AP Pro Football Writer&nbsp;&nbsp;

DENVER (AP) — Stymied all night by the Minnesota Vikings' smothering defense, Russell Wilson never lost faith in his sputtering offense whose first nine drives ended with Wil Lutz kicking five field goals and Riley Dixon punting four times.

“We just believe in each other ... We knew we were going to win this game,” Wilson said after driving Denver on its only touchdown drive in the closing minutes for a 21-20 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday night, ending the NFL's longest winning streak at five games.

Courtland Sutton's&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1726454171963158628">leaping 15-yard touchdown catch</a>&nbsp;with 1:03 remaining was the difference for Denver (5-5), which now owns the league's longest winning streak at four.

“This guy's been lights out,” Wilson said of Sutton, who outleapt cornerback Mekhi Blackmon for his eighth TD of the season. “He's one of the best in the game and I tried to put it on a place that only he could get it. And sure enough.”

Wilson was smacked just as he released the throw, and never saw the game-winning reception: "I think my head was turned sideways. I just heard the crowd going crazy and knew he caught it.”

Danielle Hunter's tackle of Javonte Williams on the 2-point try kept the Vikings within a point and needing a field goal by Greg Joseph in Denver's thin air to win it.

The Broncos' defense — which produced three more takeaways, giving Denver a dozen over its last three games — didn't allow the Vikings (6-5) to get out of their own side of the field on Minnesota's desperation drive in the final minute, however.

Denver forced Joshua Dobbs into an intentional grounding that brought up fourth-and-25 before Dobbs threw one final incompletion from the Vikings 21 with 16 seconds left.

Dobbs threw for 221 yards and a touchdown and ran for another but lost with the Vikings for the first time since they acquired him in an emergency trade with Arizona.

Still, he became the first quarterback in NFL history to have both a touchdown throw and a touchdown run in his first three games with a team.

“Man, he's a lot slippier than I ever (realized) ... he was tough to get down,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said. “And he's taller. I turned to (offensive coordinator Joe) Lombardi in pregame and said, ‘Gosh, I don’t remember Dobbs being 6-3.'

"And I didn't realize how well he can move in the pocket. And we all kind of lived it in that last 2-minute drive. It was just one escape after the other and finally we got off the field.”

Wilson went 27 of 35 for 259 yards without an interception for Denver.

The Broncos started their go-ahead drive from their 25 with 3:17 remaining after Joseph's field goal made it 20-15. That kick capped a 7-minute, 20-second drive by the Vikings that featured a fake punt from their own 30.

Ty Chandler took the snap on fourth-and-5 and scurried 31 yards into Denver territory. He added a 19-yard catch-and-run before the drive stalled at the Broncos 12.

That 20-15 lead seemed safe given that Denver had struggled to find any rhythm all night, finishing 2-for-12 on third down and watching the Vikings outrun them 175 yards to 46 yards for a 10-minute advantage in time of possession.

Wilson drove the Broncos 75 yards in 10 plays to give Denver, which trailed 17-9 after three quarters, its first lead since 3-0.

“It's hard in this league to go on the road and win. And it’s even harder when you don’t take care of the football like you’re supposed to,” Dobbs said.

The Broncos kept stalling deep in Minnesota territory with Lutz connecting from 31, 31, 53, 37 and 28 yards. That last one came after nickelback Ja'Quan McMillian's interception of Dobbs set up the Broncos' offense just inside the Vikings' 10-yard line.

Broncos safety Kareem Jackson returned from a two-game suspension for an illegal hit and&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/WillRagatz/status/1726413287540040041?s=20">got away with another one</a>&nbsp;on the Vikings' opening drive. He led with the crown of his helmet on a third-and-1 run by Dobbs, jarring the ball loose.

No flag was thrown and McMillian jumped on the loose ball at the Vikings’ 30-yard line, Denver’s second straight opening-drive takeaway. Dobbs went straight to the medical tent but came right back out and didn’t miss any snaps.

“It seemed like a pretty direct helmet-to-helmet type hit,” Vikings coach Kevin O'Connnell said. “The rule is what it is. They didn't throw the flag. It happened fast out there. We'll have to take a look at it.”

So, too, will the NFL, which has already fined Jackson $89,670 for four illegal hits before suspending him two games, costing Jackson $279,000 in lost wages.

Jackson's hit should have resulted in a 15-yard penalty with Minnesota maintaining possession, suggested NBC rules analyst Terry McAulay.

“He lowers his head and makes forcible contact to the opponent,” McAulay said on the broadcast. “You see, his head is down. This should have been a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness.”

Vikings DL Dean Lowry suffered a pectoral injury in the first half and was ruled out for the remainder of the game. WR Justin Jefferson missed his sixth game with a strained right hamstring.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/11/1700491510189.jpeg" alt="Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson (3) scrambles against the Minnesota Vikings during the first half on an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)" />
 <figcaption>Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson (3) scrambles against the Minnesota Vikings during the first half on an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)</figcaption>
 </figure>By ARNIE STAPLETON AP Pro Football Writer&nbsp;&nbsp;DENVER (AP) — Stymied all night by the Minnesota Vikings' smothering defense, Russell Wilson never lost faith in his sputtering offense whose first nine drives ended with Wil Lutz kicking five field goals and Riley Dixon punting four times.“We just believe in each other ... We knew we were going to win this game,” Wilson said after driving Denver on its only touchdown drive in the closing minutes for a 21-20 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday night, ending the NFL's longest winning streak at five games.Courtland Sutton's&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1726454171963158628">leaping 15-yard touchdown catch</a>&nbsp;with 1:03 remaining was the difference for Denver (5-5), which now owns the league's longest winning streak at four.“This guy's been lights out,” Wilson said of Sutton, who outleapt cornerback Mekhi Blackmon for his eighth TD of the season. “He's one of the best in the game and I tried to put it on a place that only he could get it. And sure enough.”Wilson was smacked just as he released the throw, and never saw the game-winning reception: "I think my head was turned sideways. I just heard the crowd going crazy and knew he caught it.”Danielle Hunter's tackle of Javonte Williams on the 2-point try kept the Vikings within a point and needing a field goal by Greg Joseph in Denver's thin air to win it.The Broncos' defense — which produced three more takeaways, giving Denver a dozen over its last three games — didn't allow the Vikings (6-5) to get out of their own side of the field on Minnesota's desperation drive in the final minute, however.Denver forced Joshua Dobbs into an intentional grounding that brought up fourth-and-25 before Dobbs threw one final incompletion from the Vikings 21 with 16 seconds left.Dobbs threw for 221 yards and a touchdown and ran for another but lost with the Vikings for the first time since they acquired him in an emergency trade with Arizona.Still, he became the first quarterback in NFL history to have both a touchdown throw and a touchdown run in his first three games with a team.“Man, he's a lot slippier than I ever (realized) ... he was tough to get down,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said. “And he's taller. I turned to (offensive coordinator Joe) Lombardi in pregame and said, ‘Gosh, I don’t remember Dobbs being 6-3.'"And I didn't realize how well he can move in the pocket. And we all kind of lived it in that last 2-minute drive. It was just one escape after the other and finally we got off the field.”Wilson went 27 of 35 for 259 yards without an interception for Denver.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/11/1700491549036.jpeg" alt="Denver Broncos wide receiver Jerry Jeudy (10) celebrates his first down during the second half on an NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)" />
 <figcaption>Denver Broncos wide receiver Jerry Jeudy (10) celebrates his first down during the second half on an NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)</figcaption>
 </figure>The Broncos started their go-ahead drive from their 25 with 3:17 remaining after Joseph's field goal made it 20-15. That kick capped a 7-minute, 20-second drive by the Vikings that featured a fake punt from their own 30.Ty Chandler took the snap on fourth-and-5 and scurried 31 yards into Denver territory. He added a 19-yard catch-and-run before the drive stalled at the Broncos 12.That 20-15 lead seemed safe given that Denver had struggled to find any rhythm all night, finishing 2-for-12 on third down and watching the Vikings outrun them 175 yards to 46 yards for a 10-minute advantage in time of possession.Wilson drove the Broncos 75 yards in 10 plays to give Denver, which trailed 17-9 after three quarters, its first lead since 3-0.“It's hard in this league to go on the road and win. And it’s even harder when you don’t take care of the football like you’re supposed to,” Dobbs said.The Broncos kept stalling deep in Minnesota territory with Lutz connecting from 31, 31, 53, 37 and 28 yards. That last one came after nickelback Ja'Quan McMillian's interception of Dobbs set up the Broncos' offense just inside the Vikings' 10-yard line.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/11/1700491587946.jpeg" alt="Minnesota Vikings quarterback Joshua Dobbs (15) scores a touchdown as Denver Broncos safety Justin Simmons (31) defends during the second half on an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)" />
 <figcaption>Minnesota Vikings quarterback Joshua Dobbs (15) scores a touchdown as Denver Broncos safety Justin Simmons (31) defends during the second half on an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)</figcaption>
 </figure>JACKSON BACK IN ACTIONBroncos safety Kareem Jackson returned from a two-game suspension for an illegal hit and&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/WillRagatz/status/1726413287540040041?s=20">got away with another one</a>&nbsp;on the Vikings' opening drive. He led with the crown of his helmet on a third-and-1 run by Dobbs, jarring the ball loose.No flag was thrown and McMillian jumped on the loose ball at the Vikings’ 30-yard line, Denver’s second straight opening-drive takeaway. Dobbs went straight to the medical tent but came right back out and didn’t miss any snaps.“It seemed like a pretty direct helmet-to-helmet type hit,” Vikings coach Kevin O'Connnell said. “The rule is what it is. They didn't throw the flag. It happened fast out there. We'll have to take a look at it.”So, too, will the NFL, which has already fined Jackson $89,670 for four illegal hits before suspending him two games, costing Jackson $279,000 in lost wages.Jackson's hit should have resulted in a 15-yard penalty with Minnesota maintaining possession, suggested NBC rules analyst Terry McAulay.“He lowers his head and makes forcible contact to the opponent,” McAulay said on the broadcast. “You see, his head is down. This should have been a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness.”INJURIESVikings DL Dean Lowry suffered a pectoral injury in the first half and was ruled out for the remainder of the game. WR Justin Jefferson missed his sixth game with a strained right hamstring.UP NEXTVikings: Host Chicago on Sunday.Broncos: Host Cleveland on Sunday.

Broncos rally to end Vikings' 5-game winning streak, 21-20

Story by NU Athletic Communications

The No. 1 Nebraska volleyball team clinched the outright Big Ten title on Sunday with a 25-21, 25-21, 25-15 sweep of Iowa at XTream Arena in front of a sold-out crowd of 4,535.&nbsp;

The Huskers (27-0, 18-0 Big Ten) won their 35th all-time conference championship, including their fourth Big Ten title and first since 2017. With two matches remaining in the regular season at Wisconsin (Friday) and at Minnesota (Saturday), the Huskers have a three-game lead in the conference standings.

Merritt Beason had a match-high 12 kills, and Bekka Allick, Ally Batenhorst and Harper Murray all had nine kills. Allick hit .571 and added three blocks. Andi Jackson recorded seven kills and three blocks.&nbsp;

Lexi Rodriguez had 19 digs in the sweep. Murray and Bergen Reilly each had nine. Laney Choboy and Beason had eight apiece, while Choboy led the Huskers with a pair of aces.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Reilly finished with 37 assists, as the Huskers hit .233 with 46 kills. Iowa hit .121 with 30 kills.&nbsp;

Set 1: Murray had a kill and a service ace as the Huskers took a 6-2 lead. Two kills by Batenhorst and another by Murray and one by Beason made it 11-5. Iowa got within 13-9 before kills by Beason and Allick put the lead back at six at the media timeout, 15-9. After the break, Murray added another kill for a 16-9 advantage, and Batenhorst put down two more for an 18-11 lead. The Huskers led 20-13, but Iowa scored a 10-3 run to cut it to 23-20. A setting error by Iowa gave NU set point, 24-20, and Jackson put the set away at 25-21 with a kill on the slide.&nbsp;

Set 2: With the score tied 7-7, Beason terminated from the back row, and Murray and Allick teamed up for a block before Iowa hit wide to make it 10-7 Huskers. After an Iowa point, Murray and Allick tallied kills for a 12-8 advantage, but the Hawkeyes fought back with a 4-0 run to tie the score at 12-12. The score remained tied at 16-16 before an Iowa serving error and hitting error put the Big Red up 18-16. Allick tipped a kill to the floor, and Beason added her eighth kill for a 22-19 lead. Another Beason kill made it 23-20, and Batenhorst earned set point at 24-21 with her seventh kill. Jackson ended the set in the same way she did as the first set, 25-21 on the slide.&nbsp;

Set 3: Iowa shot out to a 6-2 lead before a kill by Beason and ace by Beason cut it to 6-4. The Hawkeyes went back up by four, 8-4, but a kill by Jackson and ace by Choboy brought NU back within two, 8-6. Back-to-back kills by Murray, followed by a Beason/Allick block and another Murray kill put the Huskers in front, 11-10. With the score tied 13-13, Allick and Murray had kills around an Iowa hitting error to put the Huskers up 16-13. Iowa sided out with a kill, but the Huskers produced a 7-0 run to take a commanding 23-14 lead. During that stretch, Batenhorst had two kills, Beason and Murray each had one, and Reilly and Jackson had two blocks. The Huskers finished off the sweep, 25-15, on a Choboy ace.

Up Next: The Huskers will be on the road over Thanksgiving at No. 3 Wisconsin on Friday (3 p.m.) and at Minnesota on Saturday (8 p.m.).&nbsp;

Story by NU Athletic Communications<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/11/1700491290507.jpeg" alt="Husker Volleyball" />
 <figcaption>Husker Volleyball</figcaption>
 </figure>The No. 1 Nebraska volleyball team clinched the outright Big Ten title on Sunday with a 25-21, 25-21, 25-15 sweep of Iowa at XTream Arena in front of a sold-out crowd of 4,535.&nbsp;The Huskers (27-0, 18-0 Big Ten) won their 35th all-time conference championship, including their fourth Big Ten title and first since 2017. With two matches remaining in the regular season at Wisconsin (Friday) and at Minnesota (Saturday), the Huskers have a three-game lead in the conference standings.Merritt Beason had a match-high 12 kills, and Bekka Allick, Ally Batenhorst and Harper Murray all had nine kills. Allick hit .571 and added three blocks. Andi Jackson recorded seven kills and three blocks.&nbsp;Lexi Rodriguez had 19 digs in the sweep. Murray and Bergen Reilly each had nine. Laney Choboy and Beason had eight apiece, while Choboy led the Huskers with a pair of aces.&nbsp;&nbsp;Reilly finished with 37 assists, as the Huskers hit .233 with 46 kills. Iowa hit .121 with 30 kills.&nbsp;Set 1: Murray had a kill and a service ace as the Huskers took a 6-2 lead. Two kills by Batenhorst and another by Murray and one by Beason made it 11-5. Iowa got within 13-9 before kills by Beason and Allick put the lead back at six at the media timeout, 15-9. After the break, Murray added another kill for a 16-9 advantage, and Batenhorst put down two more for an 18-11 lead. The Huskers led 20-13, but Iowa scored a 10-3 run to cut it to 23-20. A setting error by Iowa gave NU set point, 24-20, and Jackson put the set away at 25-21 with a kill on the slide.&nbsp;Set 2: With the score tied 7-7, Beason terminated from the back row, and Murray and Allick teamed up for a block before Iowa hit wide to make it 10-7 Huskers. After an Iowa point, Murray and Allick tallied kills for a 12-8 advantage, but the Hawkeyes fought back with a 4-0 run to tie the score at 12-12. The score remained tied at 16-16 before an Iowa serving error and hitting error put the Big Red up 18-16. Allick tipped a kill to the floor, and Beason added her eighth kill for a 22-19 lead. Another Beason kill made it 23-20, and Batenhorst earned set point at 24-21 with her seventh kill. Jackson ended the set in the same way she did as the first set, 25-21 on the slide.&nbsp;Set 3: Iowa shot out to a 6-2 lead before a kill by Beason and ace by Beason cut it to 6-4. The Hawkeyes went back up by four, 8-4, but a kill by Jackson and ace by Choboy brought NU back within two, 8-6. Back-to-back kills by Murray, followed by a Beason/Allick block and another Murray kill put the Huskers in front, 11-10. With the score tied 13-13, Allick and Murray had kills around an Iowa hitting error to put the Huskers up 16-13. Iowa sided out with a kill, but the Huskers produced a 7-0 run to take a commanding 23-14 lead. During that stretch, Batenhorst had two kills, Beason and Murray each had one, and Reilly and Jackson had two blocks. The Huskers finished off the sweep, 25-15, on a Choboy ace.Up Next: The Huskers will be on the road over Thanksgiving at No. 3 Wisconsin on Friday (3 p.m.) and at Minnesota on Saturday (8 p.m.).&nbsp;

Huskers claim Big Ten Championship in sweep at Iowa

Lincoln -&nbsp;The fifth-seeded Nebraska soccer team scored late in both halves to defeat Tennessee 2-1 in a thrilling second-round NCAA Tournament match Friday night in front of the second-largest crowd (2,318) at Barbara Hibner Stadium.

Sarah Weber gave Nebraska a 1-0 lead heading into the locker room when she scored her 15th goal of the season with only 20 seconds remaining in the first half. Tennessee tied the score less than four minutes into the second half, and the match appeared headed for overtime before Ella Guyott scored the game-winner with 1:01 remaining for the first goal of her career.

With the win, Nebraska (16-3-3) advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2004. The Huskers will take on UC Irvine Sunday at Hibner Stadium at 1 p.m. The Anteaters advanced with a pair of upset victories over No. 1 seed UCLA (1-0) and No. 8 seed Gonzaga (2-1).

Nebraska enjoyed a 12-8 advantage in shots over Tennessee and a 5-2 edge in shots on goal. Jordan Zade had the game-winning assist on Guyott's goal, while goalkeeper Sami Hauk made one save.

Tennessee ended its season with a 9-7-4 record.

The potent Husker offense – ranked in the top 10 nationally in goals, shots and shots on goals per game – did not record its first shot until the 21st minute when Eleanor Dale sent a volley over the net. Thirteen minutes later, a shot off the foot of Gwen Lane in the 34th minute sailed just high.

Nebraska gained momentum toward the end of the first half, keeping possession and earning two corner kicks in the final seven minutes. The increased pressure paid off in the closing seconds when Tennessee goalkeeper Ally Zazzara had an unfortunate slip while taking a goal kick. Due to the slip, the kick did not make it out of the box and Weber won a footrace to the loose ball and slid a shot into the bottom of the net to give Nebraska a 1-0 lead with only 20 seconds remaining in the first half.

The Huskers outshot the Lady Vols 4-2 in the opening half, with each team placing one shot on goal.

The second half started out much more offensive-minded, as Tennessee had a shot just 35 seconds into the period, and Nebraska’s Lauryn Anglim forced a save with her shot just 1:25 into the half. The Lady Vols then took advantage of a missed Husker clearance when Macaira Midgley found the ball at her feet inside the box and sent a shot into the net for the equalizer at 48:11.

The Huskers nearly answered three minutes later. Weber sent a cross into the box that was deflected by Tennessee and Dale just missed connecting on the deflection at the back post. Nebraska continued to pressure, earning a pair of corner kicks less than a minute apart in the 56th and 57th minutes.

In the 62nd minute, Zade sent in a perfect cross into the box and Dale rose to get her header on frame, but the shot was saved by Zazzara. Dale used a phenomenal effort to get her head on another cross in the 81st minute, but the shot sailed high as Dale left the match and did not return after colliding head with Tennessee’s Sheridan Michel.

In the 82nd minute, Florence Belzile worked her way through the Lady Vol defense and sent a shot just wide. Nebraska kept the pressure on and it culminated with Guyott's game-winning goal with 1:01 remaining. Zade sent in a cross that found its way to the back post where Guyott calmly put it home to give Nebraska a 2-1 advantage.

Tennessee stormed back, earning a corner kick just 32 seconds later. In a last-gap effort, the Lady Vols got off a final shot with seven seconds left but it was blocked and cleared by the Husker defense.

Lincoln -&nbsp;The fifth-seeded Nebraska soccer team scored late in both halves to defeat Tennessee 2-1 in a thrilling second-round NCAA Tournament match Friday night in front of the second-largest crowd (2,318) at Barbara Hibner Stadium.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/11/1700317877637.jpeg" alt="Nebraska Womens Soccer Team" />
 <figcaption>Nebraska Womens Soccer Team</figcaption>
 </figure>Sarah Weber gave Nebraska a 1-0 lead heading into the locker room when she scored her 15th goal of the season with only 20 seconds remaining in the first half. Tennessee tied the score less than four minutes into the second half, and the match appeared headed for overtime before Ella Guyott scored the game-winner with 1:01 remaining for the first goal of her career.With the win, Nebraska (16-3-3) advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2004. The Huskers will take on UC Irvine Sunday at Hibner Stadium at 1 p.m. The Anteaters advanced with a pair of upset victories over No. 1 seed UCLA (1-0) and No. 8 seed Gonzaga (2-1).Nebraska enjoyed a 12-8 advantage in shots over Tennessee and a 5-2 edge in shots on goal. Jordan Zade had the game-winning assist on Guyott's goal, while goalkeeper Sami Hauk made one save.Tennessee ended its season with a 9-7-4 record.The potent Husker offense – ranked in the top 10 nationally in goals, shots and shots on goals per game – did not record its first shot until the 21st minute when Eleanor Dale sent a volley over the net. Thirteen minutes later, a shot off the foot of Gwen Lane in the 34th minute sailed just high.Nebraska gained momentum toward the end of the first half, keeping possession and earning two corner kicks in the final seven minutes. The increased pressure paid off in the closing seconds when Tennessee goalkeeper Ally Zazzara had an unfortunate slip while taking a goal kick. Due to the slip, the kick did not make it out of the box and Weber won a footrace to the loose ball and slid a shot into the bottom of the net to give Nebraska a 1-0 lead with only 20 seconds remaining in the first half.The Huskers outshot the Lady Vols 4-2 in the opening half, with each team placing one shot on goal.The second half started out much more offensive-minded, as Tennessee had a shot just 35 seconds into the period, and Nebraska’s Lauryn Anglim forced a save with her shot just 1:25 into the half. The Lady Vols then took advantage of a missed Husker clearance when Macaira Midgley found the ball at her feet inside the box and sent a shot into the net for the equalizer at 48:11.The Huskers nearly answered three minutes later. Weber sent a cross into the box that was deflected by Tennessee and Dale just missed connecting on the deflection at the back post. Nebraska continued to pressure, earning a pair of corner kicks less than a minute apart in the 56th and 57th minutes.In the 62nd minute, Zade sent in a perfect cross into the box and Dale rose to get her header on frame, but the shot was saved by Zazzara. Dale used a phenomenal effort to get her head on another cross in the 81st minute, but the shot sailed high as Dale left the match and did not return after colliding head with Tennessee’s Sheridan Michel.In the 82nd minute, Florence Belzile worked her way through the Lady Vol defense and sent a shot just wide. Nebraska kept the pressure on and it culminated with Guyott's game-winning goal with 1:01 remaining. Zade sent in a cross that found its way to the back post where Guyott calmly put it home to give Nebraska a 2-1 advantage.Tennessee stormed back, earning a corner kick just 32 seconds later. In a last-gap effort, the Lady Vols got off a final shot with seven seconds left but it was blocked and cleared by the Husker defense.

Last-Minute Goal Lifts Nebraska to Sweet 16

Kearney, Neb. –&nbsp;Outside hitters&nbsp;Asha Regier&nbsp;and&nbsp;Emersen Cyza&nbsp;combined for 21 kills and libero&nbsp;Lauren Taubenheim&nbsp;had 19 digs to help 12th-ranked Nebraska Kearney sweep Missouri Southern State (<a href="https://lopers.com/sports/womens-volleyball/stats/2023/missouri-southern/boxscore/7811" target="_blank">-15, -19, -23</a>) Friday night in a MIAA Tournament semifinal match in St. Joseph, Mo.

The third-seeded Lopers (28-4) reach the MIAA finals for the seventh time since joining the league in 2012. UNK won this event in 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 and 2012 as well as the “non-countable” 2021 MIAA Spring Invite.

Top-seed and 18th-ranked Central Missouri (23-7) downed Missouri Western State in four sets on the other side of the bracket. The Jennies have won 11 in a row including a sweep of the Lopers last weekend in Warrensburg. The title match is set for 6 p.m. on Saturday with the winner receiving an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.&nbsp;

Seventh-seed MSSU (16-15) upset 15th-ranked Central Oklahoma on Thursday but led UNK just in the second set tonight. The Blue &amp; Gold out hit the Lions by 104 points, had 10 more digs, six more blocks and took advantage of six service errors.

“You get to this point and time and both teams are playing their hearts out. Missouri Southern wasn’t going to give us the match and they made it really difficult especially with some adversity down the stretch (losing one of their setters).&nbsp; They had to play half a rotation across the front row with a small setter,” said UNK head coach&nbsp;Rick Squiers&nbsp;on the KRVN Radio post-game show. “We took advantage of that a little bit but couldn’t get to the finish line. She then went to the back row and I thought uh-oh.”

Coming off a 17-kill effort in a sweep of Northwest Missouri, Regier (Newton, Kan.) had a team-high 11 kills while hitting .242. She had five kills in the first set and three in both the second and third with Cyza (Alliance) having 10 kills overall. She also was one of five Lopers with at least two blocks. The leaders there were sophomore middle&nbsp;Abby Rose&nbsp;(Lindsborg, Kan.) with a season-best eight and sophomore setter&nbsp;Peyton Neff&nbsp;(North Platte) at five.

“I thought we played good defense for the most part all night long. We made it hard for them to score, took away a few things, block touched a lot of balls,” said Squiers. “We also didn’t let them have a giant service run and they have a couple of really dangerous servers.”

UNK broke a 10-10 tie in the second set with a 9-5 spurt that featured two kills from both Cyza and right side&nbsp;Jaden Ferguson&nbsp;(Lincoln SW). The Lions didn’t get closer than three points the rest of the way and then never led in the third. UNK, up 24-23, finished the match thanks to a kill from freshman middle&nbsp;Mia Berg&nbsp;(Eureka, Mo.).

“Credit Peyton for getting us hittable balls especially as those rallies wore one. It’s easy when you get int one of those back-and-forth rallies to set a low ball, double a ball or a hitter just gets too tired and makes an error,” said Squiers. “We didn’t do that and it was a good thing because they are comfortable playing out of system.”

Taubenheim (Lincoln Pius) is up to 962 career digs and also had one of UNK’s three aces tonight. Next, veteran DS&nbsp;Jensen Rowse&nbsp;(Minden) was 17 for 17 in serve receive with Neff, besides her stuff total, at 30 assists, nine digs, five kills, two aces and a .500 efficiency.

Kearney, Neb. –&nbsp;Outside hitters&nbsp;Asha Regier&nbsp;and&nbsp;Emersen Cyza&nbsp;combined for 21 kills and libero&nbsp;Lauren Taubenheim&nbsp;had 19 digs to help 12th-ranked Nebraska Kearney sweep Missouri Southern State (<a href="https://lopers.com/sports/womens-volleyball/stats/2023/missouri-southern/boxscore/7811" target="_blank">-15, -19, -23</a>) Friday night in a MIAA Tournament semifinal match in St. Joseph, Mo.The third-seeded Lopers (28-4) reach the MIAA finals for the seventh time since joining the league in 2012. UNK won this event in 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 and 2012 as well as the “non-countable” 2021 MIAA Spring Invite.Top-seed and 18th-ranked Central Missouri (23-7) downed Missouri Western State in four sets on the other side of the bracket. The Jennies have won 11 in a row including a sweep of the Lopers last weekend in Warrensburg. The title match is set for 6 p.m. on Saturday with the winner receiving an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.&nbsp;Seventh-seed MSSU (16-15) upset 15th-ranked Central Oklahoma on Thursday but led UNK just in the second set tonight. The Blue &amp; Gold out hit the Lions by 104 points, had 10 more digs, six more blocks and took advantage of six service errors.“You get to this point and time and both teams are playing their hearts out. Missouri Southern wasn’t going to give us the match and they made it really difficult especially with some adversity down the stretch (losing one of their setters).&nbsp; They had to play half a rotation across the front row with a small setter,” said UNK head coach&nbsp;Rick Squiers&nbsp;on the KRVN Radio post-game show. “We took advantage of that a little bit but couldn’t get to the finish line. She then went to the back row and I thought uh-oh.”Coming off a 17-kill effort in a sweep of Northwest Missouri, Regier (Newton, Kan.) had a team-high 11 kills while hitting .242. She had five kills in the first set and three in both the second and third with Cyza (Alliance) having 10 kills overall. She also was one of five Lopers with at least two blocks. The leaders there were sophomore middle&nbsp;Abby Rose&nbsp;(Lindsborg, Kan.) with a season-best eight and sophomore setter&nbsp;Peyton Neff&nbsp;(North Platte) at five.“I thought we played good defense for the most part all night long. We made it hard for them to score, took away a few things, block touched a lot of balls,” said Squiers. “We also didn’t let them have a giant service run and they have a couple of really dangerous servers.”UNK broke a 10-10 tie in the second set with a 9-5 spurt that featured two kills from both Cyza and right side&nbsp;Jaden Ferguson&nbsp;(Lincoln SW). The Lions didn’t get closer than three points the rest of the way and then never led in the third. UNK, up 24-23, finished the match thanks to a kill from freshman middle&nbsp;Mia Berg&nbsp;(Eureka, Mo.).“Credit Peyton for getting us hittable balls especially as those rallies wore one. It’s easy when you get int one of those back-and-forth rallies to set a low ball, double a ball or a hitter just gets too tired and makes an error,” said Squiers. “We didn’t do that and it was a good thing because they are comfortable playing out of system.”Taubenheim (Lincoln Pius) is up to 962 career digs and also had one of UNK’s three aces tonight. Next, veteran DS&nbsp;Jensen Rowse&nbsp;(Minden) was 17 for 17 in serve receive with Neff, besides her stuff total, at 30 assists, nine digs, five kills, two aces and a .500 efficiency.

Lopers Face #18 Central Missouri for Auto Bid to the NCAA’s

LINCOLN, Neb. - The No. 1 Nebraska volleyball team swept Michigan 25-15, 25-12, 25-20 on Friday night in front of 8,815 fans at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

The Huskers improved to 26-0 and 17-0 in Big Ten play. With three matches to play, the Huskers need one more win to claim the outright Big Ten Championship. Nebraska's first opportunity to do so will be at Iowa on Sunday at 2 p.m.&nbsp;

The Huskers wrapped up the home portion of their regular season schedule with a perfect 17-0 record. The last time the Huskers went undefeated at home during the regular season was 2017.&nbsp;

Nebraska hit .368 in the match and held Michigan to .047. The Huskers had a 41-27 advantage in kills, 8-5 edge in blocks and 45-34 advantage in digs.&nbsp;

Andi Jackson had nine kills and hit .727 with three blocks, while Harper Murray had nine kills and five digs. Bekka Allick contributed seven kills on .700 hitting with five blocks, while Merritt Beason added seven kills and nine digs. Ally Batenhorst tallied five kills and four blocks.

Lexi Rodriguez finished the sweep with 15 digs and four set assists. Bergen Reilly had 28 assists, six digs and four kills.&nbsp;

Set 1: The Huskers scored the first three points and led 6-2 with Allick posting three kills early on. Another three-point run by the Huskers made it 12-7 with Murray posting back-to-back kills around an ace by Reilly. A kill by Beason and a block by Jackson and Batenhorst put the Big Red up 15-9. Five different Huskers contributed kills, and a block by Beason and Allick made it 23-13 Huskers. Nebraska went on to win 25-15, hitting .333 and holding Michigan to .026.&nbsp;

Set 2: The Huskers used a 6-0 run to turn a 5-3 lead into an 11-3 lead. Reilly had a kill before Jackson put down three in a row. Allick had two kills and a block with Reilly, and Murray recorded a kill as the Huskers increased the margin to nine at 19-10. Jackson added another kill as the Big Red went up 22-12, and Murray added a kill before a block with Jackson to finish off the set at 25-12. Nebraska hit .474 in set two, while Michigan hit -.067.&nbsp;

Set 3: Nebraska trailed 7-5 before going on a 6-1 run to take an 11-8 lead. Beason recorded two kills, and Batenhorst and Allick had back-to-back blocks. Batenhorst, Murray and Jackson notched kills to push the lead to four, 16-12. Michigan cut the lead in half before Murray terminated for the ninth time. The Wolverines crept within one, 19-18, but Allick had an answer, and Michigan committed a blocking error for a 21-19 Husker lead. Beason put down a kill before a block by Batenhorst and Jackson. Batenhorst then added a kill for a 24-19 match point, and the Huskers sealed the deal on a Michigan service error.&nbsp;

Up Next: Nebraska will travel to Iowa City to play Iowa on Sunday at 2 p.m.&nbsp;

LINCOLN, Neb. - The No. 1 Nebraska volleyball team swept Michigan 25-15, 25-12, 25-20 on Friday night in front of 8,815 fans at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.The Huskers improved to 26-0 and 17-0 in Big Ten play. With three matches to play, the Huskers need one more win to claim the outright Big Ten Championship. Nebraska's first opportunity to do so will be at Iowa on Sunday at 2 p.m.&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/11/1700317570271.jpeg" alt="Bekka Allick vs. Michigan" />
 <figcaption>Bekka Allick vs. Michigan</figcaption>
 </figure>The Huskers wrapped up the home portion of their regular season schedule with a perfect 17-0 record. The last time the Huskers went undefeated at home during the regular season was 2017.&nbsp;Nebraska hit .368 in the match and held Michigan to .047. The Huskers had a 41-27 advantage in kills, 8-5 edge in blocks and 45-34 advantage in digs.&nbsp;Andi Jackson had nine kills and hit .727 with three blocks, while Harper Murray had nine kills and five digs. Bekka Allick contributed seven kills on .700 hitting with five blocks, while Merritt Beason added seven kills and nine digs. Ally Batenhorst tallied five kills and four blocks.Lexi Rodriguez finished the sweep with 15 digs and four set assists. Bergen Reilly had 28 assists, six digs and four kills.&nbsp;Set 1: The Huskers scored the first three points and led 6-2 with Allick posting three kills early on. Another three-point run by the Huskers made it 12-7 with Murray posting back-to-back kills around an ace by Reilly. A kill by Beason and a block by Jackson and Batenhorst put the Big Red up 15-9. Five different Huskers contributed kills, and a block by Beason and Allick made it 23-13 Huskers. Nebraska went on to win 25-15, hitting .333 and holding Michigan to .026.&nbsp;Set 2: The Huskers used a 6-0 run to turn a 5-3 lead into an 11-3 lead. Reilly had a kill before Jackson put down three in a row. Allick had two kills and a block with Reilly, and Murray recorded a kill as the Huskers increased the margin to nine at 19-10. Jackson added another kill as the Big Red went up 22-12, and Murray added a kill before a block with Jackson to finish off the set at 25-12. Nebraska hit .474 in set two, while Michigan hit -.067.&nbsp;Set 3: Nebraska trailed 7-5 before going on a 6-1 run to take an 11-8 lead. Beason recorded two kills, and Batenhorst and Allick had back-to-back blocks. Batenhorst, Murray and Jackson notched kills to push the lead to four, 16-12. Michigan cut the lead in half before Murray terminated for the ninth time. The Wolverines crept within one, 19-18, but Allick had an answer, and Michigan committed a blocking error for a 21-19 Husker lead. Beason put down a kill before a block by Batenhorst and Jackson. Batenhorst then added a kill for a 24-19 match point, and the Huskers sealed the deal on a Michigan service error.&nbsp;Up Next: Nebraska will travel to Iowa City to play Iowa on Sunday at 2 p.m.&nbsp;

Huskers Sweep Wolverines in Regular-Season Home Finale

The Nebraska men's basketball team looks for their best start since 2008-09 on Saturday, as the Huskers travel to Sioux Falls, S.D., for a matchup with Oregon State. Tipoff at the Sanford Pentagon is set for shortly after 3 p.m. and the matchup will be carried on select Husker Radio Network stations (105.3 FM in Lincoln and 105.9 FM in Omaha), on Huskers.com and on the Huskers app. The game will also be available on Peacock, NBC's streaming service. Tickets are available for the Saturday's contest by visiting Ticketmaster.com or Sanfordsports.com.

The Huskers hit the road for the first time this season looking for their first 5-0 start since the 2008-09 team opened the season with a 6-0 mark. NU's 4-0 mark is the first since 2018-19, which was also the only other time the Huskers have played at the Sanford Pentagon.

The Huskers are coming off an 84-63 win over Stony Brook on Wednesday night, as NU shot a season-high 55 percent from the field and put four players in double figures in matching its highest offensive output of the season. Juwan Gary came off the bench for 19 points and seven rebounds in his 2023-24 debut, while Brice Williams scored 16 of his 17 points in the second half and added nine rebounds. Keisei Tominaga (16) and Rienk Mast (14) also finished in double figures, as Nebraska scored 80 or more points for the third time in four games.&nbsp;

Oregon State comes into the matchup with a 3-0 record following an 81-71 overtime win over Appalachian State on Tuesday night. Jordan Pope had 25 points and seven rebounds, as the Beavers outscored the Mountaineers, 18-8 in OT.

Looking at Oregon StateOregon State comes to Sioux Falls with a 3-0 record after an 81-71 overtime win over Appalachian State on Tuesday evening. The Beavers have played a pair of overtime games in the first two weeks of the season, including an 82-81 double-OT win over Troy on Nov. 10.&nbsp;&nbsp;

OSU returned a trio of starters and 10 letterwinners from an extremely young team in 2022-23 that went 11-21, including 5-15 in the Pac-12. The Beavers' top two scorers are sophomores in Jordan Pope (19.0 ppg, 42 percent from 3-point range) and Tyler Bilodeau (15.0 ppg, 9.3 rpg). In addition, K.C. Ibekwe started Oregon State's first two games and had 10 points and eight boards in the win over Appalachian State. Another sophomore who started most of last season was Michael Rataj, as the 6-foot-9 forward averaged 6.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. He has not played this season because of a shin injury.

Wayne Tinkle is in his 10th year at Oregon State and guided the Beavers to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances (2016 and 2021), including an Elite Eight finish in 2021. He ranks third on Oregon State's career wins list while OSU's 2016 NCAA appearances was the school's first since 1990. Prior to taking the Oregon State post, he was the head coach at Montana from 2006 to 2014 and guided the program to three NAA appearances in a four-year span.&nbsp;

Nebraska is 4-6 all-time against Oregon State but has not played the Beavers since a 50-44 win in Lincoln on Dec. 12, 2009. Seven of the 10 meetings in the series took place between 1940 and 1969. NU is 120-123 all-time against the current members of the Pac-12 Conference.&nbsp;

Last Time Out:Juwan Gary matched his career high with 19 points as Nebraska shot 66 percent in the second half en route to an 84-53 win over Stony Brook on Nov. 15.

Gary, who missed NU’s first four contests, hit 8-of-11 shots from the floor and added seven rebounds. Brice Williams scored 16 of his 17 points in the second half and added a game-high nine rebounds, as Nebraska enjoyed a 45-28 advantage on the glass. Williams scored six of his points in a 13-2 Husker spurt after Stony Brook pulled to within 64-54 with 8:30 remaining. &nbsp; Keisei Tominaga and Rienk Mast added 16 and 14 points, respectively, as the Huskers cracked the 80-point plateau for the third time in four games.&nbsp;

Leading 36-28 at the break, the Huskers hit eight of their first 10 shots from the field in the second half to push the margin to 53-51 after a C.J. Wilcher basket. The Seawolves responded with a 7-0 run of its own to get within 56-49 and forced a Husker timeout.&nbsp; The Seawolves were within 59-52, but the Huskers took control with a 13-2 spurt to build a 72-54 lead after a Jamarques Lawrence basket with 6:37 left.

Finding BalanceNebraska relied on its depth and balance early in the season. While the Huskers have four players averaging double figures, five others are at between 5.0 and 8.5 ppg after four games.&nbsp;

Mast's Massive NightRienk Mast put together a strong performance in Nebraska's win against Florida A&amp;M on Nov. 9. The 6-foot-10 forward had game highs of 20 points and 16 rebounds for his first double-double as a Husker.&nbsp;

New Faces, New RolesNebraska made a big splash in the transfer portal, adding five players to the roster, and their impact is already being felt during the early portion of the season. The group of Josiah Allick (New Mexico), Jarron Coleman (Bradley), Rienk Mast (Bradley), Ahron Ulis (Iowa) and Brice Williams (Charlotte) combined for more than 4,300 points, 2,100 rebounds and 800 assists entering this year.&nbsp;

Improved Board WorkOne of the areas where Nebraska has made significant improvement is on the boards. The additions of Rienk Mast, Josiah Allick and Brice Williams along with the return of Juwan Gary have made the Huskers formidable on the glass.&nbsp;

Tominaga Named Preseason All-Big TenNebraska senior guard Keisei Tominaga was honored as one of 10 players selected to the preseason All-Big Ten team.&nbsp; The 10-member team included four unanimous selections: Terrence Shannon (Illinois), Jahmir Young (Maryland), Boo Buie (Northwestern) and Zach Edey (Purdue). Edey, the reigning national player of the year, was tabbed as the Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year.&nbsp;

Tominaga became just the third Husker to be named preseason All-Big Ten since Nebraska joined the conference in 2011-12, joining James Palmer Jr. (2018) and Terran Petteway (2014). Last season, he averaged 13.1 points per game on 53 percent shooting, including 40 percent from 3-point range, while appearing in all 32 contests.&nbsp; Tominaga led the Huskers in 3-pointers with 66 and was one of only six players nationally to average double figures and shoot 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range and 85 percent from the foul line.&nbsp;

During Big Ten play, he led NU in scoring at 14.2 ppg to rank 15th in the conference while also ranking among Big Ten leaders in field goal percentage (.512, seventh) and 3-pointers per game (2.3, sixth) as he shot 41 percent from beyond the arc. He had seven of his nine 20-point games during Big Ten contests, including a career-high 30-point effort against Penn State, and added 23 points in NU’s loss to Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament.

Tominaga returned on Monday against Rider and had nine points, including back-to-back 3-pointers after Rider pulled to within a point. His two 3-pointers started a 17-0 spurt that put the game away. He followed up with a 16-point effort in Wednesday's win over Stony Brook.&nbsp;

Story by NU Athletic CommunicationsThe Nebraska men's basketball team looks for their best start since 2008-09 on Saturday, as the Huskers travel to Sioux Falls, S.D., for a matchup with Oregon State. Tipoff at the Sanford Pentagon is set for shortly after 3 p.m. and the matchup will be carried on select Husker Radio Network stations (105.3 FM in Lincoln and 105.9 FM in Omaha), on Huskers.com and on the Huskers app. The game will also be available on Peacock, NBC's streaming service. Tickets are available for the Saturday's contest by visiting Ticketmaster.com or Sanfordsports.com.The Huskers hit the road for the first time this season looking for their first 5-0 start since the 2008-09 team opened the season with a 6-0 mark. NU's 4-0 mark is the first since 2018-19, which was also the only other time the Huskers have played at the Sanford Pentagon.The Huskers are coming off an 84-63 win over Stony Brook on Wednesday night, as NU shot a season-high 55 percent from the field and put four players in double figures in matching its highest offensive output of the season. Juwan Gary came off the bench for 19 points and seven rebounds in his 2023-24 debut, while Brice Williams scored 16 of his 17 points in the second half and added nine rebounds. Keisei Tominaga (16) and Rienk Mast (14) also finished in double figures, as Nebraska scored 80 or more points for the third time in four games.&nbsp;Oregon State comes into the matchup with a 3-0 record following an 81-71 overtime win over Appalachian State on Tuesday night. Jordan Pope had 25 points and seven rebounds, as the Beavers outscored the Mountaineers, 18-8 in OT.Looking at Oregon StateOregon State comes to Sioux Falls with a 3-0 record after an 81-71 overtime win over Appalachian State on Tuesday evening. The Beavers have played a pair of overtime games in the first two weeks of the season, including an 82-81 double-OT win over Troy on Nov. 10.&nbsp;&nbsp;OSU returned a trio of starters and 10 letterwinners from an extremely young team in 2022-23 that went 11-21, including 5-15 in the Pac-12. The Beavers' top two scorers are sophomores in Jordan Pope (19.0 ppg, 42 percent from 3-point range) and Tyler Bilodeau (15.0 ppg, 9.3 rpg). In addition, K.C. Ibekwe started Oregon State's first two games and had 10 points and eight boards in the win over Appalachian State. Another sophomore who started most of last season was Michael Rataj, as the 6-foot-9 forward averaged 6.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. He has not played this season because of a shin injury.Wayne Tinkle is in his 10th year at Oregon State and guided the Beavers to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances (2016 and 2021), including an Elite Eight finish in 2021. He ranks third on Oregon State's career wins list while OSU's 2016 NCAA appearances was the school's first since 1990. Prior to taking the Oregon State post, he was the head coach at Montana from 2006 to 2014 and guided the program to three NAA appearances in a four-year span.&nbsp;Nebraska is 4-6 all-time against Oregon State but has not played the Beavers since a 50-44 win in Lincoln on Dec. 12, 2009. Seven of the 10 meetings in the series took place between 1940 and 1969. NU is 120-123 all-time against the current members of the Pac-12 Conference.&nbsp;Last Time Out:Juwan Gary matched his career high with 19 points as Nebraska shot 66 percent in the second half en route to an 84-53 win over Stony Brook on Nov. 15.Gary, who missed NU’s first four contests, hit 8-of-11 shots from the floor and added seven rebounds. Brice Williams scored 16 of his 17 points in the second half and added a game-high nine rebounds, as Nebraska enjoyed a 45-28 advantage on the glass. Williams scored six of his points in a 13-2 Husker spurt after Stony Brook pulled to within 64-54 with 8:30 remaining. &nbsp; Keisei Tominaga and Rienk Mast added 16 and 14 points, respectively, as the Huskers cracked the 80-point plateau for the third time in four games.&nbsp;Leading 36-28 at the break, the Huskers hit eight of their first 10 shots from the field in the second half to push the margin to 53-51 after a C.J. Wilcher basket. The Seawolves responded with a 7-0 run of its own to get within 56-49 and forced a Husker timeout.&nbsp; The Seawolves were within 59-52, but the Huskers took control with a 13-2 spurt to build a 72-54 lead after a Jamarques Lawrence basket with 6:37 left.Postgame Notes vs. Stony Brook<ul>
 <li>Nebraska improved to 4-0 for the first time since the 2018-19 season.</li><li>Juwan Gary led Nebraska with 19 points, matching his collegiate career high. He also had 19 points against Houston (12/11/21) and at Florida (1/5/22) at Alabama.</li><li>Gary became the fourth different Husker to lead NU in scoring this year.&nbsp;</li><li>Brice Williams posted season bests in points (17), rebounds (nine) and assists (four), as his four assists tied a career high.</li><li>Nebraska shot a season-high 55 percent, including 65.5 percent in the second half. It is the first time NU shot 50 percent or better this season.</li>
 </ul>Worth Noting<ul>
 <li>Nebraska's 4-0 start is the fourth time in the last 12 seasons that NU has opened 4-0 (also 2018-19, 2016-17 and 2012-13).&nbsp;</li><li>The Huskers are 10-3 over the last 13 games dating back to Feb. 1. A big reason for that is NU's offense, as NU has averaged 75.6 ppg on 48 percent shooting in that stretch. For the first 23 games last year until Feb. 1, NU was at 65.4 ppg. NU has scored 70+ points in 11 of the past 13 games after reaching that mark just seven times in the first 23 games of last season.</li>
 </ul>Offensive ImprovementCategoryFirst 23Since Feb. 1Points per Game65.475.6FG Pct..442.4813-Pt Pct..310.3513 Pt/Gam6.38.2<ul>
 <li>Nebraska has been stout on the defensive end during the early portion of the season. The Huskers are among the Big Ten leaders in points per game (54.8, second), field goal percentage defense (.328, first) and rebound margin (+13.5, first). NU is also 40th nationally in defensive efficiency according to KenPom following Wednesday's games.</li>
 </ul>Big Red DefenseCategoryNo.B1G Rk.Points per Game54.82ndFG Pct. Defense.3281stOpponent 3-Pt Pct..2203rdRebounding Margin+13.51at<ul>
 <li>Nebraska's bench has provided a spark early on, averaging 28.0 points per game in the first four contests. The Huskers' leading scorer has come from the bench in three of the four games (Hoiberg-Lindenwood; Wilcher-Rider; Gary-Stony Brook), and NU has had at least one double-figure effort from its bench in the first four contests.</li><li>Rienk Mast now has 22 career double-doubles entering Saturday's game with Oregon State. The 6-foot-10 forward is 22nd nationally among all active players and trails only Zach Edey (41) among current Big Ten players. Mast's two double-doubles tie for the Big Ten lead and is fifth nationally as of Nov. 16.</li><li>Nebraska is 17-4 under Hoiberg when scoring at least 80 points including 12-1 over the last three seasons. The only loss was a 104-100 quadruple overtime game at North Carolina State on Dec. 1, 2021. NU has won its last 10 games when reaching the 80-point plateau.</li><li>Nebraska has regained its top two returning scorers this week, as Keisei Tominaga (13.1 ppg in 2022-23) returned from an ankle injury on Monday and Juwan Gary (9.6 ppg, 6.5 pg) made his 2023-24 debut on Wednesday vs. Stony Brook. Tominaga missed NU's first two games, while Gary, who had off-season shoulder surgery had not played since suffering the injury on Jan. 10, 2023.</li>
 </ul>Finding BalanceNebraska relied on its depth and balance early in the season. While the Huskers have four players averaging double figures, five others are at between 5.0 and 8.5 ppg after four games.&nbsp;<ul>
 <li>Nebraska has had eight different players reach double figures in the first three contests and have had a different leading scorer in each of the first four games.&nbsp;</li><li>The Huskers have had a different player lead the team in assists in each of the first four games, while Rienk Mast is the only play to top NU in rebounds more than once.&nbsp;</li><li>No Husker averages more than 27 minutes per game, while 20 players are averaging at least double figures in minutes. Despite the number of different lineups NU has been forced to use, the Huskers have had at least eight players play double-figure minutes in each of the first four games.&nbsp;</li><li>NU has gotten at least one double-figure effort from its bench in each of the first four contests. The Huskers have gotten nearly 36 percent of their scoring from the bench over the first four contests.&nbsp;</li><li>Seven of the 12 players who played in the season opener were making their Husker debut. In fact, junior C.J. Wilcher was the only player who appeared in both the 2022-23 and 2023-24 openers.</li>
 </ul>Mast's Massive NightRienk Mast put together a strong performance in Nebraska's win against Florida A&amp;M on Nov. 9. The 6-foot-10 forward had game highs of 20 points and 16 rebounds for his first double-double as a Husker.&nbsp;<ul>
 <li>He became the first Husker in the Big Ten era (2011-12 to present) to have a game with at least 20 points and 15 rebounds, and the first Husker to do so since All-Big 12 performer Aleks Maric in 2008.&nbsp;</li><li>Since 1990, only six Huskers have had games with at least 20 points and 15 rebounds. That list includes Aleks Maric, Kimani Ffriend, Venson Hamilton, Mikki Moore and Eric Piatkowski.&nbsp;</li><li>Mast’s 16 rebounds were the most by a Husker since Yvan Ouedraogo had 19 rebounds against Northwestern on March 1, 2020, and the second-highest rebound total in Hoiberg’s four-plus seasons at Nebraska.</li><li>Mast is averaging 14.8 ppg while topping the Huskers in both rebounding (10.8 rpg) and assists (3.0 apg).</li>
 </ul>New Faces, New RolesNebraska made a big splash in the transfer portal, adding five players to the roster, and their impact is already being felt during the early portion of the season. The group of Josiah Allick (New Mexico), Jarron Coleman (Bradley), Rienk Mast (Bradley), Ahron Ulis (Iowa) and Brice Williams (Charlotte) combined for more than 4,300 points, 2,100 rebounds and 800 assists entering this year.&nbsp;<ul>
 <li>Mast is averaging 14.8 points per game while leading the Huskers in both rebounds (10.8 rpg) and assists (3.0 apg). He is one of three power conference players as of Nov. 16 averaging at least 10.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. Mast currently ranks second in the Big Ten in rebounding and 18th in scoring.&nbsp; The 6-foot-10 forward has been in double figures in all four contests - the only Husker to do so - including a 20-point, 16-rebound effort against Florida A&amp;M.&nbsp;</li><li>Allick has been a force inside, averaging 6.5 points per game on 50 percent shooting and 6.5 rebounds per game. He is second on the team and 15th in the Big Ten in rebounds and is a big reason why the Huskers lead the conference in rebound margin. He is fourth in the Big Ten in offensive rebounds (3.25) as of Nov. 16. Allick has two double-figure efforts in the first three games, including 11 points and eight boards against Lindenwood.&nbsp;</li><li>Williams has started all four contests and is third on the team in scoring (13.0 ppg) and fourth in rebounding (6.0 rpg) while shooting 34 percent from 3-point range.&nbsp; The 6-foot-7 guard has been in double figures three times this season, highlighted by a 17-point, nine-rebound, four-assist effort against Stony Brook on Nov. 15.&nbsp;</li><li>Coleman has come off the bench in all four contests and is second on the team with 2.8 assists per game while also adding 4.0 points and 3.3 rebounds per outing. He has nearly a 1.6-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.</li>
 </ul>Improved Board WorkOne of the areas where Nebraska has made significant improvement is on the boards. The additions of Rienk Mast, Josiah Allick and Brice Williams along with the return of Juwan Gary have made the Huskers formidable on the glass.&nbsp;<ul>
 <li>Nebraska has a +13.5 rebound margin through four games to lead the Big Ten. Last season the Huskers were 11th in rebounding margin (-1.0)</li><li>NU had a positive rebound margin (+3.1) prior to Juwan Gary's season-ending injury last January. Gary was second on the team in rebounding (6.5 rpg) and 15th in the Big Ten in that category on Jan. 10. Over the final 16 games of the 2022-23 season, NU was outrebounded by 5.1 rebounds per game.&nbsp;</li><li>Mast (MVC) and Allick (Mountain West) both ranked second in their respective conferences in 2022-23 in rebounding, while Williams was 15th in Conference USA. In addition, Mast led the MVC in rebounding during the 2021-22 season.&nbsp;</li><li>The last time NU has out-rebounded four straight opponents by at least 10 boards was the first four games of the 2004-05 season.&nbsp;</li>
 </ul>Tominaga Named Preseason All-Big TenNebraska senior guard Keisei Tominaga was honored as one of 10 players selected to the preseason All-Big Ten team.&nbsp; The 10-member team included four unanimous selections: Terrence Shannon (Illinois), Jahmir Young (Maryland), Boo Buie (Northwestern) and Zach Edey (Purdue). Edey, the reigning national player of the year, was tabbed as the Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year.&nbsp;Tominaga became just the third Husker to be named preseason All-Big Ten since Nebraska joined the conference in 2011-12, joining James Palmer Jr. (2018) and Terran Petteway (2014). Last season, he averaged 13.1 points per game on 53 percent shooting, including 40 percent from 3-point range, while appearing in all 32 contests.&nbsp; Tominaga led the Huskers in 3-pointers with 66 and was one of only six players nationally to average double figures and shoot 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range and 85 percent from the foul line.&nbsp;During Big Ten play, he led NU in scoring at 14.2 ppg to rank 15th in the conference while also ranking among Big Ten leaders in field goal percentage (.512, seventh) and 3-pointers per game (2.3, sixth) as he shot 41 percent from beyond the arc. He had seven of his nine 20-point games during Big Ten contests, including a career-high 30-point effort against Penn State, and added 23 points in NU’s loss to Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament.Tominaga returned on Monday against Rider and had nine points, including back-to-back 3-pointers after Rider pulled to within a point. His two 3-pointers started a 17-0 spurt that put the game away. He followed up with a 16-point effort in Wednesday's win over Stony Brook.&nbsp;

Huskers battle Oregon State in neutral-site Showdown Saturday 

Wallace Public Schools announced that Dajana Garrison signed a letter of intent to further her academic and athletic career at Southeast Community College. She will be playing softball for the Bobcats in Beatrice in the Fall of 2024.&nbsp;

Wallace Public Schools announced that Dajana Garrison signed a letter of intent to further her academic and athletic career at Southeast Community College. She will be playing softball for the Bobcats in Beatrice in the Fall of 2024.&nbsp;<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FWallaceSchools%2Fposts%2Fpfbid0ZW7XaKDmCfTAwqX7qpgkJLWK6AtAXxtXVLsYfw7fRGXRLK1CZSeUYaJvUbjeaikql&show_text=true&width=500" width="500" height="683" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe></div>

Wallace Senior Dajana Garrison signs with Southeast Community College for softball

KEARNEY, NE.&nbsp;–&nbsp;The Tri-City Storm is set for this weekend’s home series at the Viaero Center against the Muskegon Lumberjacks following last weekend’s two-game sweep over the Waterloo Black Hawks. Tonight’s game will be the first meeting between the Storm and the Lumberjacks in Kearney in 1,350 days. Ticket specials for tonight’s contest include a $5 Kids Friday presented by Big Apple Fun Center. Puck drop for the battle is scheduled for 7:05pm CT. &nbsp;

Tri-City (9-6-1-0) returns to action tonight on a three-game point streak following a 4-3 victory at the Viaero Center against the Waterloo Black Hawks in the organization’s annual Military Appreciation Night Game on Saturday, November 11th. Ryan Smith scored twice during the matchup, including the game-winning goal with less than five minutes to play. Smith also netted the opening goal of the contest during the 1st&nbsp;period. A.J. Lacroix and Jake Rozzi also scored goals for Tri-City in the victory. Goaltender Ivan Zhigalov recorded the first win of his USHL career in net for the Storm by turning away 30 of 33 shots faced during the battle. The Storm posted a 6-4 win over the Lumberjacks on September 23rd, 2022, in the team’s second game at the 2022 DICK’S Sporting Goods USHL Fall Classic. Tri-City defeated Muskegon by a final score of 4-3 at the Viaero Center on March 7th, 2020. It was the Storm’s final game of the pandemic-shortened 2019-2020 season. Scoring leaders for Tri-City entering this weekend’s home series against Muskegon include August Falloon (9), Nolan Roed (6), Ryan Smith (6), Trevor Connelly (4), Owen Beckner (4), Artemi Nizameyev (4), and Cam Briere (4). &nbsp;

Muskegon (8-6-1-1) has posted a 4-4-1-1 record over the last ten games entering this weekend’s road series against Tri-City at the Viaero Center. The Lumberjacks will seek to snap a three-game winless skid in tonight’s game. Muskegon dropped back-to-back home games last weekend at Trinity Health Arena to the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders. David Klee, Joe Connor, and Xavier Veilleux each netted a goal for the Lumberjacks in the team’s 4-3 home loss to Cedar Rapids on Saturday, November 11th. Muskegon enters tonight’s game in sixth place in the USHL’s Eastern Conference standings. The Lumberjacks have posted a 2-1-0-0 record against Western Conference competition to this point in the 2023-2024 regular season. Scoring leaders for Muskegon entering tonight’s road game against Tri-City include Matvei Gridin (11), Sacha Boisvert (11), Hunter Anderson (8), Justin Solovey (6), and Cody Croal (5). The Lumberjacks will return home to host the Madison Capitols in back-to-back games at Trinity Health Arena next weekend following this weekend’s road series against the Storm at the Viaero Center. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Tonight’s game is set to begin at&nbsp;7:05pm&nbsp;CT and will be streamed on&nbsp;<a href="https://flosports.link/3pkG3Ge" target="_blank">FloHockey</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://mixlr.com/tri-city-storm/" target="_blank">Storm Radio</a>. Tickets to home games at the Viaero Center may be purchased online by skating to&nbsp;<a href="http://www.stormhockey.com/" target="_blank">www.StormHockey.com</a>, or by calling the Viaero Center Box Office during Box Office hours at 308-338-8144. The Tri-City Storm is presented by Viaero Wireless.&nbsp;

Story by Tri-City CommunicationsKEARNEY, NE.&nbsp;–&nbsp;The Tri-City Storm is set for this weekend’s home series at the Viaero Center against the Muskegon Lumberjacks following last weekend’s two-game sweep over the Waterloo Black Hawks. Tonight’s game will be the first meeting between the Storm and the Lumberjacks in Kearney in 1,350 days. Ticket specials for tonight’s contest include a $5 Kids Friday presented by Big Apple Fun Center. Puck drop for the battle is scheduled for 7:05pm CT. &nbsp;Tri-City (9-6-1-0) returns to action tonight on a three-game point streak following a 4-3 victory at the Viaero Center against the Waterloo Black Hawks in the organization’s annual Military Appreciation Night Game on Saturday, November 11th. Ryan Smith scored twice during the matchup, including the game-winning goal with less than five minutes to play. Smith also netted the opening goal of the contest during the 1st&nbsp;period. A.J. Lacroix and Jake Rozzi also scored goals for Tri-City in the victory. Goaltender Ivan Zhigalov recorded the first win of his USHL career in net for the Storm by turning away 30 of 33 shots faced during the battle. The Storm posted a 6-4 win over the Lumberjacks on September 23rd, 2022, in the team’s second game at the 2022 DICK’S Sporting Goods USHL Fall Classic. Tri-City defeated Muskegon by a final score of 4-3 at the Viaero Center on March 7th, 2020. It was the Storm’s final game of the pandemic-shortened 2019-2020 season. Scoring leaders for Tri-City entering this weekend’s home series against Muskegon include August Falloon (9), Nolan Roed (6), Ryan Smith (6), Trevor Connelly (4), Owen Beckner (4), Artemi Nizameyev (4), and Cam Briere (4). &nbsp;Muskegon (8-6-1-1) has posted a 4-4-1-1 record over the last ten games entering this weekend’s road series against Tri-City at the Viaero Center. The Lumberjacks will seek to snap a three-game winless skid in tonight’s game. Muskegon dropped back-to-back home games last weekend at Trinity Health Arena to the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders. David Klee, Joe Connor, and Xavier Veilleux each netted a goal for the Lumberjacks in the team’s 4-3 home loss to Cedar Rapids on Saturday, November 11th. Muskegon enters tonight’s game in sixth place in the USHL’s Eastern Conference standings. The Lumberjacks have posted a 2-1-0-0 record against Western Conference competition to this point in the 2023-2024 regular season. Scoring leaders for Muskegon entering tonight’s road game against Tri-City include Matvei Gridin (11), Sacha Boisvert (11), Hunter Anderson (8), Justin Solovey (6), and Cody Croal (5). The Lumberjacks will return home to host the Madison Capitols in back-to-back games at Trinity Health Arena next weekend following this weekend’s road series against the Storm at the Viaero Center. &nbsp;&nbsp;Tonight’s game is set to begin at&nbsp;7:05pm&nbsp;CT and will be streamed on&nbsp;<a href="https://flosports.link/3pkG3Ge" target="_blank">FloHockey</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://mixlr.com/tri-city-storm/" target="_blank">Storm Radio</a>. Tickets to home games at the Viaero Center may be purchased online by skating to&nbsp;<a href="http://www.stormhockey.com/" target="_blank">www.StormHockey.com</a>, or by calling the Viaero Center Box Office during Box Office hours at 308-338-8144. The Tri-City Storm is presented by Viaero Wireless.&nbsp;

Storm set for weekend series against Lumberjacks 

Story by UNK Athletic Communications

Junior outside hitter&nbsp;Asha Regier&nbsp;tied her career-high of 17 kills and sophomore defensive specialist&nbsp;Addyson Mock&nbsp;had a big afternoon to help 12th-ranked Nebraska Kearney sweep Northwest Missouri State (<a href="https://lopers.com/boxscore.aspx?path=wvball&amp;id=7530" target="_blank">-20, -17, -15</a>) Thursday in a MIAA Tournament quarterfinal match in St. Joseph, Mo. The third-seeded Lopers (27-4) will face seventh-seed Missouri Southern State Friday at 5 p.m. in a semifinal match. The Lions (16-14) shocked No. 15 Central Oklahoma, 3-1, in today's first match. UNK swept the season series from MSSU and has won all 19 MIAA matches (since 2012) between the two. UNK came out a bit sleepy as it fell behind 10-2 in the first set. The Lopers had five hitting errors, two serve receive errors with head coach&nbsp;Rick Squiers&nbsp;having to burn both timeouts to stem the tide. "What could you really say. We said a few things the first (timeout) and we came out a little tight. But we also didn't have any energy," said Squiers on the KRVN Radio post-game show. "Sometimes when you take the court as the higher seed you think the other team is just going to win the game for you. It didn't take long for us to realize that we better show up here and right quick. "The Lopers flipped a switch as it closed on a 23-10 run and then trailed only briefly in the second and third sets. On the afternoon, UNK out hit Northwest by nearly 100 points (.250-.063), had nine more digs and was plus four in the serve game. "You don't win many sets when you get down 10-2 so I credit our team for making a big run right away. I think that sent a message that we're not going to give you the first set," said Squiers. "That made a huge difference in the match. "Regier (Newton, Kan.) had six kills in each of the first two sets and then five more in the third. She hit a stellar .484 (17-2-31) while also providing a block assist. Earlier this fall in a four-set home win over Emporia State, she had 17 kills in 36 attempts. "She might've played her best match as a Loper. In an effort to limit&nbsp;Emersen (Cyza) they adjusted their rotation a little bit. They wanted to shore up their block on the pin," said Squiers. "However, that's three rotations where you don't have that block and Asha kind of feasted on them. And once she got going, she was able to score against anything. "Next, Mock (Stilwell, Kan.) had her ninth match with a double digit dig total (12) and helped start the comeback in the first set with a long service run. After right side&nbsp;Jaden Ferguson&nbsp;(Lincoln SW) had a kill to make it 10-3, Mock served up five straight points to help the Lopers get back into things. She added another five-point run late in the third set. "Addy's been trying to find her niche in this lineup, and I thought she had one of her best all-around matches.," said Squiers. "Dug a lot of balls, played with confidence. On those long service runs, you have to have enough discipline to just let your team keep scoring. "Also for the Lopers, Ferguson had 10 kills and hit .310, freshman middle&nbsp;Mia Berg&nbsp;(Eureka, Mo.) had five block assists, four kills and a .308 efficiency with libero&nbsp;Lauren Taubenheim&nbsp;(Lincoln Pius) at a team-best 14 digs and a 12 of 13 effort in serve receive. Finally, setter&nbsp;Payton Neff&nbsp;(North Platte) was at 33 assists, eight digs, four blocks (one solo), two kills and an ace. Northwest had six players between three and eight kills with libero Kyah Luhring at a match-high 15 digs. This marks the third time in four years UNK has ended the 'Cats season.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Story by UNK Athletic CommunicationsJunior outside hitter&nbsp;Asha Regier&nbsp;tied her career-high of 17 kills and sophomore defensive specialist&nbsp;Addyson Mock&nbsp;had a big afternoon to help 12th-ranked Nebraska Kearney sweep Northwest Missouri State (<a href="https://lopers.com/boxscore.aspx?path=wvball&amp;id=7530" target="_blank">-20, -17, -15</a>) Thursday in a MIAA Tournament quarterfinal match in St. Joseph, Mo. The third-seeded Lopers (27-4) will face seventh-seed Missouri Southern State Friday at 5 p.m. in a semifinal match. The Lions (16-14) shocked No. 15 Central Oklahoma, 3-1, in today's first match. UNK swept the season series from MSSU and has won all 19 MIAA matches (since 2012) between the two. UNK came out a bit sleepy as it fell behind 10-2 in the first set. The Lopers had five hitting errors, two serve receive errors with head coach&nbsp;Rick Squiers&nbsp;having to burn both timeouts to stem the tide. "What could you really say. We said a few things the first (timeout) and we came out a little tight. But we also didn't have any energy," said Squiers on the KRVN Radio post-game show. "Sometimes when you take the court as the higher seed you think the other team is just going to win the game for you. It didn't take long for us to realize that we better show up here and right quick. "The Lopers flipped a switch as it closed on a 23-10 run and then trailed only briefly in the second and third sets. On the afternoon, UNK out hit Northwest by nearly 100 points (.250-.063), had nine more digs and was plus four in the serve game. "You don't win many sets when you get down 10-2 so I credit our team for making a big run right away. I think that sent a message that we're not going to give you the first set," said Squiers. "That made a huge difference in the match. "Regier (Newton, Kan.) had six kills in each of the first two sets and then five more in the third. She hit a stellar .484 (17-2-31) while also providing a block assist. Earlier this fall in a four-set home win over Emporia State, she had 17 kills in 36 attempts. "She might've played her best match as a Loper. In an effort to limit&nbsp;Emersen (Cyza) they adjusted their rotation a little bit. They wanted to shore up their block on the pin," said Squiers. "However, that's three rotations where you don't have that block and Asha kind of feasted on them. And once she got going, she was able to score against anything. "Next, Mock (Stilwell, Kan.) had her ninth match with a double digit dig total (12) and helped start the comeback in the first set with a long service run. After right side&nbsp;Jaden Ferguson&nbsp;(Lincoln SW) had a kill to make it 10-3, Mock served up five straight points to help the Lopers get back into things. She added another five-point run late in the third set. "Addy's been trying to find her niche in this lineup, and I thought she had one of her best all-around matches.," said Squiers. "Dug a lot of balls, played with confidence. On those long service runs, you have to have enough discipline to just let your team keep scoring. "Also for the Lopers, Ferguson had 10 kills and hit .310, freshman middle&nbsp;Mia Berg&nbsp;(Eureka, Mo.) had five block assists, four kills and a .308 efficiency with libero&nbsp;Lauren Taubenheim&nbsp;(Lincoln Pius) at a team-best 14 digs and a 12 of 13 effort in serve receive. Finally, setter&nbsp;Payton Neff&nbsp;(North Platte) was at 33 assists, eight digs, four blocks (one solo), two kills and an ace. Northwest had six players between three and eight kills with libero Kyah Luhring at a match-high 15 digs. This marks the third time in four years UNK has ended the 'Cats season.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Lopers reach MIAA Semifinals after slow start; career-high 17 Kills for Regier

Ogallala Publlic Schools has announced that OHS Senior Marlee Ervin will&nbsp;further her academic &amp; volleyball career at Southern Utah University. The Indians went 25-11 this past fall. Ervin plays club volleyball for Nebraska Jrs.

Ogallala Publlic Schools has announced that OHS Senior Marlee Ervin will&nbsp;further her academic &amp; volleyball career at Southern Utah University. The Indians went 25-11 this past fall. Ervin plays club volleyball for Nebraska Jrs.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Welcome to T-Bird Nation, Marlee ✍️ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TBirdNation?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TBirdNation</a> ⚡️ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RaiseTheHammer?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RaiseTheHammer</a> <a href="https://t.co/I5GoJBkuZU">pic.twitter.com/I5GoJBkuZU</a>&mdash; SUU Volleyball 🏐 (@SUUVolleyball) <a href="https://twitter.com/SUUVolleyball/status/1724127881226485780?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 13, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FOgallalaSchools%2Fposts%2Fpfbid02FZ7yn2YkiPZpfA2Pm2Wk2ZLBfYnapbs3XRJMKJSGiivxUuhv3osYUGaWfbwz7JHrl&show_text=true&width=500" width="500" height="703" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe></div>

Ogallala Senior Marlee Ervin commits to D1 Southern Utah University for volleyball

The Nebraska swimmers are set to take a short trip up I-80 for an in-state battle with the Omaha Mavericks. Events are scheduled to kick off at 11 a.m. (CT) at H&amp;K Pool.

Co-captains Emily Haimes and Caitlin Cairns had standout performances for the Huskers in last week’s dual against Iowa. Haimes recorded two runner-up finishes in the 50 freestyle (23.95) and the 100 freestyle (51.99). She also contributed to a winning relay (400 medley relay) and a runner-up relay (400 freestyle relay).

Cairns added a second-place finish in the 100 butterfly (56.69). She also took third in the 100 backstroke (57.39) and teamed up with Maia Hall, Anna Vlachou and Lexi Kucera for a second-place finish in the 400 medley relay (3:51.96).

Gena Jorgenson captured two titles against the Hawkeyes, taking first in the 1000 freestyle (10:10.44) and the 500 freestyle (4:53.99). She added a third-place finish in the 200 freestyle (1:51.63) and teamed up with Haimes, Kucera and Giulia Marchi for a second-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay (3:27.52).

Freshman Beatrix Tanko is continuing the strong start to her Huskers career. She has racked up eight top-three finishes and four first-place finishes already this season. Against the Hawkeyes, she recorded two third-place finishes in the 50 freestyle (24.17) and the 100 butterfly (57.23). She also contributed to a first-place 400 medley relay team of Haimes, Sarah Barton and JoJo Randby (3:48.04).

Barton also came up big, adding three runner-up finishes in the 200 butterfly (2:01.54), 200 backstroke (2:02.35) and 200 IM (2:05.60).&nbsp;

Junior Maia Hall added two second-place finishes and a fourth-place finish to the Huskers’ effort on Friday, moving her total to seven top-three finishes on the season. Hall took second in the 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke with times of 2:01.54 and 2:19.36.

Randby added a pair of third-place finishes on the day, along with her contribution to the winning 400 medley relay team. The junior from Omaha, Neb., took third in the 100 breaststroke (2:03.13) and 200 breaststroke (2:21.01).

The Mavericks (3-0) are led by Payton Easley, who is coming off her second Summit League Women’s Swimmer of the Week award of the season. The junior from Lee’s Summit, Mo. powered the Mavericks to a second-place finish at the A3 Invitational this past weekend. She qualified for the A-Final of the 50 freestyle and captured the title with a time of 23.33. Easley also set a school record in the A-Final of the 100 freestyle (50.27) and broke yet another school record as a contributor to a first-place 400 freestyle relay.

In the 2022 meeting between Nebraska and Omaha, the Huskers topped the Mavericks 225-74.&nbsp;

Live results of the meet will be on Meet Mobile.

Story by NU Athletic CommunicationsThe Nebraska swimmers are set to take a short trip up I-80 for an in-state battle with the Omaha Mavericks. Events are scheduled to kick off at 11 a.m. (CT) at H&amp;K Pool.Co-captains Emily Haimes and Caitlin Cairns had standout performances for the Huskers in last week’s dual against Iowa. Haimes recorded two runner-up finishes in the 50 freestyle (23.95) and the 100 freestyle (51.99). She also contributed to a winning relay (400 medley relay) and a runner-up relay (400 freestyle relay).Cairns added a second-place finish in the 100 butterfly (56.69). She also took third in the 100 backstroke (57.39) and teamed up with Maia Hall, Anna Vlachou and Lexi Kucera for a second-place finish in the 400 medley relay (3:51.96).Gena Jorgenson captured two titles against the Hawkeyes, taking first in the 1000 freestyle (10:10.44) and the 500 freestyle (4:53.99). She added a third-place finish in the 200 freestyle (1:51.63) and teamed up with Haimes, Kucera and Giulia Marchi for a second-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay (3:27.52).Freshman Beatrix Tanko is continuing the strong start to her Huskers career. She has racked up eight top-three finishes and four first-place finishes already this season. Against the Hawkeyes, she recorded two third-place finishes in the 50 freestyle (24.17) and the 100 butterfly (57.23). She also contributed to a first-place 400 medley relay team of Haimes, Sarah Barton and JoJo Randby (3:48.04).Barton also came up big, adding three runner-up finishes in the 200 butterfly (2:01.54), 200 backstroke (2:02.35) and 200 IM (2:05.60).&nbsp;Junior Maia Hall added two second-place finishes and a fourth-place finish to the Huskers’ effort on Friday, moving her total to seven top-three finishes on the season. Hall took second in the 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke with times of 2:01.54 and 2:19.36.Randby added a pair of third-place finishes on the day, along with her contribution to the winning 400 medley relay team. The junior from Omaha, Neb., took third in the 100 breaststroke (2:03.13) and 200 breaststroke (2:21.01).The Mavericks (3-0) are led by Payton Easley, who is coming off her second Summit League Women’s Swimmer of the Week award of the season. The junior from Lee’s Summit, Mo. powered the Mavericks to a second-place finish at the A3 Invitational this past weekend. She qualified for the A-Final of the 50 freestyle and captured the title with a time of 23.33. Easley also set a school record in the A-Final of the 100 freestyle (50.27) and broke yet another school record as a contributor to a first-place 400 freestyle relay.In the 2022 meeting between Nebraska and Omaha, the Huskers topped the Mavericks 225-74.&nbsp;Live results of the meet will be on Meet Mobile.

Neb Swim&Dive: Huskers meet Mavericks for in-state battle

Area Athletes honored on the 2023 D1-10 All District Football Team

Area athletes honored on the 2023 D2-8 All-District Football Team

Story by North Platte 80's Communication

North Platte, NE The Pecos League is proud to announce its newest team in North Platte, Nebraska. The team will be named the North Platte 80s. The Pecos League now has teams in eight states across the Western United States. The team will begin play at Bill Wood Field. The Teams website can be viewed at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.northplatte80s.com/">http://www.NorthPlatte80s.com</a>.The teams 80s themed colors are Denim Blue and Corvette Red. North Platte will join the 16 team Pecos League and take the place of the the Lancaster Sound Breakers from California. The Sound Breakers set the all time Pecos League Attendance Mark, but their stadium was sold to a soccer club. A new era of baseball in North Platte, Nebraska will begin in the Summer of 2024 as the North Platte 80's was unveiled as the new name of the newest Pecos League Team. The 80's represents a baseball team in many ways. First ties the city lying on Interstate 80. The excitement and passion is Baseball's Forgotten Era: The '80s in which National League Baseball was played with no Designated Hitter as the rules are in the Pecos League. Promotional nights will include 1980's nights with 1980's music, food and uniforms. The North Platte Team will play in the Mountain Division in the 2024 season along with the Tucson Saguaros, Roswell Invaders, Alpine Cowboys, Garden City Wind, Blackwell Flycatchers, Trinidad Triggers and Santa Fe Fuego. North Platte will host Spring Training for both the Tucson Saguaros and the North Platte 80s before the two teams play the first series in North Platte. Pecos League Commissioner and Owner Andrew Dunn "We are excited to play the 2024 season in North Platte, I believe it will fit perfectly with the other cities in the league. The people are Garden City have been extremely welcoming and Clint Lightner Ballpark will continue our mission to upgrade facilities in our league. Former Tucson Saguaros Manager JD Droddy "I think it is great addition and it will be very helpful to the Northern Division. I think Nebraska is a great baseball state and Western Nebraska will be great for the Pecos League. "Nebraska Sports Genius John Scroder "I am so excited that we are getting a Pecos League in Nebraska, players and fans alike will love. We love the action here. "The North Platte 80s will finalize their coaching staff soon. The Pecos League is an independent professional baseball league which operates in cities in desert mountain regions throughout New Mexico, West Texas and Southern Colorado. Pecos Teams play in cities that do not have Major or Minor League Baseball teams and is not affiliated with either.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Story by North Platte 80's CommunicationNorth Platte, NE The Pecos League is proud to announce its newest team in North Platte, Nebraska. The team will be named the North Platte 80s. The Pecos League now has teams in eight states across the Western United States. The team will begin play at Bill Wood Field. The Teams website can be viewed at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.northplatte80s.com/">http://www.NorthPlatte80s.com</a>.The teams 80s themed colors are Denim Blue and Corvette Red. North Platte will join the 16 team Pecos League and take the place of the the Lancaster Sound Breakers from California. The Sound Breakers set the all time Pecos League Attendance Mark, but their stadium was sold to a soccer club. A new era of baseball in North Platte, Nebraska will begin in the Summer of 2024 as the North Platte 80's was unveiled as the new name of the newest Pecos League Team. The 80's represents a baseball team in many ways. First ties the city lying on Interstate 80. The excitement and passion is Baseball's Forgotten Era: The '80s in which National League Baseball was played with no Designated Hitter as the rules are in the Pecos League. Promotional nights will include 1980's nights with 1980's music, food and uniforms. The North Platte Team will play in the Mountain Division in the 2024 season along with the Tucson Saguaros, Roswell Invaders, Alpine Cowboys, Garden City Wind, Blackwell Flycatchers, Trinidad Triggers and Santa Fe Fuego. North Platte will host Spring Training for both the Tucson Saguaros and the North Platte 80s before the two teams play the first series in North Platte. Pecos League Commissioner and Owner Andrew Dunn "We are excited to play the 2024 season in North Platte, I believe it will fit perfectly with the other cities in the league. The people are Garden City have been extremely welcoming and Clint Lightner Ballpark will continue our mission to upgrade facilities in our league. Former Tucson Saguaros Manager JD Droddy "I think it is great addition and it will be very helpful to the Northern Division. I think Nebraska is a great baseball state and Western Nebraska will be great for the Pecos League. "Nebraska Sports Genius John Scroder "I am so excited that we are getting a Pecos League in Nebraska, players and fans alike will love. We love the action here. "The North Platte 80s will finalize their coaching staff soon. The Pecos League is an independent professional baseball league which operates in cities in desert mountain regions throughout New Mexico, West Texas and Southern Colorado. Pecos Teams play in cities that do not have Major or Minor League Baseball teams and is not affiliated with either.&nbsp;&nbsp;

North Platte to get new baseball team, Nebraska 80's will play in the Pecos League

Area athletes honored on the D6-4 All-District Football Team

2023 C-1 District 7 1st Team-All District&nbsp;

2023 C-1 District 7 Honorable Mentions&nbsp;

2023 C-1 District 7 Defensive Player of the Year&nbsp;

2023 C-1 District 7 Newcomer of the Year&nbsp;

2023 C-1 District 7 1st Team-All District&nbsp;Harry Caskey&nbsp;Caden Rezac&nbsp;Jaden Fanning&nbsp;Austin Hodges&nbsp;Michael Skinner&nbsp;Sawyer Smith&nbsp;2023 C-1 District 7 Honorable Mentions&nbsp;Edan Cain&nbsp;Jacob Fanning&nbsp;Ben Peters&nbsp;Zach Plasch&nbsp;2023 C-1 District 7 Defensive Player of the Year&nbsp;Harry Caskey&nbsp;2023 C-1 District 7 Newcomer of the Year&nbsp;Sawyer Smith&nbsp;

Ogallala football players receive honors/awards

DENVER (AP) — Joel Kiviranta and Andrew Cogliano scored 21 seconds apart in a five-goal third period, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Anaheim Ducks 8-2 on Wednesday night.

Kiviranta, signed to a two-way contract earlier this week, added two assists. Valeri Nichushkin had two goals, Samuel Girard and Devon Toews had a goal and an assist each and Fredrik Olofsson and Ross Colton also scored for Colorado. Alexandar Georgiev had 15 saves.

Kiviranta was in Avalanche training camp on a professional tryout contract and had been playing with the Colorado Eagles on an AHL deal before being signed Sunday.

He played 163 career games with Dallas and was on the Stars team that went to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2020. He eliminated the Avalanche when he scored the overtime goal in Game 7 of the second round that postseason.

“He’s an NHL player, he’s a worker, he’s got a good skill level,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said of Kiviranta. “He kind of fits the mold of our bottom six (forwards).”

Max Jones and Sam Carrick scored and Lukas Dostal stopped 30 shots for Anaheim, which was playing the second game of a back-to-back. It was the Ducks’ sixth game in 11 days.

“You don’t want to use that (as an excuse),” Anaheim coach Greg Cronin said. “They were humming. We just made some really poor decisions.”

Colorado led 3-1 after two but put it away when Colton and Nichushkin struck 1:58 apart early in the third to go ahead 5-1.

Jones scored to make it 5-2 but Kiviranta and Cogliano scored quickly and Toews capped the big third period with his second of the season at 15:18.

Girard got Colorado on the board early 6:40 into the game with his first goal of the season. Nichushkin made it 2-0 at 12:40 when he deflected a shot by Toews but Carrick deflected Radko Gudas’ shot at 19:27 of the first to make it 2-1. It was just the second shot on goal for Anaheim.

“It was a great point shot from Gudas,” Carrick said. “We know he can shoot the puck and I got my stick on it.”

Colorado was without defenseman Josh Manson for the second straight game due to an upper-body injury but Cogliano, who missed two straight games with an upper-body injury, returned and scored his first of the season.

“A lot of goals, a lot of guys got on the board tonight,” Cogliano said. “Defensively we did a good job.”

Cale Makar had three assists and Nathan MacKinnon and Jack Johnson had two assist each for the Avalanche. Colorado was shutout in three straight road games before winning 5-1 at Seattle on Monday night. That came after getting blown out 8-2 at home to St. Louis on Saturday night. The Avalanche

“I don’t know if I’ve been on a team where we don’t score three road games in a row,” Makar said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/11/1700144579048.jpeg" alt="Colorado Avalanche center Ross Colton, left, drives to the net with the puck as Anaheim Ducks left wing Alex Killorn pursues in the first period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)" />
 <figcaption>Colorado Avalanche center Ross Colton, left, drives to the net with the puck as Anaheim Ducks left wing Alex Killorn pursues in the first period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)</figcaption>
 </figure>By MICHAEL KELLY Associated PressDENVER (AP) — Joel Kiviranta and Andrew Cogliano scored 21 seconds apart in a five-goal third period, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Anaheim Ducks 8-2 on Wednesday night.Kiviranta, signed to a two-way contract earlier this week, added two assists. Valeri Nichushkin had two goals, Samuel Girard and Devon Toews had a goal and an assist each and Fredrik Olofsson and Ross Colton also scored for Colorado. Alexandar Georgiev had 15 saves.Kiviranta was in Avalanche training camp on a professional tryout contract and had been playing with the Colorado Eagles on an AHL deal before being signed Sunday.He played 163 career games with Dallas and was on the Stars team that went to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2020. He eliminated the Avalanche when he scored the overtime goal in Game 7 of the second round that postseason.“He’s an NHL player, he’s a worker, he’s got a good skill level,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said of Kiviranta. “He kind of fits the mold of our bottom six (forwards).”Max Jones and Sam Carrick scored and Lukas Dostal stopped 30 shots for Anaheim, which was playing the second game of a back-to-back. It was the Ducks’ sixth game in 11 days.“You don’t want to use that (as an excuse),” Anaheim coach Greg Cronin said. “They were humming. We just made some really poor decisions.”Colorado led 3-1 after two but put it away when Colton and Nichushkin struck 1:58 apart early in the third to go ahead 5-1.Jones scored to make it 5-2 but Kiviranta and Cogliano scored quickly and Toews capped the big third period with his second of the season at 15:18.Girard got Colorado on the board early 6:40 into the game with his first goal of the season. Nichushkin made it 2-0 at 12:40 when he deflected a shot by Toews but Carrick deflected Radko Gudas’ shot at 19:27 of the first to make it 2-1. It was just the second shot on goal for Anaheim.“It was a great point shot from Gudas,” Carrick said. “We know he can shoot the puck and I got my stick on it.”Colorado was without defenseman Josh Manson for the second straight game due to an upper-body injury but Cogliano, who missed two straight games with an upper-body injury, returned and scored his first of the season.“A lot of goals, a lot of guys got on the board tonight,” Cogliano said. “Defensively we did a good job.”Cale Makar had three assists and Nathan MacKinnon and Jack Johnson had two assist each for the Avalanche. Colorado was shutout in three straight road games before winning 5-1 at Seattle on Monday night. That came after getting blown out 8-2 at home to St. Louis on Saturday night. The Avalanche“I don’t know if I’ve been on a team where we don’t score three road games in a row,” Makar said.UP NEXTDucks: Host Florida on Friday night.Avalanche: At Dallas on Saturday night.

Kirivanta, Cogliano score 21 seconds apart, Avalanche beat Ducks 8-2

The 12th-ranked Nebraska&nbsp;Kearney&nbsp;volleyball team has placed seven players on the&nbsp;<a href="https://themiaa.com/news/2023/11/15/womens-volleyball-2023-all-miaa-volleyball-awards-announced.aspx" target="_blank">2023 All-MIAA squad.</a>The league's head coaches vote on the makeup of the team and cannot vote for their own players.Super senior outside&nbsp;Emersen Cyza&nbsp;(Alliance) earns her third straight first-team honor with graduate right-side&nbsp;Jaden Ferguson&nbsp;(Lincoln SW) and&nbsp;redshirt&nbsp;sophomore setter&nbsp;Peyton Neff&nbsp;(North Platte) now two-time first-team selections.Next, freshman middle&nbsp;Mia Berg&nbsp;(Eureka, Mo.) and&nbsp;redshirt&nbsp;junior&nbsp;Lauren Taubenheim&nbsp;(Lincoln Pius) earned second-team accolades.&nbsp;Taubenheim&nbsp;joins&nbsp;Cyza&nbsp;and Ferguson as three-time&nbsp;All-MIAA&nbsp;selections. Finally, redshirt junior defensive specialist&nbsp;Jensen Rowse&nbsp;(Minden) and junior outside&nbsp;Asha Regier&nbsp;(Newton, Kan.) received honorable mention. Rowse makes the All-MIAA team for a second straight fall with this being Regier's first honor.Spending the past four falls at Northwest Missouri State, Ferguson was one of one five unanimous first-team picks. She provides an all-around game to the tune of 2.88 kills, 2.99 digs, 0.7 blocks, 0.3 aces and 0.3 assists per set while hitting .282. Ferguson also is one of UNK's top passers, posting a serve receive percentage of .959.

Recently reaching 1,000-career kills, Ferguson has had eight doubles doubles to date and leads UNK in kills, kills per set, aces (32), points (354.5) and is tied for first in solo blocks (12).Cyza&nbsp;is up to 1,277 career kills as she ranks second on the team in the category (3.02) while appearing in 91 of a possible 98 sets. Also providing 92 digs, 29 blocks and 21 aces,&nbsp;Cyza&nbsp;had had a double digit kill total in 15 matches so far including the last five.Giving Ferguson and Cyza the ball is Neff who is one of two setters on the first-team. The only Loper to have appeared in all 99 sets, she enters the MIAA Tournament at 11.4 assists, 2.3 digs, 0.8 kills, 0.6 blocks and 0.3 aces per set while hitting a team-best .323. Neff guides and offense that is hitting .274 and totals just over 14 kills per set. Finally, she is third on the team in aces (27) and fourth in overall digs.Berg is one of the league's top first-year players, averaging 2.1 kills and a team-best 1.02 blocks per set and hitting a solid .291. She has had six matches with a double digit kill total and leads UNK in blocks (89), block assists (77) and solo stuffs (12). In the backrow, Taubenheim is up to 3.82 digs per set while maintaining a .965 serve receive percentage. Closing in on 1,000 career kills (929), she also has 29 assists and 13 aces.Rowse (1,022) already has 1k in digs thanks to having 230 (2.35) this year. Appearing in 98 sets, she has served up 28 aces and ranks second on the squad in assists with 52. Finally, Regier has had a solid year on the outside. She is at 2.82 kills per set and hitting .288 and has reached a double digit kill total 11 times. Regier also has 59 digs, 28 blocks, and seven assists.UNK (26-4) is the third seed in this year's eight-team MIAA Tournament held in the St. Joseph (Mo.) Civic Arena. The Lopers face Northwest Missouri State in Thursday's second match of the day, likely at 2:30 p.m.

Story by UNK Athletic CommunicationsThe 12th-ranked Nebraska&nbsp;Kearney&nbsp;volleyball team has placed seven players on the&nbsp;<a href="https://themiaa.com/news/2023/11/15/womens-volleyball-2023-all-miaa-volleyball-awards-announced.aspx" target="_blank">2023 All-MIAA squad.</a>The league's head coaches vote on the makeup of the team and cannot vote for their own players.Super senior outside&nbsp;Emersen Cyza&nbsp;(Alliance) earns her third straight first-team honor with graduate right-side&nbsp;Jaden Ferguson&nbsp;(Lincoln SW) and&nbsp;redshirt&nbsp;sophomore setter&nbsp;Peyton Neff&nbsp;(North Platte) now two-time first-team selections.Next, freshman middle&nbsp;Mia Berg&nbsp;(Eureka, Mo.) and&nbsp;redshirt&nbsp;junior&nbsp;Lauren Taubenheim&nbsp;(Lincoln Pius) earned second-team accolades.&nbsp;Taubenheim&nbsp;joins&nbsp;Cyza&nbsp;and Ferguson as three-time&nbsp;All-MIAA&nbsp;selections. Finally, redshirt junior defensive specialist&nbsp;Jensen Rowse&nbsp;(Minden) and junior outside&nbsp;Asha Regier&nbsp;(Newton, Kan.) received honorable mention. Rowse makes the All-MIAA team for a second straight fall with this being Regier's first honor.Spending the past four falls at Northwest Missouri State, Ferguson was one of one five unanimous first-team picks. She provides an all-around game to the tune of 2.88 kills, 2.99 digs, 0.7 blocks, 0.3 aces and 0.3 assists per set while hitting .282. Ferguson also is one of UNK's top passers, posting a serve receive percentage of .959.Recently reaching 1,000-career kills, Ferguson has had eight doubles doubles to date and leads UNK in kills, kills per set, aces (32), points (354.5) and is tied for first in solo blocks (12).Cyza&nbsp;is up to 1,277 career kills as she ranks second on the team in the category (3.02) while appearing in 91 of a possible 98 sets. Also providing 92 digs, 29 blocks and 21 aces,&nbsp;Cyza&nbsp;had had a double digit kill total in 15 matches so far including the last five.Giving Ferguson and Cyza the ball is Neff who is one of two setters on the first-team. The only Loper to have appeared in all 99 sets, she enters the MIAA Tournament at 11.4 assists, 2.3 digs, 0.8 kills, 0.6 blocks and 0.3 aces per set while hitting a team-best .323. Neff guides and offense that is hitting .274 and totals just over 14 kills per set. Finally, she is third on the team in aces (27) and fourth in overall digs.Berg is one of the league's top first-year players, averaging 2.1 kills and a team-best 1.02 blocks per set and hitting a solid .291. She has had six matches with a double digit kill total and leads UNK in blocks (89), block assists (77) and solo stuffs (12). In the backrow, Taubenheim is up to 3.82 digs per set while maintaining a .965 serve receive percentage. Closing in on 1,000 career kills (929), she also has 29 assists and 13 aces.Rowse (1,022) already has 1k in digs thanks to having 230 (2.35) this year. Appearing in 98 sets, she has served up 28 aces and ranks second on the squad in assists with 52. Finally, Regier has had a solid year on the outside. She is at 2.82 kills per set and hitting .288 and has reached a double digit kill total 11 times. Regier also has 59 digs, 28 blocks, and seven assists.UNK (26-4) is the third seed in this year's eight-team MIAA Tournament held in the St. Joseph (Mo.) Civic Arena. The Lopers face Northwest Missouri State in Thursday's second match of the day, likely at 2:30 p.m.

Ferguson a unanimous First-Team Selection; Lopers Vs. ‘Cats Tomorrow

*-Nebraska improves to 4-0 for the first time since the 2018-19 season.*-Juwan Gary led Nebraska with 19 points, matching his collegiate career high. He also had 19 points against Houston (12/11/21) and at Florida (1/5/22) when he was at Alabama. Gary’s previous high at Nebraska was 18 at Minnesota (1/7/22), his final full game before his season-ending shoulder injury.

*-Gary becomes the fourth different Husker to lead NU in scoring this year.

*-With Gary and Keisei Tominaga (16 points) tonight, NU has had eight players reach double figures in the first four contests.*-Rienk Mast reached double figures with 14 points and tied his career high with five assists. He had five assists three previous times at Bradley). His five assists are the most for any Husker in 2023-24. As a team, NU tied its season high with 19 assists.

*-Brice Williams posted season bests in points (17), rebounds (nine) and assists (four), as his four assists tied a career high.*-Nebraska shot a season-high 55 percent, including 65.5 percent in the second half. It is the first time NU shot 50 percent or better this season.*-Nebraska held Stony Brook to 37.9 percent shooting, the fourth straight opponent under 40 percent.*-Nebraska out-rebounded Stony Brook, 45-28, and had three straight games with at least 10 more rebounds than its opponent.

“It’s great to have Juwan Gary back on the floor. He just brings so much. He has every intangible you can bring to a team when he goes on the floor. You saw I think how much he has been working on his shot. Even the two&nbsp;(3-point attempts)&nbsp;that he missed were right there. It was good to see him make those couple. It really helped us extend the lead. But he did what he always does. Extra possessions, rebounding all well. Defended at a high level. He can play multiple positions. He can play one through five. Just showed his versatility on that end of the floor. It’s great to have him back. Got a full roster pretty much right now with the exception of a couple guys right now. Juwan back on the court makes a big difference for our team.”

On Juwan Gary’s energy spreading throughout the team

“It really does. When you have a group of guys out there like we have with Josiah (Allick), Rienk (Mast) with Juwan (Gary) with Jamarques (Lawrence) with Sam (Hoiberg). There is a lot of guys that go out there with a ton of energy. Keisei (Tominaga). C.J. (Wilcher). It’s a fun team to coach because they bring it every day. It’s not just these 40 minutes between the lines on game night. These guys bring it in practice every day. For Juwan to go out there in his first opportunity this year and really not skip a beat and not really having a lot of rust it was great to see. He had a good little flash there that got us a couple baskets against the zone which slowed us down a little bit, but I really liked our offense in the second half. First half I thought he executed well. Took some good open shots but I really liked our pace in the half court in the second half. Love Brice’s (Williams) aggressiveness. It was good to see him really get it going. I think he had 16 of 17 in the second half and also led us in rebounding tonight. So that was a great sign. To see Brice get off like that and then Jamarques I think was terrific all night as well. It really set the table for our guys. It was good to see a lot of guys contribute and have good nights for us.”

On when the switch flipped in the second half

“I thought we were trading baskets, obviously, in the first seven minutes or so, and I think I called a timeout with about 12 minutes left and we went on a nice little run. I think we got it up to 14 or 15, then they cut it back to seven. They hit some tough shots, I give them credit for continuing to play. They had some bombs out there, contested ones. We just kept going, especially after that timeout. I think they were 4-for-13 after that timeout at the 12-minute mark&nbsp;(until the under-4 media timeout). I think our guys continued to play well offensively. I thought we shared it really well in the second half. Our second halves for whatever reason, offensively, haven’t been very good up to this point, but it was fun to see that movement. We had some really good reads, curled the big when they were chasing. Reink hit Brice for the dunk, and it’s something we can build off on the offensive end. I thought we were much better tonight overall.”&nbsp;

“The last three teams we’ve played, we’ve outrebounded them by 20, 13 and 17. If we can continue to rebound at a high clip like that we’re going to have the chance to win a lot of games. It was Josiah, Rienk and Juwan out there for a stretch, and then you throw Brice out there with that group, you got a great size across the board and four guys who can go out and help get extra possessions. Josiah’s energy, even though he didn’t make a shot tonight, obviously Jo still has a big impact on the game.”

Nebraska Guard&nbsp;Brice Williams

On what’s holding them back from putting two halves together

“We haven’t really been all healthy this year, Keisei (Tominaga), Juwan (Gary), Reink (Mast), Josiah (Allick), so with all of these new pieces we’re learning something new. We’re learning how to execute in a new facet. It’s early, so this is where you have those little miscues, and then, when we get into the conference, that’s when it’ll start clicking, and you’ll start seeing us at our full form.”

“Juwan’s just all-around aggressive. He’s a big force out there. He’s going to be relentless on the glass. His energy is really contagious, and I didn’t really know that, but I learn more and more in practice and every game, but his energy out there really lifted us up. He showed us what we were missing when he was out.”

On hitting two threes early in the second half&nbsp;after NU went 3-of-17 from 3-point range in the first half

“It was big. I hadn’t really been seeing the ball go through, which is fine. I’m fine facilitating and letting my team succeed, but it was really big for my confidence at that point in the game. In the second half, we came out and jumped on them.”

On defending Nebraska from behind the arc in the first half

“It was the same thing that we were trying to focus on in the second half, and we didn’t do it very well there. You always get a little lucky when somebody shoots 3-for-17 from three, you’re going to miss some open ones, and I thought they did miss some open ones. They run good stuff, obviously he’s (Fred Hoiberg) a great coach. He’s got an offensive background, and he’s still the best player in the gym. You got to give them credit where it’s due. I thought we did a good job in the first half defensively, but on offense, we were horrible. Now it’s just been the theme of our year, and we’ve done this three times now. Then we came out in the second half, and we kind of solved the offensive issues, but defensively we can’t stop anybody. Our team has got to get better at that and got to learn from these games and they’ve got guys that I thought their size bothered us. They drove us to six feet and just jumped over us and made little bank shots. There was a clear difference in size and strength and athleticism when they were driving the ball, and I know they’re a good Big Ten team and that’s probably what it’s supposed to do, but it didn’t look good to me I can tell you that.”

“Luckily we were able to get him to stay aggressive. He started 1-for-7, but we just need him to stay aggressive and shoot. He’s an elite shooter. He had some really good looks in the first half that he missed. Then he made some really hard shots in the second half. He’s a freshman. He’s going to get better and better. He’s a good kid. He works hard, and we need him to continue to improve because it’s a long year, and we’re going to need him when we get to conference play.”

On how the team handled the Power 5 environment

“The student section was great. They were behind the bench, and they were into the game and yelling and all kinds of stuff, and that’s great. But that’s what it is supposed to be, right? This is clearly a community where they live and die with football, spring football, football recruiting, basketball, and volleyball too, so it’s a great sports community, but the crowd was great.”

On expectations for the upcoming season

“We feel like we’ve got a better team than what we had last year, and we like our group a lot. We are a little guard heavy, so we take a lot of perimeter jumpers. We aren’t really blessed with a lot of slashers so we’ve got to make threes. I think we’ll get better offensively in terms of rhythm, and understanding and timing, but right now, it’s hard for me to think about anything other than our defense.”

Story by NU Athletic Communications<div><iframe src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/players/mOtAUk1e-Qhb3tgnY.html" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" title="Hoiberg Prsr 11-15" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>Game Notes:*-Nebraska improves to 4-0 for the first time since the 2018-19 season.*-Juwan Gary led Nebraska with 19 points, matching his collegiate career high. He also had 19 points against Houston (12/11/21) and at Florida (1/5/22) when he was at Alabama. Gary’s previous high at Nebraska was 18 at Minnesota (1/7/22), his final full game before his season-ending shoulder injury.*-Gary becomes the fourth different Husker to lead NU in scoring this year.*-With Gary and Keisei Tominaga (16 points) tonight, NU has had eight players reach double figures in the first four contests.*-Rienk Mast reached double figures with 14 points and tied his career high with five assists. He had five assists three previous times at Bradley). His five assists are the most for any Husker in 2023-24. As a team, NU tied its season high with 19 assists.*-Brice Williams posted season bests in points (17), rebounds (nine) and assists (four), as his four assists tied a career high.*-Nebraska shot a season-high 55 percent, including 65.5 percent in the second half. It is the first time NU shot 50 percent or better this season.*-Nebraska held Stony Brook to 37.9 percent shooting, the fourth straight opponent under 40 percent.*-Nebraska out-rebounded Stony Brook, 45-28, and had three straight games with at least 10 more rebounds than its opponent.Nebraska Coach Fred HoibergOn having Juwan Gary back“It’s great to have Juwan Gary back on the floor. He just brings so much. He has every intangible you can bring to a team when he goes on the floor. You saw I think how much he has been working on his shot. Even the two&nbsp;(3-point attempts)&nbsp;that he missed were right there. It was good to see him make those couple. It really helped us extend the lead. But he did what he always does. Extra possessions, rebounding all well. Defended at a high level. He can play multiple positions. He can play one through five. Just showed his versatility on that end of the floor. It’s great to have him back. Got a full roster pretty much right now with the exception of a couple guys right now. Juwan back on the court makes a big difference for our team.”On Juwan Gary’s energy spreading throughout the team“It really does. When you have a group of guys out there like we have with Josiah (Allick), Rienk (Mast) with Juwan (Gary) with Jamarques (Lawrence) with Sam (Hoiberg). There is a lot of guys that go out there with a ton of energy. Keisei (Tominaga). C.J. (Wilcher). It’s a fun team to coach because they bring it every day. It’s not just these 40 minutes between the lines on game night. These guys bring it in practice every day. For Juwan to go out there in his first opportunity this year and really not skip a beat and not really having a lot of rust it was great to see. He had a good little flash there that got us a couple baskets against the zone which slowed us down a little bit, but I really liked our offense in the second half. First half I thought he executed well. Took some good open shots but I really liked our pace in the half court in the second half. Love Brice’s (Williams) aggressiveness. It was good to see him really get it going. I think he had 16 of 17 in the second half and also led us in rebounding tonight. So that was a great sign. To see Brice get off like that and then Jamarques I think was terrific all night as well. It really set the table for our guys. It was good to see a lot of guys contribute and have good nights for us.”On when the switch flipped in the second half“I thought we were trading baskets, obviously, in the first seven minutes or so, and I think I called a timeout with about 12 minutes left and we went on a nice little run. I think we got it up to 14 or 15, then they cut it back to seven. They hit some tough shots, I give them credit for continuing to play. They had some bombs out there, contested ones. We just kept going, especially after that timeout. I think they were 4-for-13 after that timeout at the 12-minute mark&nbsp;(until the under-4 media timeout). I think our guys continued to play well offensively. I thought we shared it really well in the second half. Our second halves for whatever reason, offensively, haven’t been very good up to this point, but it was fun to see that movement. We had some really good reads, curled the big when they were chasing. Reink hit Brice for the dunk, and it’s something we can build off on the offensive end. I thought we were much better tonight overall.”&nbsp;On rebounding“The last three teams we’ve played, we’ve outrebounded them by 20, 13 and 17. If we can continue to rebound at a high clip like that we’re going to have the chance to win a lot of games. It was Josiah, Rienk and Juwan out there for a stretch, and then you throw Brice out there with that group, you got a great size across the board and four guys who can go out and help get extra possessions. Josiah’s energy, even though he didn’t make a shot tonight, obviously Jo still has a big impact on the game.”Nebraska Guard&nbsp;Brice WilliamsOn what’s holding them back from putting two halves together“We haven’t really been all healthy this year, Keisei (Tominaga), Juwan (Gary), Reink (Mast), Josiah (Allick), so with all of these new pieces we’re learning something new. We’re learning how to execute in a new facet. It’s early, so this is where you have those little miscues, and then, when we get into the conference, that’s when it’ll start clicking, and you’ll start seeing us at our full form.”On Juwan Gary’s impact“Juwan’s just all-around aggressive. He’s a big force out there. He’s going to be relentless on the glass. His energy is really contagious, and I didn’t really know that, but I learn more and more in practice and every game, but his energy out there really lifted us up. He showed us what we were missing when he was out.”On hitting two threes early in the second half&nbsp;after NU went 3-of-17 from 3-point range in the first half“It was big. I hadn’t really been seeing the ball go through, which is fine. I’m fine facilitating and letting my team succeed, but it was really big for my confidence at that point in the game. In the second half, we came out and jumped on them.”Stony Brook Coach Geno FordOn defending Nebraska from behind the arc in the first half“It was the same thing that we were trying to focus on in the second half, and we didn’t do it very well there. You always get a little lucky when somebody shoots 3-for-17 from three, you’re going to miss some open ones, and I thought they did miss some open ones. They run good stuff, obviously he’s (Fred Hoiberg) a great coach. He’s got an offensive background, and he’s still the best player in the gym. You got to give them credit where it’s due. I thought we did a good job in the first half defensively, but on offense, we were horrible. Now it’s just been the theme of our year, and we’ve done this three times now. Then we came out in the second half, and we kind of solved the offensive issues, but defensively we can’t stop anybody. Our team has got to get better at that and got to learn from these games and they’ve got guys that I thought their size bothered us. They drove us to six feet and just jumped over us and made little bank shots. There was a clear difference in size and strength and athleticism when they were driving the ball, and I know they’re a good Big Ten team and that’s probably what it’s supposed to do, but it didn’t look good to me I can tell you that.”On what Jared Frey did well“Luckily we were able to get him to stay aggressive. He started 1-for-7, but we just need him to stay aggressive and shoot. He’s an elite shooter. He had some really good looks in the first half that he missed. Then he made some really hard shots in the second half. He’s a freshman. He’s going to get better and better. He’s a good kid. He works hard, and we need him to continue to improve because it’s a long year, and we’re going to need him when we get to conference play.”On how the team handled the Power 5 environment“The student section was great. They were behind the bench, and they were into the game and yelling and all kinds of stuff, and that’s great. But that’s what it is supposed to be, right? This is clearly a community where they live and die with football, spring football, football recruiting, basketball, and volleyball too, so it’s a great sports community, but the crowd was great.”On expectations for the upcoming season“We feel like we’ve got a better team than what we had last year, and we like our group a lot. We are a little guard heavy, so we take a lot of perimeter jumpers. We aren’t really blessed with a lot of slashers so we’ve got to make threes. I think we’ll get better offensively in terms of rhythm, and understanding and timing, but right now, it’s hard for me to think about anything other than our defense.”

Nebraska MBB: Postgame notes/quotes vs. Stony Brook

After a thrilling victory over South Dakota State last Friday in the NCAA First Round, the five-seeded Nebraska soccer team (15-3-3, 7-1-2 Big Ten) will host Tennessee in NCAA Second Round action on Friday at 7 p.m. (CT). The weekend regional begins with eighth-seeded Gonzaga battling UC Irvine at 3:30 p.m. (CT) on Friday at Hibner Stadium.&nbsp;

The matches will be streamed on ESPN+ and live stats will be available on Huskers.com.&nbsp;Last Time OutSadie Waite and Sarah Weber netted two goals in the Huskers’ 5-2 win against South Dakota State in the first round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament in front of 2,044 fans on Friday night, which is the second-largest crowd to ever see a match at Barbara Hibner Stadium.

Up NextThe winner of the second round matches will square off on Sunday, Nov. 19 at 1 p.m. (CT) in the third-round match at Hibner Stadium.

Individual Milestones and Records to Watch

Story by NU Athletic CommunicationsAfter a thrilling victory over South Dakota State last Friday in the NCAA First Round, the five-seeded Nebraska soccer team (15-3-3, 7-1-2 Big Ten) will host Tennessee in NCAA Second Round action on Friday at 7 p.m. (CT). The weekend regional begins with eighth-seeded Gonzaga battling UC Irvine at 3:30 p.m. (CT) on Friday at Hibner Stadium.&nbsp;The matches will be streamed on ESPN+ and live stats will be available on Huskers.com.&nbsp;Last Time OutSadie Waite and Sarah Weber netted two goals in the Huskers’ 5-2 win against South Dakota State in the first round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament in front of 2,044 fans on Friday night, which is the second-largest crowd to ever see a match at Barbara Hibner Stadium.Up NextThe winner of the second round matches will square off on Sunday, Nov. 19 at 1 p.m. (CT) in the third-round match at Hibner Stadium.Nebraska’s NCAA Tournament History<ul>
 <li>Nebraska is making its 13th NCAA Tournament appearance in program history, and first since 2016 when the Huskers also hosted SDSU in the first round.</li><li>Nebraska holds a 18-12 record all-time in the NCAA Tournament.</li><li>NU has made it to the Sweet 16 on eight occasions and twice advanced to the Elite Eight.</li><li>Nebraska made its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1996, which began a span of 10 consecutive appearances through the 2005 season. NU’s 12th appearance was in 2016.&nbsp;</li>
 </ul>Individual Milestones and Records to Watch<ul>
 <li>Senior Eleanor Dale earned four Big Ten Offensive Player-of-the-Week honors this season (second-most in Big Ten history), and she became the first Nebraska women’s soccer player to claim Big Ten Forward-of-the-Year honors. She leads the country in total goals (26), game-winning goals (8), goals per game (1.24) and shots per game (5.86), while also leading the conference in shots (123), shots on goal (63) and points (57). Dale’s total goals are tied for third in Big Ten history only behind 32 in 2005 and 31 in 2011.</li><li>Dale, who has tallied 10 braces this season, is second on Nebraska’s season goal scored list. She trails only Kim Engesser, who scored 27 goals in 1998. Additionally, she is tied for first in the Huskers record books in game-winning goals and her total shots this season place her at the top of the list. &nbsp;</li><li>Gretna’s Weber joins Dale as a first-team All-Big Ten honoree as Weber captured her second-straight first-team All-Big Ten status. She ranks second in the conference in shots (90), points (34), shots on goal (38) and goals (14). Nationally, Weber is seventh in shots per game (4.50), tied for ninth in total points and 10th in goals.</li><li>Junior midfielder Florence Belzile, a three-time member of the Top Drawer Soccer team, has a team-high 17 assists on the season, good for first in the conference and second nationally. In Big Ten history, she is currently tied for second-most in history only behind Jennifer Walek, Minnesota (1995) and Christie Walsh, Penn State (2001) who both had 18. In the Husker record books, her assists on the season place her tied for second with Husker great Jenny Benson (1999) and is four out of first (Brittany Timko, 2005).&nbsp;</li>
 </ul>

Huskers welcome Tennessee in NCAA Second Round

Juwan Gary matched his career high with 19 points as Nebraska shot 66 percent in the second half en route to an 84-53 win over Stony Brook Wednesday night.&nbsp;

Gary, who missed NU’s first four contests, hit 8-of-11 shots from the floor and added seven rebounds, as the Huskers improved to 4-0 for the first time since the 2018-19 season.&nbsp;

Brice Williams scored 16 of his 17 points in the second half and added a game-high nine rebounds, as Nebraska enjoyed a 45-28 advantage on the glass. Williams scored six of his points in a 13-2 Husker spurt after Stony Brook pulled to within 64-54 with 8:30 remaining.&nbsp;

Story by NU Athletic CommunicationsJuwan Gary matched his career high with 19 points as Nebraska shot 66 percent in the second half en route to an 84-53 win over Stony Brook Wednesday night.&nbsp;Gary, who missed NU’s first four contests, hit 8-of-11 shots from the floor and added seven rebounds, as the Huskers improved to 4-0 for the first time since the 2018-19 season.&nbsp;Brice Williams scored 16 of his 17 points in the second half and added a game-high nine rebounds, as Nebraska enjoyed a 45-28 advantage on the glass. Williams scored six of his points in a 13-2 Husker spurt after Stony Brook pulled to within 64-54 with 8:30 remaining.&nbsp;Keisei Tominaga and Rienk Mast added 16 and 14 points, respectively, as the Huskers cracked the 80-point plateau for the third time in four games.&nbsp;Leading 36-28 at the break, the Huskers hit eight of its first 10 shots from the field in the second half to pushed the margin to 53-51 after a C.J. Wilcher basket. The Seawolves responded with a 7-0 run of its own to get within 56-49 and forced a Husker timeout. The Seawolves were within 59-52, but the Huskers took control with a 13-2 spurt to build a 72-54 lead after a Jamarques Lawrence basket with 6:37 left. &nbsp;After a back-and-forth opening few minutes, Keisei Tominaga scored eight points in a row for the Huskers to take a 13-9 lead with 13:12 to go in the first half. The teams were then tied at 21 with a little over six minutes to go before NU went on a 6-1 scoring run powered by a pair of layups by Mast, who had 11 points and seven rebounds in the first half.&nbsp;Nebraska led 31-28 with under a minute left in the half before Mast closed the half on a personal 5-0 run to close the half, hitting a 3-pointer with three seconds remaining to send NU to the locker room with its largest lead of the half at 36-28.The Huskers hit the road for the first time this season as they travel to Sioux Falls, S.D., on Saturday, Nov. 18 to take on Oregon State. The game is set for 3 p.m. (CT) and will be streamed on Peacock. To subscribe, visit Huskers.com/watch&nbsp;&nbsp;