Nebraska Hoops Game Day: at Iowa

Nebraska is off to a 12-2 start and just picked up one of its biggest wins of the season over UCLA. Now, the Huskers aim for their first Big Ten road victory of the year tonight at Iowa.

Here is what you need to know going into NU’s showdown with the Hawkeyes in Iowa City…

Who, What, Where, When

Nebraska Cornhuskers (12-2, 2-1 Big Ten) at Iowa Hawkeyes (10-4, 1-2 Big Ten)

Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025 – 7:00 p.m. CT

Carver-Hawkeye Arena (15,500)

TV: None

Radio: Huskers Radio Network

Internet/Streaming: Peacock

Subscribe to get exclusive Huskers content on HuskerOnline today!

Nebraska projected starters

Rollie Worster	G	Sr.	6-5/210	Eclipsed 1,000 career points after posting 11 points and four rebounds vs. No. 15 UCLA. Joins Brice Williams and Rienk Mast as one of NU’s three 1,000-point scorers.
Brice Williams	G	Sr.	6-7/214	Finished with a game-high 16 points while going 11-of-12 at the free-throw line in the win over UCLA. He now ranks fifth in the Big Ten at 18.8 points per game.
Juwan Gary	F	Sr.	6-6/226	Notched his eighth double-figuring scoring effort of the season with 10 points, four rebounds, and two steals against UCLA. He’s tied for 19th in the Big Ten with 1.3 spg.
Berke Buyuktuncel	F	So.	6-10/224	The former UCLA transfer scored four points on just 1-8 shooting with three turnovers against his former team, but he also hauled in a career-high nine rebounds.
Braxton Meah	F	Sr.	7-1/264	He made his only shot for two points and three rebounds over just 15 minutes of work in the win over UCLA. He’s now shooting 72.4% for his career.

Iowa projected starters

Brock Harding	G	So.	6-0/165	Iowa’s lone starter averaging under double figures at 9.9 points per game. He ranks fourth in the Big Ten with 5.8 assists per game.
Drew Thelwell	G	Sr.	6-3/195	He’s only started five of 14 games this season but is scoring 10.1 points with 2.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game.
Josh Dix	G	Jr.	6-6/210	He averages 13.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game and is shooting 41 percent from 3-point range.
Payton Sandfort	F	Sr.	6-8/215	An All-Big Ten selection who is averaging 15.5 ppg and 5.8 rpg while leading Iowa with 33 made 3-pointers on the year.
Owen Freeman	F	So.	6-10/245	He leads the Hawkeyes in scoring (16.8 ppg on 65 percent shooting), rebounding (6.2 rpg), and blocked shots (1.9 bpg) on the season.

3 keys to victory

Pack your defense

The last time Nebraska played a Big Ten road game, Michigan State pretty much did whatever it wanted with the basketball. The Spartans shot 51% from the field, hit nine 3-pointers, and converted 22-of-23 free throws in an 89-52 dismantling of the Huskers. The good news is that it was an extreme outlier for NU this season, as it’s emerged as one of the elite defensive teams in the country through 14 games. Nebraska must be more locked in than ever on that end of the floor tonight. Iowa is the conference’s top-scoring team at 89.4 ppg and has eclipsed 80 points in its last eight contests. The Hawkeyes boast four players averaging double figures and six scoring at least 9.2 ppg. They don’t play much defense on the other end, so they will look to make this one a shootout from the jump. The Huskers must stick with their identity and control the game with lock-down defense.

Hold your own behind the arc

Few Big Ten teams will fire up more 3-pointers than Iowa. The Hawkeyes rank second in the conference with 145 made threes on the season, hitting them at a 38.3% clip (third). They make an average of 10.4 shots from behind the arc per game and have six players shooting 40% or better with at least 20 attempts. It’s not just the volume in which Iowa shoots from deep but also how effective they are with transition threes. The Hawks rank eighth nationally in average possession length at just 15.2 seconds. They’re also 23rd in adjusted offensive efficiency and 25th in 3-point percentage. Nebraska’s perimeter shooting has been average this season, but it must at least keep pace tonight. Connor Esseginan, who missed all six of his attempts vs. UCLA, could be critical in this one.

Keep dominating the charity stripe

Nebraska’s offense struggled to find a rhythm against one of the nation’s best defenses in UCLA. However, even though the shots weren’t falling early, the Huskers manufactured offense at the free-throw line. They ended up going 25-of-29 at the stripe (86.2%), including hitting 21-of-25 in the second half alone. That led to a 15-point free-throw advantage in an eight-point victory over the Bruins. Iowa has done a good job of defending without fouling this season, but it rarely gets production at the line. The Hawkeyes rank 295th in FT percentage (67.2) and get just 13.3% of their points from free throws. Conversely, Nebraska ranks 38th (77.3) and 34th (23.1) in those categories, respectively. One of the best ways NU can combat Iowa’s tempo and 3-point shooting is to bully the Hawks into fouls and eat at the charity stripe.

Quotable

“It was a rock fight (vs. UCLA). We shot 32% from the field and we still won by almost double digits. Being able to win when it’s ugly is super important, and if we play tough like that, we’re going to be able to do it, no matter if our offense is clicking or not. We can still win games if we’re tough, and that was a perfect example tonight.” 

Guard Sam Hoiberg on Nebraska winning with defense and toughness against No. 15 UCLA.

Prediction

Iowa (-4) 81, Nebraska 73

Robin’s season record: 13-1

Vs. the spread: 7-7

---

Never miss breaking news or another HuskerOnline article again. Click HERE to sign up for HuskerOnline’s Daily and Breaking News Newsletters.