When I first heard the news that both Husker basketball teams would be playing Texas A&M in their respective NCAA tournaments, I felt the way I did in 1978 after NU in its sixth try had finally beaten #1 ranked Oklahoma in Lincoln. The next week, NU stumbled losing at home to Missouri 35-31. Adding insult to injury was the news that Nebraska and Oklahoma would have a rematch in the Orange Bowl.
But after the pairings were released on Sunday, I realized the two incidents have very little in common. Of course I was factoring in that Trev Alberts had just quit his AD role at Nebraska and bolted for Texas A&M.
Nebraska is not playing Trev Alberts any more than A&M is playing Husker Interim AD, Dennis Leblanc.
So how do these two teams stack up? Let's take a look at the stats.
Overall and Conference records
NU 23-10 (12-8)
A&M 20-14 (9-9)
All Time Record of these teams vs each other:
NU holds a 12-8 edge. The last time these teams met was in the 2010-11 season when NU beat the Aggies 57-48 at the Devaney Center.
Common Opponents:
Ohio State and Penn State
NU vs those two teams: 2-1 (Beat OSU 83-69, lost to them 78-69 and then beat PSU 68-49).
A&M: 2-0 Beat OSU 73-66 and PSU 89-77.
Ranked Wins
NU: Beat #1 Purdue and #6 Wisconsin (both at PBA)
A&M: Beat #6 Kentucky 97-92 OT and #6 Tennessee 85-69 (both at College Station). Also beat #9 Kentucky 97-87 in the SEC tournament in Nashville.
Record over the Last 5 games:
NU 3-2
A&M 4-1
Scoring Points Per Game
NU 77.6
A&M 74.8
Shooting Percentage
NU #117 (45.2)
A&M #341 (39.9%)
Three point Shooting Percentage
NU #73 (35.8%)
A&M #353 (28.4%)
Turnovers Per Game By Opponents
NU #113 (11.1)
A&M #19 (9.6)
Rebounds Ranking
NU #263
A&M #68
Scoring Defense Points Per Game
NU #100 (70.1)
A&M #123 (70.8)
Three Point Shooting Defense
NU 31.9%
A&M 33.9%
Blocks Per Game
NU #286 (2.6)
A&M #252 (3.9)
Steals Given Up Per Game
NU #141 (6.2)
A&M #41 (5.3)
Note: My preview of the women's matchup will appear later this week.
How Bout Them Huskers
Will and I have a ton to talk about including Trev Alberts bolting for A&M, Dennis Leblanc being named the Interim AD and the NCAA tournament pairings for the Husker men's and women's teams.
Related: Stukenholtz: The Time Is Now for Nebraska Men's Basketball's
