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Huskers Announce 2015 Volleyball Schedule

Nebraska-Volleyball-HuskersLincoln, Neb. – The Nebraska volleyball program has announced its 2015 season schedule. After leading the nation in attendance for the second straight season with 8,083 fans per match last season, the Huskers will play 15 regular-season matches at the Bob Devaney Sports Center in 2015. NU finished 23-10 overall and reached an NCAA regional final for the third straight season last year.

Click here to view a PDF of the schedule.

The Huskers will host a season-opening round-robin tournament on Aug. 28-29 at the Devaney Center. NU’s season opener will be against Tulsa on Friday, Aug. 28. The Big Red will play Grand Canyon and Pittsburgh on Saturday, Aug. 29.

For the second straight season, the Huskers will meet the Texas Longhorns, as Nebraska travels to Austin, Texas the weekend of Sept. 4-5 for a pair of high-profile matches. NU will square off against the Longhorns on Sept. 4 and will face the Oregon Ducks in a neutral-site match on Sept. 5. Texas advanced to the NCAA Semifinals last season and finished the year ranked fifth at 27-3. Meanwhile, Oregon was ranked 14th in the final AVCA rankings with a 23-10 record.

NU returns to the Devaney Center the following weekend for the Ameritas Players Challenge on Sept. 11-12. A schedule is yet to be determined, but the field includes UC Davis, Georgia Tech and South Florida.

The Huskers face in-state foe Creighton on Tuesday, Sept. 15 at the CenturyLink Center. Non-conference play concludes with the Huskers renewing their series with Iowa State on Saturday, Sept. 19 in Ames, Iowa.

The Big Ten schedule is in identical order to last season, with only home and away dates reversed. For example, the Huskers will begin Big Ten play with back-to-back matches against Iowa again, except the first one on Sept. 23 will be at Iowa, and the Sept. 26th match is at the Devaney Center.

Just like last season, the Huskers will again play home-and-home matches with Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State. The Huskers will see Northwestern, Ohio State, Minnesota, Rutgers, Purdue and Wisconsin only once. Minnesota, Rutgers and Wisconsin will visit Lincoln, while the Huskers will play on the road at Northwestern, Ohio State and Purdue.

The 2015 season marks the return of the NCAA Championship to the CenturyLink Center in Omaha. It’s the third time the Huskers have hosted the NCAA semifinals and final in Omaha. The other years – 2006 and 2008 – still account for the top two all-session attendance records in NCAA volleyball history. A record-breaking 34,223 fans attended the 2006 semifinals and final, while 31,729 showed up in 2008.

The Huskers have had noteworthy seasons each time the final four has been in Omaha, and they hope 2015 will be no different. In 2006, the Huskers won the title over Stanford in front of a packed house of 17,209 fans. In 2008, NU fell just short against eventual national champion Penn State in the NCAA semifinals in front of an NCAA-record 17,430 fans.

Nebraska will hold its annual Red/White Scrimmage on Saturday, Aug. 22 at the Devaney Center. Ticket and TV information, including start times for select matches will be announced at a later date.

 

This Week in Nebraska Athletics

Tuesday, March 31   Softball                      North Dakota State                          Bowlin Stadium             3 p.m.

Tuesday, March 31   Softball                      North Dakota State                          Bowlin Stadium             5:30 p.m.

Tuesday, March 31   Baseball                     Creighton (BTN Plus)                      Hawks Field                   6:35 p.m.

Friday, April 3           Men’s Tennis               at Indiana                                         Bloomington, Ind.            3 p.m.

Friday, April 3           Softball                       at Ohio State                                   Columbus, Ohio              5 p.m.

Friday, April 3           Women’s Tennis          at Wisconsin                                    Madison, Wis.                 5 p.m.

Friday, April 3           Baseball                      at Maryland (BTN)                            College Park, Md.           6:05 p.m.

Saturday, April 4       Women’s Gymnastics  at NCAA Regionals                          Ames, Iowa                     4 p.m.

Saturday, April 4       Softball                       at Ohio State                                   Columbus, Ohio              1 p.m.

Saturday, April 4       Baseball                      at Maryland                                      College Park, Md.           1:05 p.m.

Sunday, April 5         Women’s Tennis          at Minnesota                                    Minneapolis, Minn.          11 a.m.

Sunday, April 5         Baseball                      at Maryland (BTN Plus/BTN Tape Delay-2 p.m.)   College Park, Md.           11:05 a.m.

Sunday, April 5         Softball                       at Ohio State                                   Columbus, Ohio              Noon

Sunday, April 5         Men’s Tennis               at Purdue                                         West Lafayette, Ind.        1 p.m.

Get Out the Brooms, Huskers Sweep No. 16 Texas

husker baseballLincoln – The Nebraska baseball team (21-7, 3-0 Big Ten) completed a three-game sweep of the No. 16 Texas Longhorns (17-11, 5-1 Big 12) on Sunday afternoon at Hawks Field with a 6-2 win. The Huskers have posted sweeps in each of their last three weekend series and are now 14-1 at Hawks Field in 2015.

Nebraska’s pitching staff shined over the series, limiting the Longhorns to three runs on 12 hits in 33 innings of work, including one run over the first 32 innings of the series. Nebraska’s arms notched 33 strikeouts, while issuing just five walks. The 33 punch outs are the most by a Husker staff in a three-game series since 2008, when NU totaled 43 strikeouts against Texas A&M, including 19 in the 16-inning series opener. Including four-game series, the 33 strikeouts this weekend are the most during Darin Erstad’s coaching era.

Derek Burkamper continued NU’s starting pitching success on Sunday, as the sophomore struck out a career-high six batters in a career-long 8.1 innings. The Muscatine, Iowa, native retired the Longhorns in order five times on the day and sat down 10 straight from the third through sixth innings. Burkamper shutout the Longhorns over the first eight innings of the game, and exited in the ninth after giving up a one-out single to Tres Barrera.

After not scoring until the bottom of the 15th on Saturday, the Husker offense was hungry for runs on Sunday and feasted on UT starter Chad Hollingsworth. The junior from Waco, Texas, lasted a season-low 2.2 inning after giving up six runs on 10 hits, both career highs for the 6-2 right hander.

The Huskers totaled a season-high 16 hits on the afternoon, as all nine batters notched a hit, including a pair of hits by seven different players.

Jake Schleppenbach got the Huskers started in the first with a one-out single and then scored the game’s first run on a double to deep centerfield by Blake Headley. Hollingsworth was quickly in a bases-loaded jam when he walked Ben Miller and gave up a single to Tanner Lubach. Saturday’s 15th-inning hero, Austin Darby, stepped to the plate and pushed NU’s lead to 2-0 with a single on the first pitch we saw from Hollingsworth. With the bases still juiced, UT got out of the jam with an inning-ending double play.

After Burkamper retired nine of the first 11 UT batters he faced, all nine of NU’s batters came to the plate in the bottom of the third and NU hung four runs on the board on six hits, all with two outs. Hollingsworth retired the first two batters he faced, but then game up six straight two-out hits. Lubach and Darby got the rally started with a pair of singles before Elijah Dilday came through with his first career double to put NU on top 3-0. Scott Schreiber and Wes Edrington each followed with RBI singles and the Longhorns turned the ball over to Travis Duke. Ryan Boldt kept the hit train rolling with a RBI single before Duke stopped the bleeding with a fly ball off the bat of Schleppenbach.

The Huskers loaded the bases again in the fourth, but UT reliever Josh Sawyer escaped the threat without damage. Nebraska added three hits in the fifth and another in the sixth before their streak of notching a hit in every inning came to an end in the seventh.

The Longhorns had just their third runner in scoring position all game in the ninth when Ben Johnson opened the frame with a double. Burkamper then retired C.J. Hinojosa, 5-3, before giving up a deep fly ball to Collin Shaw that used a strong out-blowing wind to just sneak over the right-field wall for a two-run homer. Barrera followed with single, which ended Burkamper’s shot at his first career complete game. Senior Josh Roeder came in and polished off the win with a 6-4-3 double play.

The Huskers are set to finish their 16-game homestand on Tuesday night at 6:35 p.m. when they welcome the Creighton Bluejays to Hawks Field. The game will be carried statewide on NET World, check with your cable provider for channel number. During the first 15 games of the homestand, attendance is at 58,845.

Huskers Walk Off No. 16 Longhorns, 1-0, in 15 Innings

husker baseballLincoln – Deadlocked in a scoreless game in the bottom of the 15th inning, senior Austin Darby delivered a one-out base hit to left field and Texas’ Ben Johnson booted the ball, allowing Tanner Lubach to score from second base for the game-winning run. The 1-0 victory clinched the series for the Huskers, who are now 20-7 on the year.

After Jeff Chesnut, who improved to 4-0 on the year in the win, retired UT’s 4-5-6 hitters in order in the top of the 15th, Texas reliever Travis Duke hit Lubach in the back to start the bottom of the frame. Freshman Jake Meyers moved Lubach into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt, setting the stage for Darby. The senior right-fielder, who was 1-for-6 heading into the at-bat, got behind 0-2 in the count, but then lined an offering from Duke into left field where Johnson committed his third error of the season and Lubach easily scored the game winner in front of 5,852 fans at Hawks Field.

Starter Kyle Kubat, along with relievers Jake Hohensee, Colton Howell and Jeff Chesnut limited the Longhorns to four hits and three walks on the day, while piling up 19 strikeouts. It was the most strikeouts by a Husker staff since 2009 when NU notched 22 punch outs in a 15 inning game against Louisiana-Lafayette.

After the Longhorns produced three hits through the first three innings, they then didn’t record another hit until Johnson led off the 14th with a single. Texas totaled just seven base runners and had a runner in scoring position only twice all game.

Kubat went 8.0 innings in the start and for the second-straight game he struck out a career-high nine batters. Following a two-out single by Brooks Marlow in the fourth, Kubat retired the final 13 Longhorns he faced. It was the senior’s third career outing of at least 8.0 innings and trailed only his 8.2-inning effort against Michigan at last season’s Big Ten Tournament.

Hohensee tossed a pair of no-hit innings after Kubat, striking out three Longhorns and walking one. Howell then took over in the 11th and retired the first eight batters he faced, including a career-high tying five strikeouts, before giving up back-to-back walks with two outs in the 13th. Chesnut came in and struck out Taylor Stell to end UT’s threat. After giving up a leadoff single to Johnson in the 14th, Chesnut sat down the final five UT batters he faced.

With NU’s bullpen keeping UT’s offense off the bases, NU’s offense had multiple chances to score. The Huskers had the winning run in scoring position in 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th inning, before finally breaking through in the 15th. The Huskers loaded the bases in both the 11th and 13th innings, but each time the Longhorns’ bullpen was able to get out of the jam.

Saturday’s contest was the longest game at Hawks Field since 2013 when the Huskers beat Northwestern in 16 innings. It was also not the longest game in Nebraska-Texas history either, as NU won a 16-inning marathon in 2005.

The Huskers and Longhorns wrap up their series tomorrow at Hawks Field, with first pitched scheduled for 12:05 p.m. Greg Sharpe and Lane Grindle will have the call on the Husker Sports Network and the game will be streamed live on BTN Plus.

Sinclair Dominates No. 16 Texas in 3-1 Win

husker baseballLincoln – Behind 7.2 innings of two-hit work from starter Chance Sinclair along a three-run fifth inning from the Husker offense, the Nebraska baseball team opened its series against the No. 16 Texas Longhorns on Friday night at Hawks Field with a 3-1 victory. The Huskers are now 19-7 on the year and are 12-1 at Hawks Field in 2015.

After starting the year 1-3, Sinclair produced his third straight win to improve to 4-3 on the year and 13-4 during his career at Nebraska. The third-team preseason All-American didn’t give up a hit until the sixth inning, when No. 9 hitter Zane Gurwitz lined a single up the middle, and only allowed four base runners on the evening. Sinclair struck out six Longhorns, including five over the first three innings.

Texas starter Parker French matched Sinclair early, allowing only a pair of hits through the first four innings. The wheels fell off for French in the fifth when the Huskers started the frame with four straight hits. The senior lasted a season-low 4.1 innings and gave up a season-high three earned runs on a season-high tying seven hits.

Austin Darby got NU’s three-run fifth started with a base hit and the Huskers quickly had two runners in scoring position when Austin Christensen, who had missed the last 10 games with a hamstring injury, followed with a double. Freshman Elijah Dilday broke the scoreless game with a RBI single, his first RBI as a Husker, and Jake Placzek loaded the bases with a bunt single. Ryan Boldt gave the Huskers a 2-0 lead with a RBI groundout and Jake Schleppenbach chased French from the game with a RBI single, the Huskers fifth hit of the inning. Reliever Ty Culbreth took over and stopped the bleeding with an inning-ending double play.

With a 3-0 lead, Sinclair hung zeros in the sixth and seventh innings, but got into a jam in the eighth when he walked leadoff batter Bret Boswell and then gave up a single to Michael Cantu. Kacy Clemens laid down a sacrifice bunt that put two runners in scoring position and Gurwitz followed with a sac fly that cut NU’s lead to 3-1. With the tying run at the plate in leadoff man Ben Johnson, the Huskers turned the ball over to junior relieve Colton Howell, who promptly ended the Texas threat with a three-pitch strikeout.

Josh Roeder, a native of Plano, Texas, took the mound in the ninth and struck out the first batter he faced. Collin Shaw then roped his 14th double of the year into right field to give the Longhorns life. Roeder bounced back and retired UT’s No. 4 and 5 hitters in order for his eighth save of the season and the 26th of his career.

The Huskers and Longhorns will be back at Hawks Field tomorrow at 2:05 p.m. for the second game of their three-game series. The game will be shown nationwide on the Big Ten Network.

Huskers Renew Rivalry with Texas

husker baseballLincoln – This weekend the Nebraska baseball team (18-7, 3-0 Big Ten) will host the No. 16 Texas Longhorns (17-8, 5-1 Big 12) at Hawks Field for the first time since 2011, when both teams were still members of the Big 12 Conference. This weekend’s series, which opens on Friday night at 6:35 p.m., will mark the second series between the two teams since the Huskers left for the Big Ten Conference following the 2011 season, as the Huskers made a trip to Austin for a three-game series in 2013.

During the 15 years from 1997 to 2011 that both teams were in the Big 12, the Huskers and Longhorns were league’s top two teams, combining to win 10 (Texas – 7, Nebraska – 3) regular-season titles and eight tournament titles (four each).  The teams also combined for 10 appearances at the College World Series.

Two of Nebraska’s home series with Texas rank among the top five in conference series attendances at Hawks Field – the 2005 series ranks third with an attendance of 22,595 and the 2007 series ranks fourth at 21,898.

Both teams enter the series playing good baseball, as the Huskers are 9-1 over their past 10 games, while the Longhorns have posted a 8-2 record. The Huskers are in the backend of a 16-game homestand and have posted a 11-1 record over the first 12 games of the stretch.

The Longhorns are just 5-5 away from Austin this season. In two road series the Longhorns are 4-4, as they went 2-2 at both Rice and Stanford. UT’s other two road games were midweek contests in the state of Texas, including a win at Texas State and a loss at UT Arlington.

Senior Chance Sinclair will get the ball for the Huskers on Friday night and will look to win his third straight start following wins over Florida Gulf Coast and Michigan. The third-team preseason All-American has gone at least 6.0 innings in each of his last three starts and has 10 strikeouts to two walks. The Longhorns are scheduled to counter with senior Parker French, who started against the Huskers on Friday night two years ago in Austin. The 6-2 Dripping Springs, Texas, native enters Friday with a 2-1 record and a 1.69 ERA in six starts. As a sophomore in 2012, French earned the win after allowing two runs on eight hits and one walk with six strikeouts over 6.1 innings in a 8-2 Texas victory.

Senior Kyle Kubat will climb the hill on Saturday and will be in search of 20th career victory. Kubat is coming off a win over Michigan where he struck out a career-high nine batters and is now 4-0 on the year with a 1.60 ERA. UT is scheduled to start sophomore Kacy Clemens, son of seven-time Cy Young award winner Roger Clemens. The 6-2 right hander is 2-1 on the year with a 4.68 ERA in six appearances, including five starts. Over 25.0 innings, Clemens has struck out 11, but walked 13. Clemens started 63 games at first base last season as a freshman and didn’t make an appearance on the mound.

Sunday’s pitching matchup is scheduled to be Nebraska’s Derek Burkamper against Texas’ Chad Hollingsworth. Burkamper is 3-1 on the year and the sophomore has gone at least 5.0 innings in each of his five starts this season. Hollingsworth is also 3-1 on the year with a 2.97 ERA in five starts, with 12 strikeouts to eight walks in 30.1 innings. Hollingsworth earned the win in the second game between the Huskers and Longhorns in 2013, as he got the last out of the top of the ninth before the Longhorns posted a walk-off win in the bottom of the frame.

Friday, March 27 (6:35 p.m.)

Probable Starters: RHP Sinclair (3-3) vs. RHP French (2-1)

TV: NET

Audio Stream: Huskers.com | Video Stream: BTN Plus

Radio: Husker Sports Network

Saturday, March 28 (2:05 p.m.)

Probable Starters: LHP Kubat (4-0) vs. Clemens (2-1)

TV: BTN

Audio Stream: Huskers.com | Video Stream: BTN2Go

Radio: Husker Sports Network

Sunday, March 29 (12:05 p.m.)

Probable Starters: RHP Burkamper (3-1) vs. Hollingsworth (3-1)

TV: None

Audio Stream: Huskers.com | Video Stream: BTN Plus

Radio: Husker Sports Network

Huskers’ Miles and Billikens’ Crews To Coach in Reese’s Division I College All-Star Game

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (March 26, 2015) – The University of Nebraska’s Tim Miles and Jim Crews of Saint Louis University have been named head coaches for the 2015 Reese’sDivision I College All-Star Game, which will be played on Reese’s Final Four Friday, April 3, at 4:30 p.m., at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Reese’s brand is the official candy partner of the NCAA®. NABC

The Reese’s brand is also the title sponsor of the Reese’s Division III College All-Star Game played on Saturday, March 21, at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Va., in conjunction with the NCAA Division III championships. An all-star game played on Friday, March 27, at 7 p.m. at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind., during the NCAA Division II Elite Eight®, will also have Reese’sbrand as its title sponsor.

Miles will coach the Reese’s East All-Stars while Crews will lead theReese’s West All-Stars. The game features 20 of the nation’s most outstanding college senior student-athletes selected by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).

Tim Miles, Head Coach, University of Nebraska (EAST)
Since his first experience as a head coach at Mayville (ND) State University in 1995, Tim Miles has earned a reputation as a program builder. He is the only active coach who has taken teams to the postseason in NCAA Division I, Division II and in the NAIA, and has won 330 games in his 20 seasons as a head coach. In 2013-14, just his second season at Nebraska, Miles guided the Huskers to their first NCAA tournament appearance in 16 seasons and captured a pair of prestigious coaching awards – Big Ten Coach of the Year and the Jim Phelan Award as National Coach of the Year.

Miles arrived at Nebraska after five successful seasons at Colorado State, where he increased the Rams’ win total every year, reaching the postseason in each of his last three seasons in Fort Collins. The Rams earned a berth in the NCAA tournament in 2012, one of four for the Mountain West Conference, and won 20 games for only the seventh time in Colorado State’s 108 seasons.

In six seasons at North Dakota State, he helped orchestrate the Bison’s successful transition to Division I, which included a win at Wisconsin, snapping a 27-game Badgers’ win streak against non-conference opponents.

Miles led Southwest Minnesota State for four seasons, taking a program that had one winning season in a decade to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight, winning 28 games. In his first head coaching stint at Mayville after six seasons as an assistant at Northern State, Miles’ teams won a pair of conference titles for a program that had won just four games in the two previous seasons.

Jim Crews, Head Coach, Saint Louis University (WEST)
In three seasons as the head coach at Saint Louis University, Jim Crews has guided the Billikens to unprecedented success. Following a season as an assistant to Rick Majerus, Crews was named interim head coach in 2012-13 when the Billikens set a program record with 28 wins, won the Atlantic-10 Conference regular season championship and earned a second straight NCAA berth. Crews was named UPS NABC Division I Coach of the Year, Sporting News National Coach of the Year, A-10 Coach of the Year and was a finalist for the Naismith Coach of the Year.

After being named as the Billikens’ head coach on April 12, 2013, Crews led SLU to another A-10 regular season championship and a school-record third straight NCAA tournament with a 27-7 record. The season included a 19-game win streak as Crews was named A-10 Coach of the Year for the second straight season and was one of 10 finalists for the USBWA’s Henry Iba Coach of the Year Award.

Crews has been a part of 16 NCAA tournaments as a player, assistant coach and head coach. He played on Indiana’s undefeated 1976 championship team and was an assistant to Bob Knight on the Hoosiers’ 1981 national champions. He was the head coach at Evansville for 17 seasons, including four NCAA tournament berths, and was head coach at Army for seven seasons.

About the National Association of Basketball Coaches
Located in Kansas City, Missouri, the NABC was founded in 1927 by Forrest “Phog” Allen, the legendary basketball coach at the University of Kansas. Allen, a student of James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, organized coaches into this collective group to serve as Guardians of the Game. The NABC currently has nearly 5,000 members consisting primarily of university and college men’s basketball coaches. All members of the NABC are expected to uphold the core values of being a Guardian of the Game by bringing attention to the positive aspects of the sport of basketball and the role coaches play in the academic and athletic lives of today’s student-athletes. The four core values of being a Guardian of the Game are advocacy, leadership, service and education. Additional information about the NABC, its programs and membership, can be found at www.nabc.org.

Ex-Husker DE Randy Gregory to NFL Media: I Failed Drug Tests

Randy Gregory
Randy Gregory

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Defensive end Randy Gregory says he’s tested positive for marijuana at the NFL scouting combine last month and that he failed two drug tests at Nebraska last year.

Gregory disclosed his marijuana use in an interview with NFL Media on Wednesday.

Gregory went into February’s scouting combine projected to be among the top 10 picks in the draft. He declared for the draft after his junior season at Nebraska, where he recorded 17 1/2 sacks in two seasons.

He said he tested positive for marijuana at Nebraska in January 2014 and April 2014. Gregory said he hadn’t smoked marijuana since December and that he understands the failed drug tests could hurt his draft position.

Eddie Rhodman Jr., one of Gregory’s handlers, said on Thursday that Gregory would not comment further.

Husker Winning Streak Snapped at 11 Games

husker baseballLincoln – The Nebraska baseball team (18-7, 3-0 Big Ten) saw its 11-game winning streak come to an end on Wednesday afternoon at Hawks Field when it dropped its first home game of the season, a 4-3 defeat to the Cal State Fullerton Titans (12-12, 0-0 Big West). The Huskers hit in the bottom of the ninth at home for the first time all year and had the tying run on base, but Yutan, Neb., native Tyler Peitzmeier closed out the game for the Titans with his eighth save of the season.

The Huskers outhit the Titans, 9-8, on the afternoon and lost their second game of the year when outing their opponent. NU’s pitching staff racked up 10 strikeouts on the day, but also issued a season-high tying six walks, including three from freshman starter Zack Engelken. The Titans notched five strikeouts, including four from Peitzmeier, and only issued one free pass.

After not allowing a first inning run over their first 11 home games of the year, the Huskers found themselves in a 2-0 deficit after the Titans scored a pair of runs on a two-RBI single by Scott Hurst in the first inning with two outs and the bases loaded.

The Huskers got Engelken off the hook in the second when they tied the game with a pair of runs on two hits and a two-out error by CSF second-baseman Josh Vargas. The Huskers gave back a costly unearned run in the fourth when No. 9 hitter Timmy Richards reached on a fielding error by Jake Placzek and David Olmedo-Barrera followed with a two-run home run over the right-field wall that put the Titans ahead 4-2.

Nebraska was in position to answer in the bottom of the fourth when they had runners on second and third with one out following back-to-back singles by Elijah Dilday and Taylor Fish, but Fullerton starter Miles Chambers got a pop out from Placzek and a fly out from Ryan Boldt to end the threat.

The Huskers put themselves in the same position in the fifth after Blake Headley singled with one out and Ben Miller followed with his third double of the series. Freshman Scott Schreiber stepped in an produced a RBI groundout that cut Fullerton’s lead to 4-3. Nebraska mustered just two base runners over the final four innings and was never able to get the tying run in scoring position.

The Huskers continue their 16-game homestand on Friday night at 6:35 p.m. when they welcome the Texas Longhorns to Hawks Field for the first game of a three-game series.Friday’s opener with be showed statewide on NET and will be streamed on BTN Plus.

Huskers Mix Big Dance with Graduation Success

Nebraska-Huskers-BasketballLincoln – Nebraska was one of only 19 schools in the 64-team field of the 2015 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament to post a 100 percent Graduation Success Rate, according to research done by the Institute of Diversity and Ethics in Sport.

It marked the seventh consecutive NCAA Tournament team the Huskers have produced under Coach Connie Yori that has carried a 100 percent Graduation Success Rate into postseason play.

In fact, Nebraska joins Notre Dame and Tennessee as the only schools in the nation to advance to the 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 NCAA tournaments that also had perfect 100 percent Graduation Success Rates in every season.

The Huskers are one of only eight teams in the nation to advance to each of the past four NCAA tournaments and post a perfect GSR, joining Dayton, Duke, Iowa State, Kentucky, Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Tennessee.

In 2015, 19 NCAA Division I women’s basketball teams competed in the national tournament and posted a perfect GSR, including American, Dayton, DePaul, Duke, George Washington, Green Bay, Iowa State, Kentucky, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh, Princeton, Quinnipiac, South Florida, Tennessee, Tulane, UConn and Washington.

In 2007, Nebraska advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time during Coach Connie Yori’s tenure and was one of just eight schools in the 64-team field with a perfect GSR. In 2008, NU was one of 11 schools with a perfect GSR. In 2010, the 64-team NCAA Tournament field that included Nebraska advancing to the Sweet 16, featured 19 teams with perfect Graduation Success Rates. The 2012 NCAA bracket included 22 teams with a 100 percent GSR.

The 2013 NCAA Tournament, in which Nebraska advanced to the Sweet 16, included 25 teams with perfect GSR scores. That number slipped to 21 teams in 2014.

In other academic news on Wednesday, Nebraska’s Rachel Theriot and Allie Havers were named to the academic All-Big Ten team.

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