a busy couple of days for Nebraska basketball. They were able to lock down a visit with center Francis Chukwudebelu earlier this week as they look to add depth to a balanced and talented roster.

Bashir made an official visit to Lincoln back in June, and now it appears the Huskers will try to seal the deal. This just adds to the positive momentum the program has been having as it looks to make its second NCAA tournament in a row.

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Nebraska men’s basketball in ESPN 2025 Top 100 recruit Antione West Jr’s final four

An ESPN 2025 Top 100 recruit is down to his final four schools heading into his final year of high school. Antione West Jr. announced that he is deciding between Purdue, Dayton, Ohio State, and Nebraska. Nebraska is in the mix to land a three-star …

An ESPN 2025 Top 100 recruit is down to his final four schools heading into his final year of high school. Antione West Jr. announced that he is deciding between Purdue, Dayton, Ohio State, and Nebraska.

Nebraska is in the mix to land a three-star shooting guard following a massive 2023-2024 season. The Huskers finished 23-11, the second most wins in school history, in a season that involved their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2014 and a semi-final finish in the Big Ten Tournament.

West, a 6-foot-3 guard, received an offer from Nebraska in October 2023. He is ranked No. 77 in the ESPN 2025 Top-100 recruit list. He is one of three Top 100 recruits with Nebraska in the hunt. Koa Peat is No. 4 on the list, while Jalen Wilson is No. 95.

The Toledo, Ohio, native is coming off a strong junior campaign. At Whitmer High School, he averaged 20.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game. He hit 49 percent of his shots from the floor and 70-of-187 from beyond the arc.

He also eclipsed the 1,000-point mark in his career midway through his junior year. He helped the Panthers to the semi-finals and finished 25-3 on the season. He scored 16 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and four steals in Whitmer’s state semifinal loss to Centerville.

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Former Nebraska basketball recruit commits to Michigan

Last week, McKenzie Mathurin committed to the Michigan Wolverines.

A former Nebraska basketball recruit committed to a Big Ten rival. Last week, McKenzie Mathurin committed to the Michigan Wolverines.

Mathurin is a shooting guard for Broken Arrow High School in Broken Arrow, OK. In 25 games last season, she averaged 21.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 2.1 steals per game.

ESPN ranked her the No. 55 recruit in her class. In May, she decommitted from Nebraska. Mathurin told On3 why she changed her commitment to Michigan.

“When I committed, I was playing with Broken Arrow and my high school team, and I was the best player on the team. The only star and that’s what I was used to. But after playing with Team Trae Young and with these literal superstars as teammates, I kind of changed my perspective.”

The Huskers have one commitment to their 2025 recruiting class. In July, Amy Williams received a commitment from five-star recruit Olivia Hamlin.

Hamlin averaged 27.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.8 steals, and 3.5 assists per game last season. She chose Nebraska over Virginia Tech.

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