Nebraska Cornhuskers Basketball GameDay Prep: Cal State Fullerton

The Nebraska Cornhuskers basketball team takes on the Cal State Fullerton Titans on Sunday afternoon. Here’s everything you need to know about the game.

The Nebraska basketball team looks to go 7-0 on Sunday and continue the best start of the Fred Hoiberg era. It would in fact be the best start for Nebrasketball since the 1992-93 season.

That year, the Huskers lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to New Mexico State.

The last time Nebraska started even 6-0 was the 2008-2009 season. They lost in the first round of the NIT.

In order to get to 7-0, Hoiberg’s Heroes will need to keep the focus as Cal State Fullerton shouldn’t be a bump in the road. Keeping focus and dispatching the Titans with ease might be a good sign that the head coach’s teachings are taking root.

Nebraska Cornhuskers basketball expected starters

• Jamarques Lawrence (G): Lawrence has been a nice compliment for a team with quite a few scorers. He’s averaging 4.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.
• Keisei Tominaga (G): Tominaga missed the first few games of the season but looks like he might be returning to full strength. He scored 23 points against Duquesne.
• Brice Williams (G): The Charlotte transfer has been as good as advertised so far. Maybe even better. He’s leading the team in scoring (14.7 PPG) and 3-point shooting (42 percent). He can also dish it out as he has 2.3 assists per game.
• Juwan Gary (F): Gary has been the Nebraska Cornhuskers basketball 6th man, but it might be time to boost him up to a starting role. In 3 games this year, Gary has averaged 17 points, including 20 against Duquesne. He’s also averaging 7.3 rebounds.
• Rienk Mast (F): The big man has filled Derrick Walker’s shoes admirably as he’s averaging a double-double (14.3 points, 10.3 rebounds) per game.

Cal State Fullerton expected starters

• DJ Brewton (G): Brewton is second on the team in scoring with 13.3 ppg and leads the team with 4.0 apg. He’s also a decent rebounder from the guard position with 4.4 boards per game.
• Donovan Oday (G): Oday leads the Titans in scoring  with16.2 ppg. He did even better in their last game with19 points and a career-high 7 assists.
• Grayson Carper (F): Leads the team in rebounds with 6.2 and averages 7.4 points per game.
• Beril Kabamba (F): Could be taking over for John Mikey Square who has started every game, but only averages 13.8 minutes per game. Kabama leads the team in 3-point shooting with 37.5 percent while scoring 5.6 points per game.
• Vincent Lee (C): Lee doesn’t take a lot of shots, but when he does, he hits. He’s 16-of-16 from the field. He’s not much of a rebounder though and that should allow Mast to have some success.

Nebraska Cornhuskers basketball keys to winning

Hit the boards hard: For the first time this season, the Nebraska basketball team was outrebounded against Duquesne. It looked like the team was a bit surprised by how hard the Dukes went after the boards. The Huskers have a size advantage today and they need to take advantage of it.

The turnover habit: Against the Dukes, the Nebraska Cornhuskers had what was easily its best outing of the Hoiberg era ball control-wise. They dished out 18 assists and had just two turnovers. There’s no reason they can’t make that a habit.

Get to the line: Another stellar performance last week was how well the Huskers got to the line. The Nebraska Cornhuskers also managed to take advantage of getting to the line. They were 28-of-31at the stripe. They also committed few penalties as the Dukes had just 17 free throw attempts.