Huskers Face Arizona State in College Basketball Crown

The Nebraska men's basketball program earns a second straight postseason berth, as the Huskers will travel to Las Vegas for the inaugural College Basketball Crown later this month. The Crown is a 16-team event that features teams primarily from the Big Ten, Big East and Big 12 staged over a seven-day period from March 31-April 6. Those three conferences have 11 of the 16 spots, while the West Coast Conference (2), Mountain West (1), American (1) and Atlantic-10 (1) all have at last one team in the field.

Nebraska will open tournament play on Monday, March 31, when the Huskers take on Arizona State in the third of four first-round
games that day. Tipoff from the MGM Grand Garden Arena is set for 7:30 p.m. (central) and will be televised on FS1 and carried on the Huskers Radio Network. Live audio for the game can also be found on Huskers.com and the Huskers app.

Nebraska (17-14) reaches the postseason in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons. During the regular season, the Huskers won 17 games, including four wins over ranked teams, before a tough finishing stretch. The Huskers ended the year with five straight losses, including three games by three points or less. That included an epic 116-114 double overtime loss at Ohio State, a three-point loss to Big Ten Tournament champion Michigan where NU had a wide-open look to take the lead in the final 10 seconds and a two-point loss to Minnesota where NU erased a 19-point deficit to lead with 9.7 seconds left before the Gophers hit a game-winning shot.

Nebraska is led by the senior duo of Brice Williams and Juwan Gary. Williams, a first-team All-Big Ten performer, heads to the postseason averaging 20.0 points, 4.1 rebounds and a team-high 2.8 assists per game. He has 17 games with at least 20 points, including a school-record 43-point outburst against Ohio State. Gary closed the season averaging 23.0 ppg and 6.3 rpg over Nebraska's final three games and is averaging a career-high 14.0 points and a team-high 4.8 rebounds per game.

Arizona State (13-19) has battled injuries during conference play and has been off since a 71-66 loss to Kansas State in the Big 12 Tournament on March 11. The Sun Devils, whose only two losses in non-conference action were to Florida and Gonzaga, have battled through injuries during Big Conference 12 action. That has played a major role in the Sun Devils' current five-game losing streak.

Numbers to Know
3,724 - Head Coaches Fred Hoiberg (1,993 at Iowa State) and Bobby Hurley (1,731 at Duke) combined for 3,724 career points at the college level. Both Hoiberg and Hurley have sons on their respective rosters, as NU and ASU are two of 29 programs nationally with fathers coaching their sons.

41 - With a win over Arizona State, NU would have 41 wins over the past two seasons, which would tie for the second-highest consecutive year total in program history. NU won 45 games spanning the 1990-91 and 1991-92 seasons and won 41 games spanning the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons.

3 - Juwan Gary has as many 20-point games during the month of March (3) as he did during the first four years of his college career (3). Gary is averaging 23.0 ppg during this month.

70 - Connor Essegian has a team-high 70 3-pointers this season which ties for ninth on Nebraska's single-season list. His previous high was 69 when he was at Wisconsin in 2022-23.

22.9 - Nebraska has gotten production from its bench, averaging 22.9 points per game this season to rank sixth in the Big Ten. Nebraska has gotten 28 double-figure efforts from its bench this season (Essegian-14, Morgan-11, Ulis-1, Worster-1 and Meah-1). The Huskers led the Big Ten in bench production last season at 21.4 points per game.

Nebraska's Postseason History
The 2025 College Basketball Crown marks Nebraska's 28th postseason appearance in program history, as Nebraska is 24-26 all-time in the postseason. The 2024-25 season marks NU's second straight postseason appearance, the first time that has happened for Nebraska since the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons.

• The list includes eight NCAA Tournament appearances, most recently last season, and 19 NITs and this year's College Basketball Crown.
• Of the 17 players on Nebraska's 2024-25 roster, 11 have been on a postseason roster previously during their college career. The list includes: Ahron Ulis (four); Juwan Gary (three); Connor Essegian (two); Brice Williams (two); Rienk Mast (two); Sam Hoiberg (one); Jeffrey Grace III (one); Rollie Worster (one); Cale Jacobsen (one); Henry Burt (one) and Braxton Meah (one).
• Brice Williams was the MVP of the 2023 CBI when he was at Charlotte, averaging 16.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game in the 49ers postseason run.
  
  

Experimental Rule to Make Debut in Postseason
One change from the regular season in place for both the Crown and the NIT is the use of an experimental rule which will allow a coach to appeal out-of-bounds calls for video replay review in the last two minutes of games.

The experimental rule would eliminate the official's voluntary ability to review out-of-bounds calls on the floor in the last two minutes of the game. Instead, these calls for a video review would be tied to the timeouts a team has remaining.

• If a team appeals the call and it is overturned, the team making the appeal would retain the timeout.
• If the review fails, the team making the appeal would lose a timeout.
• If no timeouts remain, coaches could still appeal, but if the appeal fails, they would be assessed an excessive timeout administrative technical, meaning their opponents would shoot two free throws and maintain possession of the ball.

Worth Noting

• Nebraska's NET strength of schedule was 31st on Selection Sunday. Of the Big Ten teams that are playing in the postseason, it ranks third, trailing only Michigan (18th) and Illinois (27th).
  
  
• The College Basketball Crown features four teams in the top 60 of the NET on Selection Sunday, including Boise State (44), Cincinnati (50), Villanova (55) and Nebraska (59). Nebraska's five Quad 1 wins are the highest of any team in the field with Arizona State (four) coming in second.
  
  
• Brice Williams became the first Husker since Terran Petteway in 2013-14 to lead the Big Ten in scoring during conference play. Williams finished with 20.7 ppg, edging out Purdue's Trey Kaufman-Renn (20.5) and Northwestern's Nick Martinelli (20.5) in Big Ten action. Entering the postseason, Williams is one of three players averaging 20.0 ppg.

NU Players Leading Conference in Scoring Conference Games Only Since 1911)

Year	Player	PPG
1912-13	Clinton Underwood
1929-30	Dan Maclay	11.2
1948-49	Claude Retherford	12.4
1980-81	Andre Smith	19.5
2013-14	Terran Petteway	18.6
2024-25	Brice Williams	20.7

• With a 17-14 record, Nebraska will finish with a .500 or better record for the third straight season. It would mark the first time that has happened at Nebraska since a six-year stretch spanning 2003-04 to 2008-09 seasons. With an extended run in Las Vegas, the Huskers could post consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time since the 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons.
  
  
• Of Nebraska's 14 losses, nine were one-possession games within the last 45 seconds of regulation. In five of the six home losses this season, NU was within one possession in the final 40 seconds, including four in the final 10 seconds (Rutgers, USC, Michigan and Minnesota).
  
  
• Nebraska went 4-4 against ranked opponents this season, as the four wins over ranked teams tie a school record done three other times in school history. Nebraska has won multiple games against ranked foes in three of the past four years and is now 9-11 in its last 20 games against ranked teams dating back to March 1, 2022.
  
  
• Nebraska is averaging 75.4 points per game entering the postseason. It is on pace to be NU's second-highest scoring average since joining the Big Ten in 2011-12. NU has scored 70+ points 19 times, including 10 games with at least 80 points. Last season, NU averaged 77.7 points per game for 34 games, its highest offensive total since the 1995-96 season.

 

NU's Highest Scoring Offenses (B1G era)

No.	PPG	Year
1.	77.7	2023-24
-	75.4	2024-25
2.	73.3	2021-22
3.	72.3	2017-18
4.	72.2	2015-16
5.	71.8	2018-19

• NU has relied on its depth with six players averaging at least 6.6 points per game. Nine players have posted double-figure efforts, while three players (Brice Williams, Connor Essegian and Juwan Gary) have recorded 20-point games. Williams is the only Husker in the top 20 of the Big Ten in scoring entering the postseason.
  
  
• Nebraska has had seven games this season with multiple 20-point scorers, most recently at Ohio State on March 4 with Brice Williams (43) and Juwan Gary (24) going over the 20-point mark. NU now has multiple players who have scored 20+ points 18 times in Fred Hoiberg's six seasons.
  
  
• The 67 combined points by Gary and Williams in the OSU game were the most by two players in a game in school history. The previous mark was 65 by Eric Piatkowski (42) and Bruce Chubick (23) vs. Oklahoma on March 11, 1994.
  
  

• The Huskers allowed 49 points in the loss to No. 15 Michigan on Feb. 24, the sixth time in 379 games against ranked opponents where NU allowed less than 50 points. It is the fewest NU has allowed to a ranked opponent since 2011 and only the third time in the last 40 years that NU held a ranked opponent under 50 points.
  
  
• Nebraska overcame a 20-point second-half deficit to win at Northwestern on Feb. 16. It was the largest deficit overcome by a Big Ten team in a road conference game since Feb. 17, 2018, when Michigan State overcame a 27-point deficit at Northwestern at Allstate Arena. The 20-point comeback was NU's largest of the Big Ten era. Nebraska nearly posted another comeback on March 1 vs. Minnesota, coming from 19 down to take the lead before Minnesota's game winner in the final seconds.
  
  
• NU is 12-1 when holding opponents to under one point per possession, but 5-13 when opponents are above 1.0 PPP. Nebraska had won its last 29 games dating back to the 2022-23 season when holding an opponent under 1.0 PPP before the Feb. 24 loss to the Wolverines. Over the last three years, NU is 38-5 when holding opponents to under 70 points. Nebraska has improved its KenPom defensive efficiency in each of the past three seasons.
  
  
• On Jan. 26, Brice and his father, Henry, became the seventh father-son duo to combine for 4,000 career points at the college level. The pair is now sixth all-time entering the postseason. Brice is over 1,800 career points, including 1,075 at Nebraska. Henry Williams, who passed away in 2018, was Charlotte's all-time leading scorer with 2,383 career points.

Father-Son Duos with 4,000 Points

No.	Father (College)	Years	Points	Son (College)	Years	Points	Total
1.	Dell Curry (Virginia Tech)	1983-86	2,389	Stephen Curry (Davidson)	2006-09	2,635	5,024
2.	Mike Davis (Alabama)	1979-83	1,211	Antoine Davis (Detroit)	2018-23	3,664	4,875
3.	Steve Burtt Sr. (Iona)	1980-84	2,534	Steve Burtt Jr. (Iona)	2002-06	2,034	4,568
4.	Dell Curry (Virginia Tech)	1983-86	2,389	Seth Curry (Duke/Liberty)	2009-13	2,101	4,490
5.	Steve Alford (Indiana)	1983-86	2,438	Bryce Alford (UCLA)	2013-17	1,922	4,360
6.	Henry Williams (Charlotte)	1988-92	2,383	Brice Williams (Charlotte/Nebraska)	2019-25	1,876	4,259
7.	Greg McDermott (Northern Iowa)	1984-88	1,033	Doug McDermott (Creighton)	2010-14	3,150	4,183

• Connor Essegian has been one of the Big Ten's best sixth men this season, as the junior guard enters the postseason averaging 10.4 points per contest. Essegian is one of only two Big Ten reserves currently averaging double figures while making eight or fewer starts.

B1G Bench Scoring Leaders (8 or less starts)

No.	Player	PPG
1.	Connor Essegian (NEB)	10.4
2.	Sebastian Mack (UCLA)	9.6
3.	Pryce Sandford (Iowa)	8.8
As of March 25

• With its 17-13 record in 2024-25, Nebraska is 46-28 dating back to the start of February 2023. NU's .622 winning percentage is fifth among all Big Ten programs in that span. NU went just 33-80 from the start of the 2019-20 season until Feb. 1, 2023.
  
  
• Nebraska's 114 points against Ohio State on March 4 was the fifth-highest output in school history and most points since also scoring 114 against Oregon on Nov. 25, 1995.
  
  
• Brice Williams is just sixth Husker in the Big Ten era to have multiple 30-point games in the Big Ten era (2011-21-present). His three 30-point games match James Palmer Jr., who had a trio of 30-point efforts during the 2018-19 season.
  
  
• As a team, Nebraska enters the postseason shooting 74.8 percent from the line. The Huskers' free throw percentage is on track to be one of the best in school history. Nebraska's 484 free throws made this season is 27 free throws shy from 10th place in school history (511, 2013-14).

Best Single-Season FT Pct.

No.	Year	Pct.
1.	2011-12	.766
2.	1967-68	.765
3	2023-24	.760
4.	1980-81	.750
5.	1979-80	.749
-	2024-25	.748
6.	1993-94	.745

Scouting Arizona State
Arizona State heads to Las Vegas making their fourth postseason appearance under Head Coach Bobby Hurley. The Sun Devils are 13-19 on the season but have battled injuries during their first season as a member of the Big 12. ASU has five wins at neutral sites this season, including victories over NCAA qualifiers New Mexico, Saint Mary's and Grand Canyon. Hurley has spent the last 10 seasons at Arizona State, guiding the Sun Devils to three tournament appearances, most recently in 2023. ASU has won 20 or more games four times in his tenure and earned a pair of top-three finishes in the Pac 12. As a player, Hurley led Duke to a pair of national titles in 1991 and 1992 and was a first-team All-American as a senior. He finished his career with an NCAA record 1,076 assists and was a first-round pick of the Sacramento Kings in the 1993 NBA draft and played five seasons in the NBA.

The Sun Devils enter the postseason averaging 73.9 points per game and rank third in the Big 12 with 8.8 3-pointers per game. Senior guard Alston Mason averages 13.5 points per game and paces ASU in both 3-pointers (55) and assists per game (4.0). He is one of three seniors in the ASU lineup, joining Basheer Jihad (12.5 ppg, 5.4 rpg) and Adam Miller (9.6 ppg). Freshman Joson Sanon is the third Sun Devil in double figures, averaging 11.9 ppg during the regular season but went in the transfer portal following the regular season. Another freshman Jayden Quaintance has been a strong interior presence, averaging 9.4 points, a team-high 7.9 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game, but he has not played because of a knee injury suffered in late February.

Series History: The matchup is the eighth all-time between the Huskers and Sun Devils and the first since Dec. 7, 2008. ASU leads the series, 4-3, with the home team winning all seven previous meetings. The matchup in the College Basketball Crown will be the first neutral-site meeting.