The Nebraska men’s basketball team will face one of its stiffest tests of the season, as the Huskers travel to No. 7 Wisconsin Thursday night.
Tipoff between the Huskers and Badgers at the Kohl Center is set for 8:05 p.m. (central) and the game will be nationally televised on ESPN2 with Rece Davis and Seth Greenberg on the call. The game is also available online and on mobile devices on the WatchESPN app.
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 on SiriusXM Satellite Radio. Thursday’s game is also broadcast nationally on Compass Sport Networks.
The Huskers (10-6, 2-2 Big Ten) got back to .500 in Big Ten play with a 53-43 win over Illinois Sunday evening. NU, which was playing its third game in seven days, showed its mettle on the defensive end, holding Illinois to 27.3 percent shooting. That marked the Huskers’ best defensive field goal percent against a conference opponent since 2006.
Combined with the 49 points allowed to Rutgers on Thursday, it was the first time since 1963 that Nebraska held consecutive conference opponents under 50 points. Nebraska has been stout on defense all season, ranking second in the Big Ten in field goal defense (37.7 percent) and have held seven of the last eight opponents under 40 percent shooting.
Offensively, All-America candidate Terran Petteway had 13 of his 18 points in the second half against Illinois, and the junior guard is second in the Big Ten in scoring at 18.9 points per game, while also averaging career highs in rebounding (5.4) and assists (2.8). Junior forward Shavon Shields is fifth in the Big Ten in scoring at 17.1 points per game while topping the Big Red and ranking sixth in the Big Ten with 6.9 rebounds per game.
The Huskers will need big efforts from their all-conference performers Thursday night, as Wisconsin comes into the matchup with a 15-2 record after falling at Rutgers, 67-62 on Sunday. The Badgers, who are 9-1 at home, rank sixth nationally in scoring defense, allowing 54.1 points per game. Wisconsin was without preseason Big Ten Player of the Year Frank Kaminsky, who averages 16.9 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, in Sunday’s loss, but should be back for the NU game.