Nebraska basketball had its fair share of struggles last season, coupled with some great performances. The Cornhuskers struggled to get back to the NCAA Tournament after making it as an 8-seed last season. Nebraska has yet to make it to the second round in the tournament in program history.
If Nebraska wants to be able to build a strong basketball program, they have to find a way to compete consistently in the Big Ten and find ways to get into the NCAA tournament on a more consistent basis. So, in order to do that, here are five key stats Nebraska has to improve on this next season in order to try and get to the NCAA Tournament and get past the first round.
3-point shooting efficiency
Nebraska struggled from behind the three-point arc this past season, shooting just 33.5% from deep range, which ranked 11th in the Big Ten. The Cornhuskers averaged 22.4 three-point shot attempts last season, making an average of 7.5 per game.
Being able to knock down the big shot can help give Nebraska momentum offensively and spread the floor out more for their bigs to get work done in the paint.
Field-goal percentage and offensive efficiency
Last season, Nebraska averaged 76 points per game, which ranked 13th in the Big Ten. The Cornhuskers shot 45.6% from the floor, which didn't rank much better in the conference, coming in at 12th in the Big Ten. Better ball movement and different play sets would allow Nebraska to have more opportunities for scoring next season.
Rebounding margin
Nebraska's rebounding wasn't horrible in the Big Ten ranking eighth in the conference with 35.4 rebounds per game; however, their offensive rebounding is what struggled. The Cornhuskers only averaged 9.2 offensive rebounds per game, which means they weren't getting multiple shots on offensive possessions. Those 9.2 offensive rebounds per game ranked 16th in the Big Ten.
Turnover rate and assist-to-turnover rate
In the 2024-2025 season, Nebraska averaged 11.3 turnovers per game and only 14.2 assists per game. The ball wasn't moving well for the Cornhuskers last season, and that resulted in turnovers, giving up offensive possessions they couldn't afford to give up.
Defensive efficiency
Nebraska allowed an average of 72.6 points per game to opponents last season, which isn't too bad, but still only ranked 11th in the Big Ten. They gave up a good amount of offensive rebounds, allowing an average of 10.4 per game and 35.3 rebounds in total per game to opponents. The Cornhuskers did have the fourth-best steals per game with 7.2 in the Big Ten and need to build on that stat heading into next season.