Nebraska’s nonconference schedule continues to come into focus as more news dropped on Monday afternoon.
The 23rd annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge matchups are set and the Huskers will visit North Carolina State at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Dec. 1. The ESPN family of networks will broadcast all 14 games of the challenge with details to come at a later date.
The game will be the first meeting between the two schools.
The Wolfpack went 14-11 last season under Coach Kevin Keatts who is heading into his fifth season in Raleigh. NC State will return at least four of its top six scorers. Leading scorer Devon Daniels, who suffered a torn ACL in January, has not yet made clear whether or not he’ll return for another season in Raleigh, but he did go through the senior day ceremony for the Wolfpack last season.
Jericole Hellems, a 6-foot-7 forward, is he team’s top returner at 12.9 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. Manny Bates, a 6-foot-11 forward and the ACC’s top shot-blocker the last two seasons, is back after averaging 9.8 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.7 blocks. Point guard Cam Hayes chipped in 7.8 points and 3.1 assists per game as a freshman.
Former Husker Thomas Allen also plays for the Wolfpack. Allen redshirted in 20129-20 after transferring from Nebraska. He played in 17 games with 15 starts last season, averaging 7.4 points while shooting 37.9% from 3.
Keatts signed the 25th-ranked recruiting class in the country according to the 247Sports Composite featuring a pair of 4-stars in forward Ernest Ross (No. 69) and guard Terquavion Smith (No. 95). NC State also added pair of transfers from other high-major schools in Casey Morsell (Virginia) and Greg Gantt (Providence).
Nebraska is 5-5 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge including 3-2 on the road. The Huskers fell to Georgia Tech in each of the last two seasons including at home last year. Nebraska’s last win came in 2018 at Clemson.
The ACC holds a 12-7-3 edge in the series but the Big Ten is 7-2-3 the last 12 years including a 7-5 win last season.
Nebraska’s nonconference slate now includes home games against Creighton and Kansas State plus the trip to NC State in addition to the home exhibition against Colorado announced earlier on Monday.
The full schedule for this year’s Big Ten/ACC Challenge is below.
Monday, Nov. 29
- Notre Dame at Illinois
- Iowa at Virginia
Tuesday, Nov. 30
- Indiana at Syracuse
- Minnesota at Pittsburgh
- Northwestern at Wake Forest
- Duke at Ohio State
- Florida State at Purdue
- Clemson at Rutgers
Wednesday, Dec. 1
- Virginia Tech at Maryland
- Michigan at North Carolina
- Louisville at Michigan State
- Nebraska at NC State
- Miami at Penn State
- Wisconsin at Georgia Tech
