HUSKER MEN FACE ANOTHER TOUGH TEST AT PURDUE FRIDAY:
Nebraska takes on its second ranked opponent in four days on Friday, as the Huskers travel to West Lafayette, Ind., to take on the No. 7/5 (AP/Coaches) Purdue Boilermakers. Tipoff from Mackey Arena is slated for 5:30 p.m.
Friday’s matchup in West Lafayette marks the Huskers’ first trip to Purdue since the 2018-19 season, as no current Husker has played in Mackey Arena
The Huskers (6-11, 0-6 Big Ten) are looking for their first Big Ten win after battling with No. 25 Illinois but falling short in an 81-71 setback Tuesday evening.
Purdue comes into the week as the highest of the five ranked Big Ten teams, as the Boilermakers are 12-2 and ranked seventh in the country. Matt Painter is in his 17th season at Purdue and has guided the Boilermakers to NCAA appearances in six of the last seven seasons.
Friday’s game continues a three-game, seven-day stretch, as NU returns home to face Indiana in a special MLK Day matchup.
NEBEKER’S HEROICS SAVE LOPER MEN AT MO WEST:
Senior forward Darrian Nebeker hit a 17-footer from the left wing with four seconds left to help Nebraska-Kearney edge Missouri Western State, 81-79, Thursday night in St. Joseph.
The Lopers (6-9, 2-7) stopped a four-game losing streak while the Griffons (8-9, 4-5) drop a fifth straight. These two teams will close out the regular season on February 25th at the Health & Sports Center.
UNK heads to two-time defending national champion Northwest Missouri State on Saturday.
LOPER WOMEN TAKE DOWN MISSOURI WESTERN STATE:
Point guard Haley Simental and forward Elisa Backes tallied 16 points apiece and post Brooke Carlson recorded a double-double to help No. 16/15 Nebraska-Kearney down No. 22/RV Missouri Western State, 60-48, Thursday night in St. Joseph, Mo.
The Lopers (13-2, 8-1) beat the Griffons (12-2, 6-2) for a fifth straight time and also hands Mo West its second home loss of the year.
The Lopers heads to Northwest Missouri on Saturday. The Bearcats (11-3, 6-2) fell in the last minute to No. 2 Fort Hays State on Wednesday night, 63-60.
STORM HOST FORCE ON ICE TONIGHT:
The Tri-City Storm is set to host the Fargo Force tonight at the Viaero Center following the organization’s annual “Paint the Ice” event on Wednesday. Fans participated in the event by writing many messages of support and remembrance for family members, friends, and others affected by cancer. The Storm will play two games on the painted ice this weekend before completing the weekend with a road game on Sunday against the Omaha Lancers.
Tonight’s game is also a $5 Kids Friday. The Viaero Center and the Tri-City Storm will host a post game skate session on the painted ice following the matchup. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05pm
Tri-City (22-5-1-0) will protect home ice tonight against the Fargo Force after posting back-to-back road wins last weekend over the Des Moines Buccaneers and Waterloo Black Hawks. The Storm defeated its opponents by a 10-2 margin and returns home to the Viaero Center having won eight of the last ten games.
NEBRASKA WRESTLING AIMS TO BOUNCE BACK AT MINNESOTA:
The No. 10 Nebraska wrestling team will look to get back to its winning ways on Friday night when the Huskers square off against conference foe Minnesota.
The Gophers (2-2, 1-1 Big Ten) come into the weekend with a recent loss at top-ranked Iowa and a home win over No. 19 Northwestern. Minnesota features top-rated, Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson (285) and six other grapplers ranked inside the top 25 of their respective weight classes.
Nebraska (3-1, 0-1 Big Ten), meanwhile, is coming off its first loss of the season, as Purdue defeated NU 18-15 on Jan. 7. Despite the loss, the Huskers recorded wins in five bouts, including Eric Schultz’s (197) win over No. 15 Thomas Penola.
Saturday’s dual promises to feature high-level wrestling, as 17 ranked wrestlers are slated to compete.
NEBRASKA WOMEN RALLY NOT ENOUGH TO OVERCOME INDIANA:
The Nebraska women’s basketball team trailed by 17 midway through the third quarter at No. 6 Indiana before cutting the lead to 68-65 with 24 seconds left, but the Hoosiers sank four free throws down the stretch to secure a 72-65 win over the Huskers on Thursday night
The loss dropped Nebraska to 13-3 overall and 2-3 in the Big Ten, while Indiana improved to 13-2 and 5-0 in the conference with its 14th consecutive Big Ten regular-season win and eighth consecutive win over this season.
Nebraska is scheduled to return to Big Ten road action on Sunday when the Big Red travel to Iowa on Sunday. Tip-off between the Huskers and Hawkeyes is set for 5 p.m.
NEBRASKA WOMEN’S POSTGAME COMMENTS:
WILLIAMS – CANNOT WAIT TO PLAY DEFENSE IN FOURTH QUARTER
Head Coach of the Nebraska Women’s Basketball team Amy Williams was pleased with her team’s effort against No. 6 Indiana in their loss Thursday night, but adds that she wanted to see her team close out the game for a win…
The Huskers have a revenge game on Sunday traveling to Iowa City to take on the Hawkeyes.
WILLIAMS – HUSKERS NEED TO ADAPT BETTER TO CHANGE
Head Coach of the Nebraska Women’s Basketball team Amy Williams saw another loss to a top rated Big Ten foe at No. 6 Indiana on Thursday night. Williams in her postgame comments added that the changing lineups have confused her Huskers…
The Huskers have now lost two straight games to ranked opponents. Nebraska has a chance for revenge on Sunday traveling to Iowa to battle the Hawkeyes for the second time in 7 days.
WILLIAMS – GETTING CLOSER TO PLAYING COMPLETE BALL GAMES
Amy Williams spoke in her postgame press conference about the Huskers’ tough stretch of Big Ten games recently, but added that she wants to keep seeing her team aim to improve even against top competition…
The Huskers take on Iowa on Sunday.
BRYAN APPLEWHITE TO JOIN HUSKER STAFF AS RUNNING BACKS COACH:
Nebraska Football Head Coach Scott Frost announced Thursday the addition of Bryan Applewhite as the Huskers’ running backs coach.
Applewhite brings more than two decades of collegiate experience to the Nebraska staff and has spent the past two seasons coaching the running backs at TCU. He also has experience at Colorado State, Louisiana-Monroe, Montana State, Wyoming and Northern Colorado.
In two seasons with the Horned Frogs, Applewhite helped TCU rank in the top 30 nationally in rushing both seasons. TCU averaged 214.7 rushing yards per game in 2020 to rank 20th nationally and finished 30th in the country in 2021 at 196.3 yards per game.
Applewhite was a standout fullback at Northern Colorado from 1994 to 1998. Applewhite has served as a member of the American Football Coaches’ Association (AFCA) Minority Issues Committee since 2006 and was recently reappointed to the Committee. In 2007, he was named to the AFCA Assistant Coaches’ Committee and participated in the 2004 AFCA Coaches’ Academy.
BILL BUSCH SPORTS NIGHTLY COMMENTS:
BUSCH – GOOD TO BE BACK:
Newly hired Nebraska Special Teams Coordinator Bill Busch was a guest on Sports Nightly last night and spoke on what an honor it is to be back in the Home of the Huskers…
Busch was at Nebraska the past season as a defensive analyst but had previous stints at Nebraska under Tom Osborne as a graduate assistant and was an assistant coach from 2004-2007 as special teams coordinator.
BUSCH – IMPACT OF HAVING A SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR ON STAFF
New Special Teams Coordinator Bill Busch spoke on Sports Nightly last night and was asked how critical it is to have a coordinator in place on the special teams compared to years prior…
Nebraska was putrid on Special Teams last season, and Busch’s hire brings years of special teams coaching experience under prestigious head coaches including: Tom Osborne, Urban Meyer, and as recently at LSU under Ed Orgeron.
BUSCH – FUN TO GET TO KNOW EVERYONE ON TEAM
Bill Busch, new special teams coordinator for the Nebraska football team, joined Sports Nightly last night. Busch was asked about why he enjoys coaching the special teams unit..
Busch comes with experience in numerous locations, making this his third stop at Nebraska. The Huskers still have one coaching spot left to hire as the running backs coach is expected to be named soon.
LAKES OUT INDEFINITELY WITH INJURY FOR HUSKER MEN:
Nebraska Coach Fred Hoiberg announced Wednesday that senior forward Trevor Lakes will be out indefinitely because of a lingering shoulder injury.
Lakes, who underwent surgery on his right shoulder last March, managed the injury throughout the year, but had a recent setback. After discussions with the Huskers’ medical and basketball staff, the decision was made to begin a rehab program with the hope of Lakes returning to 100 percent.
Lakes played in eight games this season, averaging 1.5 points and 0.9 rebounds per game. He had a season-high eight points in the Huskers’ win over Kennesaw State on Dec. 22.
Reports say that Trey McGowens could be able to return in the near future.
Local Results & Schedules:
THIS WEEK IN LOCAL SPORTS:
THURSDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- WRESTLING: Varsity Dual @ North Platte
- NP 37-36
- WRESTLING: Varsity Dual @ North Platte
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- GIRLS BASKETBALL: @ Broken Bow
- KCHS 65-29
- BOYS BASKETBALL: @ Broken Bow
- KCHS 66-42
- GIRLS BASKETBALL: @ Broken Bow
- UNK:
- WOMENS BASKETBALL: @ Missouri Western St.
- UNK 60-48
- MENS BASKETBALL: @ Missouri Western St.
- UNK 81-79
- WOMENS BASKETBALL: @ Missouri Western St.
FRIDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- SWIMMING & DIVING: @ Lincoln High Invite
- GIRLS BASKETBALL: v. Lincoln Northeast
- Pregame on KGFW at 5:45 PM
- BOYS BASKETBALL: v. Lincoln Northeast
- Pregame on KGFW at 7:30 PM
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- SWIMMING & DIVING: @ Lincoln High Invite
- WRESTLING: @ Gibbon Invite
- UNK:
- M/W T&F: @ Graduate Classic, Lincoln NE
- HASTINGS COLLEGE:
- N/a
SATURDAY:
- KEARNEY HIGH:
- WRESTLING: HAC Championships
- @ Columbus High School
- SWIMMING & DIVING: @ Lincoln High Invite
- GIRLS BASKETBALL: @ Papillion-LaVista South – 2 PM
- Pregame on KGFW at 1:45 PM
- BOYS BASKETBALL: @ Papillion-LaVista South – 3:45 PM
- Pregame on KGFW at 3:30 PM
- KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
- SWIMMING & DIVING: @ Lincoln High Invite
- GIRLS BASKETBALL: v. Hastings St. Cecilia
- BOYS BASKETBALL: v. Hastings St. Cecilia
- UNK:
- M/W T&F: @ Graduate Classic, Lincoln NE
- WRESTLING: v. Grand View, IA – 1 PM
- WOMENS BASKETBALL: @ Northwest Missouri St. – 2 PM
- MENS BASKETBALL: @ Northwest Missouri St. – 4 PM
- HASTINGS COLLEGE:
- MENS WRESTLING: @ Lakeland, FL
- Fire Duals
- WOMENS WRESTLING: @ York Open
- M/W T&F: @ Doane Invite
- WOMENS BASKETBALL @ College of St. Mary – 2 PM
- MENS WRESTLING: @ Lakeland, FL
