This season, don’t count on any games being played until they actually tip off. That being said, it looks like Nebraska has a new schedule for the opening week of the college basketball season.
The season-opener against McNeese State is still scheduled for Wednesday at 11 a.m. on BTN. Scottsbluff graduate Dru Kuxhausen will lead the Cowboys into Lincoln after leading the country in made 3-pointers last season. The 6-foot guard averaged 14.8 points as a junior as McNeese State finished 15-17 on the season.
After multiple withdrawals from the Golden Window Classic, the multi-team event in Lincoln organized by Elevate Hoops, North Dakota State has joined the field.
Per the new scheduled Nebraska released on Monday, the Huskers will now face Nevada on Thursday at 1 p.m. CT. BTN will televise the game.
The Wolfpack went 19-12 last season in Steve Alford first year but will bring almost an entirely new roster to Lincoln after losing their top four scorers. Sophomore forward Zane Meeks is the team’s leading returning scorer after putting up 6.4 points and 3.7 rebounds as a freshman.
Wichita State transfer Grant Sherfield is immediately eligible after averaging 8.1 points and 2.9 assists for the Shockers last season. Brown transfer Desmond Cambridge Jr. is eligible after redshirting last season. The 6-foot-4 guard averaged 16.5 points and 4.2 rebounds in two season at Brown. Warren Washington, a 7-foot transfer from Oregon State, also redshirted last season and will be eligible.
Nebraska junior Shamiel Stevenson will get a chance to play against his former team, though he never got a chance to play for the Wolfpack after redshirting his lone season in Reno. He transferred to Nebraska after Eric Musselman left Nevada to take the head coaching job at Arkansas.
After taking Friday off, the Huskers will take on North Dakota State on Saturday at 11 a.m. That game will be broadcasted on either BTN or BTN+. The Bison were originally scheduled to take part in an MTE hosted by Milwaukee, but the Panthers had to cancel the event because of a COVID-19 situation in the program.
Lincoln East graduate Sam Griesel is heading into his junior season with the Bison. He started 13 games last season, averaging 6.6 points and 5.5 rebounds. The Bison went 25-8 and won the Summit League Tournament but lost their top two scorers in Vinnie Shahid and Tyson Ward. Rocky Kreuser, a 6-foot-10, 245-pound forward, returns after averaging 10.0 points and 6.0 rebounds.
The rest of the nonconference schedule currently remains intact. Nebraska will host South Dakota at 8 p.m. on Dec. 1 and Florida A&M at 1 p.m. on Dec. 6. The Huskers will take on Georgia Tech in Lincoln on Dec. 9 as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge on the ESPN network of channels. Nebraska will close out the nonconference against Creighton on Dec. 11 with a 6 p.m. tipoff on BTN.
Jacob Padilla has been writing for Hail Varsity since 2015. He covers football, volleyball men’s basketball and prep sports. He also co-hosts the Nebraska Preps Postgame and Nebraska Shootaround podcasts for the Hurrdat Media and Hail Varsity podcast networks. His love of basketball can best be described as an obsession and if you need to find him, he’s probably in a gym somewhere watching, coaching or playing hoops.
