Story by NU Athletic Communication
- Nebraska has now won 17 straight at home dating back to last season.
- Nebraska’s 103 points is the most since scoring 110 against Doane on Dec. 17, 2021. The last time NU scored 100 points against a Division One opponent was 100 in a four overtime loss to NC State on Dec. 1, 2021. Nebraska has had season highs in points in each of the last two games.
- Nebraska shot a season-high 58.0 percent and a season-best 45.8 percent from 3-point range in the win. It is the first time NU shot at least 50 percent this season.
- Connor Essegian led Nebraska with a game-high 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting, including 6-of-8 from 3-point range. He is the first Husker in the Big Ten era to hit at least six 3-pointers in consecutive games, as well as the first in at least 20 seasons. Essegian is the first Husker with multiple games with at least six 3-pointers in a season since Kobe Webster in 2020-21.
- Essegian’s 22-point effort was his second straight 20-point night and fourth of his career. It is the first time in his three seasons he had consecutive 20-point games.
- Brice Williams reached double figures for the 11th-straight game dating back to last season, as he finished with 17 points and a season-high six assists.
- North Florida’s 43 3-point attempts is a school record against Nebraska, breaking the mark of 42 set by Creighton on Nov. 22.
- Nebraska had a 15-0 run from 18:15-14:42 in the first half, the sixth double-digit run this season for NU. The Huskers have had at least one double-figure run in each of the last five games.
- As a team, Nebraska finished with 22 assists and a season-low six assists, In the last two games, NU is averaging 23.0 assists per game.
- Nebraska had 53 points at halftime, making it back-to-back games for NU with at least 50 points at half.
- Nebraska finished with five double-digit scorers in the win, matching the most this season.
- Nebraska is now 1-0 all-time against North Florida and 8-0 against Atlantic Sun teams.
- The Ospreys came into today’s game averaging 86.7 points for the game on 46% shooting and were limited to a season-low 72 points on 38.5% from the field.
- Nebraska finished with a season high 12 steals, the fifth time in six games with double-digit steals.
- Sam Hoiberg matched his career high in steals with four, the last time he accomplished this feat was against Florida A&M on November 9, 2023.
- Nebraska’s bench out-scored UNF, 37-15, as the Huskers got double-figure efforts from Ahron Ulis (10 points, three assists) and Andrew Morgan, who had season highs in points (13) and rebounds (nine).
Nebraska Coach Fred Hoiberg
On the offense’s performance
“The thing I was most happy with today was the start. You talk in these early games about how important it is to go out there and throw the first punch and I thought we did that. I think it was 18-4 to start the game and the thing is, they switch one through five, and that’s the first time we’ve seen a defense like that. The thing you cannot do is get stagnant and just try to force it in against a mismatch. We took advantage of some mismatches but once the ball shifted the defense side to side, I thought our activity was good. I thought we got our hands on some balls which got us out and in transition. I thought we did a really nice job finding Connor (Essegian). He obviously had it going again for the second straight game and guys did a good job of finding him. Overall, I think the movement was the thing that I was most pleased with. 22 assists, six turnovers – we are continuing to make strides in the right direction with that and we’re going to need it obviously once we start playing Big Ten games next Saturday.”
On importance of a quick start
“It’s all we talked about. Especially in this early game, we’ve got another one next Saturday, we play at noon. We need to go out there and get off to a great start in a really tough building. I’ve spent a lot of time in that building with a son that played for Coach (Tom) Izzo. If you get off to a tough start, they’re going to be right on top of you. It’s really hard to come back on Michigan State in East Lansing. It’s going to be important to be able to continue to grow. I like the direction we’re moving in and we’re getting better every game. These guys put a lot of stress on you with their ability to shoot the ball, averaging 13.5 threes a game. They made 14 today but we did a great job shutting off the paint, similar to the Creighton game. You can’t give them both. If they shoot a lot of threes, you can’t give them the paint as well. I thought we did a really nice job with that. Again, I was pleased with our hand activity, getting deflections and turning those into points. You need to have possessions like that.”
On the collectiveness of the offense
“Again, we were careless early, that showed with not only the turnovers but the unforced turnover rate that we had. The first probably three games we had a couple solid ones, then we took a step back. Now we have to keep taking steps in the right direction. We can’t give away possessions when you play teams like Michigan State and Indiana, which are the next two. This was an important game. Guys knew that coming in. I’m proud of how they prepared and went out and took care of business. This is a team that beat Georgia Tech handily and they beat South Carolina and they played Georgia pretty tight for the entire game. I think that’s a team that’s going to win a lot of games in their league. So this was a big win for us and to win it going away like we did after they went on a run, I think is definitely a good sign.”
Junior guard Connor Essegian
On his confidence
“I’m pretty confident. It just kind of comes with just having fun and just playing. Having guys on the team, and coaches and the staff that you trust and just enjoying being around and playing with. Like Brice (Williams) said, we’re doing a good job just getting guys open. Whether it’s me or anyone else on the team. That just comes with trust that we’ve built. As we go throughout the season and just continue to get better and better and everyone will get open shots.”
On goal of hitting eight threes in a game
“If it happens, it happens. I’m not really too worried about it. As long as we keep winning and keep this hot streak going.”
On developing mid-range game
“It kind of started freshman year, when that really started to develop a little bit. When they started to get scouting reports out and started to try to get me off the line. I’m just trying to develop a full game as scouting reports keep coming out to try to get me off the line. Just to be able to open things up for me and for other guys, if I’m able to get inside the lane and dish and help other guys get shots. It helps the whole team.”
Senior Guard Brice Williams
On scouting North Florida
“Definitely can’t overlook any opponent and we were stressed with this opponent because of the resume they have. We were locked in. We were motivated and we have to protect home court. That’s the biggest thing and also non-conference is a big thing and KenPom it’s a big thing. We were all focused coming into the game.”
On getting off to a good start
“Focus is always to get off to a high start. The team that leads first is usually the team that can make a change. You don’t want a team like this, dangerous teams like this, to hang around the whole game because then if it gets late it’s just going to be too much pressure then they have too much momentum so they get a lot on their side. So the goal is always to start out fast.”
On taking care of the ball
“I’m the only one that turned the ball over as a guard. Our focus has always been to make two-foot plays, make simple plays and take care of the ball. I know some games get away from us early and that really allows teams to hang around. But this game, we were stressing about taking care of the ball and making good, simple plays. That’s what we did tonight. It was pretty easy, it wasn’t anything difficult.”
North Florida Head Coach Matthew Driscoll
On his thoughts on the game
“To their credit, they did a really good job from the jump. We decided with yesterday’s travel and the earliness of the game to not come in and do shootaround. Probably looking back at it, in hindsight, we probably should’ve come in just to give our guys a better opportunity to know what they’re walking into. They jumped on us early. The second half, we cut it to 16 with the ball and missed a three to cut it to 13. To our guys’ credit, they came back and fought through that. They did a really great job, Coach (Hoiberg) was really prepared. Obviously, we become much more of a hunted program especially when you beat other power four teams. They understand what you’re about and what you do. And to their credit, they were prepared. They really, really came in with an understanding. Turnovers probably at the end of the day, we’ve done a great job of not turning the ball over and it led to 25 of their points. So, we have to understand that, and we have to learn from this.”
On what’s upcoming for North Florida
“We have to travel home, we have an early three A.M. tomorrow morning and then get back and get ready for Thursday night. We’ve got Warner coming into town and it’s going to be a quick turnaround. We’ve got another road game after that and then finals. We’re going to be ripping and running really well in the next seven to 10 days. We’ve just got to do a great job of getting back and getting this thing taken out and then getting back on the floor to continue to improve and get better.”