Thursday’s matchup at the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic is a Christmas treat for college basketball fans, as two of colorful coaches in the country will have their teams square off in Honolulu.

Nebraska takes on Ohio in the fifth-place contest with tipoff between the Huskers and Bobcats slated for 3 p.m. (central) or 20 minutes following the conclusion of the DePaul/Loyola Marymount contest.

Thursday’s contest will be nationally televised on ESPNU with Kanoa Leahey and Cory Alexander on the call. The contest, along with all of the Diamond Head Classic games, is also available online at WatchESPN.com and 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.

The Huskers are 7-4 on the season after losing to Hawaii (66-58) in the tournament opener before rebounding with a 50-42 overtime win over Loyola Marymount Tuesdayevening. Nebraska relied on its best defensive effort in nearly four years, holding LMU to 28 percent shooting. Terran Petteway provided the offensive heroics in overtime, scoring seven of his 17 points in the extra session to lead three Huskers in double figures.

While Petteway and junior wing Shavon Shields combine for nearly 37 points per game, the Huskers’ first two games in Hawaii have also seen the continued emergence of Walter Pitchford as a third offensive option. The 6-foot-10 junior has played some of his best basketball over the last four games, averaging 9.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.

Ohio (4-5) comes into the game off its best offensive effort of the year, routing DePaul 99-78 behind 31 points from Javarez Willis after falling to George Washington inMonday’s opener. Willis, who was a teammate of Petteway’s at Texas Tech in 2011-12, averages a team-high 16.4 points per game and is one of four Ohio players averaging in double figures.

The action on the sideline may be as entertaining as the game itself, as NU Coach Tim Miles coaches against one of his protégé. Ohio Head Coach Saul Phillps worked for Miles for three seasons at North Dakota State before succeeded him when Miles left for Colorado State in 2007. Phillips, one of four former Miles assistants coaching in the Division I ranks, won the first matchup between the two, an 83-69 NDSU win over Colorado State in Fargo on Dec. 15, 2007.

The No. 12 Nebraska women’s basketball team opens Big Ten Conference play on the road when the Huskers take on Minnesota Monday night.

Tip-off between the Huskers (10-1) and the Golden Gophers (11-1) is set for 8 p.m. (central) at Williams Arena with live national television coverage by the Big Ten Network.

Live radio coverage will be provided by the Husker Sports Network, with Matt Coatney and Jeff Griesch on the call on stations across the network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and 93.3 FM in Omaha. Free live audio also will be available on Huskers.com.

The Huskers finished off one of the best non-conference seasons in school history with an 83-57 win over defending Big South regular-season champion High Point at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Dec. 20. The victory pushed Nebraska’s record to 10-1, matching the second-best 11-game start in school history.

National Player-of-the-Year candidate Rachel Theriot erupted for a season-high 31 points for her second career 30-point effort. Her first came with a career-high 33 points in an 88-85 overtime over Minnesota on Jan. 16, 2014. In addition to her huge 33-point performance in the regular season against the Golden Gophers a year ago, Theriot had 14 points and a career-high 18 assists in Nebraska’s Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal win over Minnesota in Indianapolis on March 7.

The Huskers ended non-conference play as one of four Big Ten teams with 10 or more wins and owned the conference’s best NCAA RPI at No. 7 (Dec. 23). The Big Ten is the No. 1 RPI conference in the nation. Minnesota posted an even better non-conference mark than the Huskers, rolling to an 11-1 record with its lone loss coming in a 71-54 setback at Vanderbilt. The Golden Gophers ended non-conference play as the Big Ten’s only 11-win team and were ranked No. 37 in the official NCAA RPI.

Athough the Gophers lost just once, they did suffer a huge setback with a season-ending knee injury to preseason Big Ten Player of the Year Rachel Banham at North Dakota on Dec. 10. A preseason national player-of-the-year candidate, Banham was averaging 20.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists before her injury at North Dakota. She scored 33 points in the overtime loss last season in Lincoln.

#12 Nebraska Cornhuskers (10-1, 0-0 Big Ten)
3 – Hailie Sample – 6-1 – Sr. – F – 7.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg
23 – Emily Cady – 6-2 – Sr. – F – 13.6 ppg, 9.1 rpg
1 – Tear’a Laudermill – 5-9 – Sr. – G – 12.4 ppg, 3.2 rpg
13 – Brandi Jeffery – 5-7 – Sr. – G – 8.5 ppg, 6.6 rpg
33 – Rachel Theriot – 6-0 – Jr. – G – 18.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg
Off the Bench
31 – Anya Kalenta – 6-3 – Jr. – F – 6.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg
5 – Natalie Romeo – 5-7 – Fr. – G – 4.8 ppg, 1.5 rpg
22 – Allie Havers – 6-5 – So. – C – 4.1 ppg,  3.6 rpg
34 – Jasmine Cincore – 5-8 – Fr. – G – 1.6 ppg, 0.4 rpg
30 – Chandler Smith – 6-0 – Fr. – G – 1.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg
12 – Emily Wood – 5-5 – Fr. – G – 0.4 ppg, 0.8 rpg
11 – Esther Ramacieri – 5-8 – So. – G – 0.1 ppg, 0.8 rpg
50 – Darrien Washington – 6-2 – Fr. – F – High School
Head Coach: Connie Yori (Creighton, 1986)
13th Season at NU (251-143); 25th Season Overall (446-283)

Minnesota Golden Gophers (11-1, 0-0 Big Ten)
23 – Shae Kelley – 6-1 – Sr. – F – 16.0 ppg, 8.8 rpg
32 – Amanda Zahui B. – 6-5 – So. – C – 15.6 ppg, 10.5 rpg
3 – Shayne Mullaney – 5-10 – Jr. – G – 3.2 ppg, 2.9 rpg
24 – Mikayla Bailey – 5-9 – Jr. – G – 6.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg
33 – Carlie Wagner – 5-10 – Fr. – G – 9.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg
Off the Bench
1 – Rachel Banham (OUT) – 5-9 – Sr. – G – 18.6 ppg, 4.5 rpg
20 – Kayla Hirt – 6-2 – Jr. – G/F – 7.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg
35 – Rangie Bessard – 6-0 – Fr. – F – 2.3 ppg, 1.5 rpg
2 – Stabresa McDaniel – 5-10 – So. – G – 1.8 ppg, 1.3 rpg
52 – Josie Buckingham – 6-5 – Fr. – C – 1.7 ppg, 1.7 rpg
22 – Joanna Hedstrom – 6-1 – So. – G – 1.6 ppg, 1.5 rpg
5 – Tory Jacobs – 5-10 – Fr. – G/F – 1.6 ppg, 0.5 rpg
11 – Grace Coughlin – 5-8 – Fr. – G – 0.0 ppg, 0.8 rpg
Head Coach: Marlene Stollings (Ohio, 1998)
1st Season at Minnesota (11-1); 4th Season Overall (60-43)

HONOLULU (AP) — Terran Petteway scored seven of his game-high 17 points in overtime as Nebraska edged Loyola Marymount 50-42 in a consolation game of the Diamond Head Classic on Tuesday.

Petteway, a 6-foot-6 junior, scored 11 points after halftime, Shavon Shields had 13, and Walter Pitchford added 10 for the Cornhuskers (7-4).

The game was tied at 35 at the end of regulation. Loyola Marymount took a 37-35 lead early in the extra period, but Nebraska scored the next 10 points, including a pair of Petteway 3-pointers, and made five of six free throws in the final 31 seconds.

LMU shot a 28 percent from the field, while Nebraska shot 37 percent.

Ayodeji Egbeyemi was the lone scorer in double figures for the Lions (3-8) with 16 points. Godwin Okonji grabbed 10 rebounds. It was Loyola Marymount’s sixth consecutive loss.

Nebraska held a 21-16 lead at halftime.