The Nebraska men’s basketball team begins the month of December in Tallahassee, Fla., as the Huskers take on Florida State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge Monday night.
Tipoff from the Donald L. Tucker Center is slated for 6:02 p.m. (central) and will be nationally televised on ESPN2 and on the WatchESPN app with Adam Amin and Len Elmore on the call.
The game will be broadcast across the state of Nebraska on the IMG Husker Sports Radio Network, including KLIN 1400 AM in Lincoln, 1110 KFAB in Omaha and KRVN 880 AM in Lexington with Kent Pavelka calling the action and Matt Davison adding color commentary. The game can be heard for free on Huskers.com and available on the Huskers’ app on iOS or android devices, as well as on TuneIn Radio and SiriusXM Satellite Radio.
While the two football programs have combined for eight national titles and have met in bowl games on four occasions, Monday’s meeting is just the second between the two programs on the hardwood and the first one on either campus. Florida State won the only previous meeting, a 74-60 win at the 2005 Orange Bowl Classic.
The NU-FSU contest also opens the 15th annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge Presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods. The three-day event features 14 matchups between Big Ten and ACC programs for the Commissioner’s Cup. The Big Ten has held the cup for the last five years following a 6-6 tie in 2013.
The Huskers are 4-1 on the season following a 75-64 win over Tennessee-Martin on Friday night. The game featured a breakout performance by Walter Pitchford, as the junior scored a career-high 19 points, including six 3-pointers. Pitchford, who was third for the Huskers in scoring last year at 9.3 points per game, had just 14 points in the first four games.
Pitchford joins fellow juniors Terran Petteway and Shavon Shields in giving the Huskers three strong offensive threats. Petteway, a Wooden Award candidate, leads the Huskers and is third in the Big Ten in scoring at 20.2 points per game, while Shields is fourth in the conference in scoring at 19.8 ppg. Petteway had 18 points and a career best eight assists on Friday, while Shields had a career-high 35 points against Omaha on Tuesday.
Florida State comes into Monday’s game with a 3-3 record following a 58-47 win over Charleston Southern on Friday. The Seminoles, who went 22-15 and reached the NIT last season, have battled injuries early and have been without Aaron Thomas, who leads FSU at 14.0 ppg, and Devon Bookert for the last three games. Freshman Xavier Rathan-Mayes has stepped in and is averaging 13.8 points per game and 3.6 assists per contest.