Lincoln – Nebraska held No. 12 Ohio State to its second-lowest point total of the season, but the Huskers could not muster enough offense to knock off the defending Big Ten champion Buckeyes in a 73-61 loss at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Thursday.

The Huskers slipped to 9-5 on the season and 0-1 in the Big Ten, while Ohio State improved to 12-2 and 1-0 in the conference.

All-American Kelsey Mitchell led the Buckeyes with 25 points, one under her season average, while Linnae Harper added 14 points, including a pair of big buckets midway through the fourth quarter. Sierra Calhoun was the only other Buckeye in double figures with 13 points, as Nebraska held the nation’s highest scoring offense nearly 19 points under its season average. Prior to the game, only No. 14 Duke, who held OSU to 60, had kept the Buckeyes from scoring at least 83 points in a game.

Nebraska got 14 points, six rebounds and a career-high-matching four assists from junior forward Maddie Simon, while freshman center Kate Cain contributed 14 points, eight rebounds and a pair of blocks. Those two Huskers combined to hit 12-of-21 shots from the field, including 2-of-4 threes by Simon. Unfortunately, the rest of the Huskers combined to go just 12-for-35.

Sophomore point guard Hannah Whitish gave the Huskers three players in double figures with 12 points, five rebounds and four assists on 3-of-8 shooting from the field.

Freshman guard Taylor Kissinger also made a significant contribution with eight points in her return after missing the past six games with a knee injury. Kissinger, who entered the game as Nebraska’s leading scorer after scoring 14.0 points per game through her first seven contests as a starter, played 15 minutes off the bench. Her three-pointer with three minutes left in the game cut Ohio State’s lead to eight points at 67-59.

Whitish got a pair of free throws with 1:21 left to keep the margin at eight points, but a bucket by Mitchell with a minute left pushed the Buckeye lead back to double digits in the final minute.

Nebraska kept the Buckeyes within striking distance despite falling behind by 18 points late in the third quarter. The Buckeyes kept that 18-point margin early in the fourth at 60-42, before the Big Red battled back.

Senior guard Emily Wood sparked the rally with a three-pointer, before Jasmine Cincore and Whitish hit back-to-back shots to trim the OSU margin to 60-49 with 7:18 left and force the second timeout in 1:05 by Ohio State.

Harper then made two big plays to quickly push the margin back to 15 points, before Cain, Simon and Whitish fueled a 7-0 Husker run in 1:15 to cut the margin to 64-56 with 5:00 left in the game.

As a team, Nebraska hit 41.1 percent (23-56) of its shots, including 51.9 percent (14-27) in the second half. The Huskers were 4-for-9 from three-point range in the second half after going just 2-for-12 from long range in the first 20 minutes. Nebraska hit 9-of-14 free throws for the game, including 5-of-6 in the second half. Nebraska outrebounded Ohio State, 39-36, but lost the turnover battle, 23-15.

The Buckeyes hit 42.9 percent (27-63) of their shots, including 34.8 percent (8-23) of their three-pointers, and connected on 11-of-14 free throws (.786).

Ohio State used a 14-1 surge early in the first quarter to jump out to a 17-5 lead after Nebraska led 4-3 in the opening moments. But the Huskers turned down the tempo and held the high-scoring Buckeyes to just two field goals in the final 4:50 of the quarter, outscoring OSU 10-5 to trim the margin to 22-15 at the end of the quarter.

The Huskers scored on their opening possession of the second quarter to cut the Buckeye lead to 22-17, but then went more than four minutes without scoring. However, the Big Red continued to defend and trailed just 27-21 after an Eliely layup with 4:54 left in the half.

Mitchell, who had 13 first-half points, scored OSU’s final four points of the half to give the Buckeyes a 34-24 halftime lead. The 34 points tied for the third-fewest points scored in an opening half this season by Ohio State.

As a team, the Huskers hit just 31 percent (9-29) of their first-half shots, including 16.7 percent (2-12) from three-point range. Nebraska went 4-of-8 at the free throw line and was outrebounded, 22-21, in the half. Cain led the Huskers with seven points and five rebounds, while Kissinger added five points off the bench.

The Big Red held Ohio State to just 36.7 percent (11-30) shooting, including 4-of-12 threes (.333). The Buckeyes went 8-of-10 at the line and won the first-half turnover battle, 11-8. Harper had eight points and six boards for the Buckeyes to support Mitchell’s 13 points.

The Huskers open a three-game Big Ten road swing by traveling to Minneapolis to take on Minnesota New Year’s Eve. Tip-off between the Big Red and the Golden Gophers is set for 2 p.m.

— NU Athletics —

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — James Palmer Jr. had 18 points and Nebraska opened up a 19-point lead midway through the first half and turned back a second half Delaware State surge to take an 85-68 win Friday.

Nebraska (9-5) ran off 14 straight to go up 20-6 on Thomas Allen’s layup with 12:56 left in the opening half, and stretched that to 28-9 over the next four minutes.

A 10-2 flurry by Delaware State (2-12) cut the Nebraska lead to 11 on Kavon Waller’s 3 pointer with 6:34 left in the half. But the Huskers scored eight straight to go back up 19. Nebraska, which hit 60 percent of its shots in the half, led 42-26 at intermission.

Delaware State trailed by 21 when it put together an 11-1 run to cut the Nebraska lead to 59-48 on Demola Onifade’s basket with 10:35 left in the game. Anton Gill’s 3-pointer two minutes later put Nebraska back up by 15 and Palmer’s layup with 6:17 left gave Nebraska a 71-50 lead.

“These Christmas times are just really difficult,” Nebraska coach Tim Miles said of his team’s up-and-down play. “We’ve been through it. We’ve got one more to go. We’ll be locked in and find enough guys to do it. Tonight, we did. We had just enough guys that were locked in. It’s hard.”

Delaware State coach Keith Walker said that, even with the Hornets comeback, the game was decided early.

“I thought we started out a little slow,” Walker said. “I don’t know if it was the atmosphere, because this is probably the largest crowd we’ve played against all year. I don’t know if that threw the young guys off a bit, but we started out a little slow. But once we figured out that we could play a little bit with them, I think they did a much better job the second half. Because of the deficit we built the first half, we weren’t able to overcome it.”

Gill and Thomas Allen each had 14 points for Nebraska, Isaac Copeland had 11 points.

Waller had 16 points to lead Delaware State. Simon Okolue and Artem Tavakalyan had 13 points each and Pinky Wiley had 12 points.

BIG PICTURE

Nebraska: The Huskers were averaging 75.5 points per game entering Friday’s contest, the highest scoring mark for a Nebraska team through 13 games since the 1995-96 season. Nebraska has scored more than 80 points in six of its 14 games.

Delaware State: The Hornets have been mired in a season-long shooting slump. Delaware State shot just 39.5 percent from the field through its first 13 games. The Hornets hit 37.8 percent of their shots in the first half Thursday, then made 51 percent of their shots in the second period.

AN EARLY CHRISTMAS PRESENT

Tanner Borchardt, a walk-on junior from Gothenburg, Neb., got a scholarship Saturday in unusual fashion.

“Santa brought a present to the locker room,” Borchardt said. “I got a little Christmas cookie that said `Congrats.’ Then got a shower full of teammates for about a minute, a jumping huddle. What a blessing.”

FROM ICELAND WITH THREES

Thor Thorbjarnarson, Nebraska’s first scholarship player from Iceland, had a career high 6 points, playing in front of family members who made the trip from Reykjavik. “Eight family members came over Iceland,” Miles said. “To be able to get him in the game and have him make those two threes was pretty cool stuff. That second one was deep. I thought I was going to be in the way.”

UP NEXT

Nebraska hosts Stetson on Dec. 29, ending non-conference play. The Huskers will resume Big Ten play at Northwestern Jan. 2

Delaware State travels to Penn for its final non-conference game. The Hornets will open MEAC play Jan. 3 against NC Central.

— Associated Press —

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Anton Gill was a game time decision for Nebraska on Wednesday night and the Cornhuskers were thrilled he decided to play.

The fifth-year senior scored a career-high 21 points, including a 3-pointer and three free throws in a late 9-0 run, to help Nebraska beat UT San Antonio 104-94.

“He had a migraine in the pre-game, wasn’t even able to go through pregame, kind of a question mark going through warmups,” said Nebraska coach Tim Miles. “Finally at game time, he was `I’m going to give it the old try.’ You look at 21 points later, that worked out pretty good. We needed him tonight.”

Gill didn’t mention the migraine after the game. But acknowledged he was sluggish early, trying to shake off the disappointment of a 73-72 loss to No. 13 Kansas Saturday.

“Me, personally, I took that loss pretty hard,” he said. “At the same, they (UTSA) are a good team. They came in here thinking they were going to win. We took their best shot; we took their punches. We had some stretches where we didn’t play well. But at the end of the day, we got the win.”

Nebraska (8-5) scored more than 100 for the first time since beating North Carolina A&T 107-57 on Dec. 19, 2005. The 198 total points is the most ever scored at Pinnacle Bank Arena, which opened for the 2013-2014 season.

The Cornhuskers led by as many as 10 points in both halves only to see the Roadrunners come back to tie the score repeatedly in the second half.

UTSA (7-6), which trailed by seven at intermission, hit 10 of its first 12 shots of the second half, knotting the score at 70 on Nick Allen’s dunk with 11:27 remaining. Nebraska opened up a five point lead at 81-76 on Isaiah Roby’s free throws with 8:06 remaining but saw that advantage eliminated by a Jhivvan Jackson 3-pointer followed by a driving layup.

UTSA tied the score five times in the second half but never took the lead — “I think it proves prayers do work,” Miles quipped.

Gill hit a 3 pointer with 4 minutes left, then was fouled shooting a 3 pointer 40 seconds later and sank all three free throws. A James Palmer, Jr. layup and free throw put Nebraska up 95-86 with 1:54 left.

Nebraska’s strings of defensive stops, including a pair of blocked shots in the final four minutes, were the key to the game according to UTSA coach Steve Henson.

“I’ve watched some of their games, they’ve done that to other people,” Henson said. “Boston College was a close game going into the last few minutes they just shut them out down the stretch. Kansas the other night, close ball game, shut them out until the very last shot pretty much. So we knew we had the capability of screeching us to a halt.”

The Huskers hit 37-of-50 free throws in the game that saw USTA whistled for 31 fouls. Palmer, who scored a career high 25 points, was 13 for 17 from the line. The Roadrunner were 9 of 10 from the free-throw line. Nebraska was called for 12 fouls.

Nebraska intended to get to the line Wednesday after shooting just 10 free throws in each of the last two games.

“We talked about it yesterday,” said Thomas Allen, who hit 3 of 4 free throws. “Just get to the rim. They don’t really have a shot blocker, so you just attack the paint. Make layups or get fouled. Tonight, we struggled from the free throw line a little bit. But it will get better.

Nebraska used a 10-0 mid-first half run to take a 27-17 lead at the 8:22 mark and led 49-42 at half.

Jackson led UTSA with 26 points, Deon Lyle scored 15 and Allen had 12 points. Keaton Wallace and Byron Frohnen had 10 points each.

Evan Taylor had 16, Glynn Watson Jr. had 13 points and Roby scored 10 points for Nebraska.

QUOTABLE

Miles on UTSA’s offense: “We kept telling our players this team has similar offensive number as the Michigan States, Creightons, Kansas. They just don’t look like it. One of our guys says afterward to coach (Jim) Molinari, `I didn’t think they were like that.’ Yeah, they are like that.”

BIG PICTURE

Nebraska

It was the fourth consecutive game in which Nebraska played a team in the top-30 nationally in scoring offense. Only UTSA, ranked 20th at 86.6 points per game, scored more than 80 against the Huskers.

UTSA

A UTSA freshman has been named Conference USA Freshman of the Week in four of the season’s first six weeks. Wallace has earned the honor three times and Jackson once.

UP NEXT

Nebraska hosts Delaware State Friday, the third game in a four-game non-conference December home stand for the Huskers.

UTSA travels to Rice on Dec. 28 for its Conference USA opener.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Mikaela Foecke had 19 kills, Annika Albrecht and Briana Holman had 13 apiece and Nebraska fought off match point in the fourth set to beat Penn State in a five-set thriller in the NCAA volleyball semifinals on Thursday night.

The fifth-seeded Huskers will play No. 2 Florida for the national title Saturday night.

The Huskers took advantage of a series of service mistakes by the top-seeded Nittany Lions to beat their Big Ten rivals for the seventh straight time. They also advanced to their eighth title match, where they will try to secure their fifth national championship.

Nebraska won the opening set 25-18 before dropping the next two, and then rallied to win the fourth 28-26 and force a deciding set. The Huskers took it 15-11 to advance to the finals.

— Associated Press —

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Creighton’s Marcus Foster wasn’t much of a factor early against Nebraska. He sure was at the end.

Foster scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half, and Creighton beat Nebraska 75-65 Saturday for its seventh straight win over the Cornhuskers and coach Greg McDermott’s sixth in a row over Nebraska’s Tim Miles.

“Just couldn’t get a rhythm the first half,” Foster said. “Something Coach Mac has told me over and over: `Be calm and be patient, and everything is going to go your way.’ ”

Foster was held to 1-of-5 shooting in the first half and was just 4 for 11 with 4 minutes to play. He scored 10 of Creighton’s last 18 points to hold off the Huskers.

Foster’s strong finish began when he made a nifty move on the baseline for a layup. After Isaiah Roby blocked his shot, Foster picked up the ball and scored. Then, after Nebraska came out of a timeout in a 1-3-1 zone for the first time, Foster buried a deep 3-pointer for a 69-63 lead with 43 seconds left.

Mitch Ballock had 11 of his 13 points in the second half, Ronnie Harrell Jr. finished with 12 and Khyri Thomas added 11 for Creighton.

“This is a really good win for us and I think later in the season we’ll see how good a win it is for us,” McDermott said. “I’ve said this week that I feel like this is Tim’s most complete team. They’re very disruptive defensively with their length and their size in particular.”

Isaac Copeland had a double-double with 20 points and a career-high 11 rebounds for Nebraska (7-4). The Huskers got 16 points from James Palmer Jr., and 10 from Roby. Glynn Watson had eight points and five assists before fouling out with 2:50 left.

“First of all you have to credit Creighton,” Miles said. “Their second half was outstanding. They got downhill on offense and Ballock got us early. If we’re going to beat a really good team on the road, we have to have seven or eight guys be stars in their roles.”

The Bluejays, fueled by a sellout crowd of 17,901 that was on its feet much of the second half, shot 59 percent after halftime.

They struggled in the first half, missing 5 of 7 free throws after getting in the bonus less than 8 minutes into the game, committing seven turnovers in a five-minute stretch and missing 11 of 13 3-pointers.

Still, they trailed just 33-28 at half thanks to Nebraska’s 39-percent shooting and inability to pull away when it had chances.

“Honestly,” McDermott said, “I felt fortunate to be down five with 10 turnovers and as bad as we shot free throws.”

BIG PICTURE

Nebraska: The Huskers were coming off an upset of No. 14 Minnesota and clearly have closed the gap against Creighton. A big reason is Copeland. The Georgetown transfer’s length and athleticism bothered the Bluejays.

Creighton: The Bluejays took the all-time series lead, 26-25, against their in-state rival. The seven straight wins over Nebraska mark their longest streak in the series. Creighton has won 11 straight regular-season home games against the Huskers.

MCDERMOTT’S DOMINANCE

McDermott is now 14-0 all-time against Miles. The two longtime friends have squared off with different teams over the last 20 years, going back to when McDermott was at Wayne State (Nebraska) and Miles was at Southwest Minnesota State.

Miles joked before the game about the certainties of his life: “Death, taxes and Miles loses to McDermott.”

After the game, McDermott said, “Tim and I have been friends a long time, and I pull for his team when they’re not playing us.”

KEY NUMBERS

Creighton’s Martin Krampelj had his second straight double-double, with 10 points and 11 rebounds. … The Bluejays trailed at halftime for the first time this season. … Copeland’s double-double was his first for Nebraska and second of his career. … The Huskers’ Palmer has been in double figures in 10 of 11 games. … Nebraska got to the foul line a season-low three times.

UP NEXT

Nebraska hosts No. 2 Kansas on Saturday.

Creighton hosts Maryland-Eastern Shore on Friday.

— Associated Press —

Nebraska Head Coach Scott Frost has announced the addition of three coaches to his Husker staff. Troy Walters and Sean Beckton were added to the Nebraska offensive staff after serving on Frost’s UCF staff the past two seasons, and Zach Duval will lead the Husker football strength and conditioning program.

The addition of Walters and Beckton ensures that Frost will keep his full-time UCF on-field coaching staff intact at Nebraska. The group has been a part of orchestrating one of the biggest turnarounds in college football history. UCF went from a winless season in 2015 before the staff’s arrival to a 12-0 season, American Athletic Conference Championship and berth in the Peach Bowl just two seasons later.

Walters was a finalist for the 2017 Broyles Award as the nation’s top assistant coach. He will serve as Nebraska’s offensive coordinator and receivers coach after holding the same positions at UCF the past two seasons, while Beckton will coach Nebraska’s tight ends.

At UCF, Walters and Beckton helped the Knights lead the nation in scoring offense at 49.4 points per game. UCF scored at least 30 points in all 12 games in 2017 and ranks fifth nationally in total offense at better than 540 yards per game.

A Nebraska graduate, Duval will serve as the Head Football Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Huskers. Duval’s sports performance program at UCF has helped trigger the Knights’ on-field turnaround the past two seasons. Duval began his strength and conditioning career at Nebraska in 1994 and worked in various role with the Husker Power program for nearly a decade.

Walters, Beckton and Duval have two-year contacts which run through Dec. 31, 2019.

Brief Bios
Troy Walters—Walters brings an impressive resume as a coach and player to Nebraska. A finalist for the Broyles Award in 2017, Walters coordinated the nation’s most explosive offense at UCF. The Knights averaged nearly 50 points per game and better than 540 yards of total offense. His top receiver Tre’Quan Smith was an all-AAC pick in 2017 and totaled 1,082 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns, while averaging 20.0 yards per catch. In his two seasons as UCF offensive coordinator the Knights increased their scoring production by more than 35 points per game and their total offense output by more than 270 yards per game. Walters also had coaching stops at Indiana State, Texas A&M, North Carolina State and Colorado, before his time at UCF. As a player, Walters was a consensus All-American and Biletnikoff winner at Stanford in 1999, and holds the Pac-12 record for career receiving yards. He went to play in the National Football League for eight seasons, totaling 98 catches for 1,135 yards, while accumulating nearly 4,000 yards in returns in pro football.

Sean Beckton—A veteran coach, Beckton has 22 years of total coaching experience, all in the state of Florida. Beckton has 19 years of collegiate coaching experience all at UCF, including the past two seasons as tight ends coach/recruiting coordinator on Frost’s staff. UCF tight end Jordan Akins was a first-team All-AAC pick in 2017 and Beckton’s tight ends averaged better than 16 yards per reception this season. Beckton had two stints as UCF’s receivers coach, highlighted by coaching six-time NFL Pro Bowler Brandon Marshall. He also coached one season with the Orlando Predators (AFL) and three seasons of high school football in Florida. As player, Beckton ended his career with UCF records of 196 catches and 2,493 yards.

Zach Duval—Duval is a veteran in the strength and conditioning profession and a Nebraska graduate. Duval has been the Director of Sports Performance for football at UCF the past two seasons, assisting in one of the biggest turnarounds in college football history. Duval has more than 20 years of experience in the sports performance world, beginning as part of the Nebraska strength and conditioning staff from 1994 to 2002. While at Nebraska he was part of national championship teams in 1994, 1995 and 1997. Duval returned to Nebraska for one year in 2008, and also has worked at Creighton, Buffalo and Wyoming.

— NU Athletics —

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Glynn Watson Jr. scored 20 of his 29 points in the second half and Nebraska opened up a 16-point lead early in the second half en route to a 78-68 win over No. 14 Minnesota on Tuesday night.

Watson scored seven straight points to open the second half, and Duby Okeke’s dunk put Nebraska (7-3, 1-1 Big Ten) up 48-32 with 15:35 left.

Minnesota (8-2, 1-1) made two of its first 10 shots in the half and struggled against the Huskers’ switching man-to-man defense.

Minnesota cut the lead to 67-53 after two free throws by Nate Mason with 4:37 left, but James Palmer Jr.’s 3 put Nebraska up by 17.

The Gophers forced a pair of turnovers, hit three 3-pointers in the final three minutes, and Reggie Lynch’s dunk with 1:01 left cut the lead to 72-64. Watson and Isaac Copeland made 6 of 8 free throws in the final minute to seal it.

The Huskers held Big Ten scoring leader Jordan Murphy to 10 points, 11 below his season average, and held high-scoring Minnesota 21 points below its season average.

Mason led Minnesota with 20 points, and Amir Coffey had 17 points.

Copeland finished with 12 points for Nebraska and Palmer had 11 points.

BIG PICTURE

Minnesota missed six shots to open both halves. The Gophers hit just 32 percent of their shots Tuesday. They entered averaging 49 percent shooting.

Nebraska, an up-and-down shooting team, hit 47 percent of its shots, 57 percent in the second half. The Huskers shot just 27 percent in their 86-57 loss at Michigan State on Sunday.

UP NEXT

Nebraska travels to Omaha on Saturday to meet intrastate rival Creighton, which dropped out of the AP Top 25 after being ranked for one week.

Minnesota is at Arkansas on Saturday to play its second road contest and third game of the week.

— Associated Press —

Nebraska Head Coach Scott Frost has announced the hiring of seven assistant coaches on his Husker football staff. A 2017 national coach of the year candidate, Frost was hired as Nebraska’s head coach this weekend.

The seven new Nebraska assistant coaches all come to Lincoln after spending the past two seasons on Frost’s UCF staff. The group has been a part of orchestrating one of the biggest turnarounds in college football history. UCF went from a winless season in 2015 before the staff’s arrival to a 12-0 season, American Athletic Conference Championship and berth in the Peach Bowl just two seasons later.

The assistant coaches named to Frost’s staff include:
· Greg Austin, Offensive Line
· Erik Chinander, Defensive Coordinator
· Mike Dawson, Defensive Line
· Jovan Dewitt, Outside Linebackers/Special Teams
· Travis Fisher, Defensive Backs
· Ryan Held, Running Backs
· Mario Verduzco, Quarterbacks

The group of seven assistant coaches has a history of championship experience and brings a collective total of 123 years of coaching experience to the Nebraska staff. Including Frost, the staff has combined to coach in nine national championship games.

“This is an outstanding group of coaches and men of tremendous character who have played a key role in our success at UCF the past two seasons,” Frost said. “They are excellent teachers, mentors and recruiters and have earned great respect from the young men who play for them. I am proud they have chosen to join our staff as we get started at Nebraska.”

Austin, Held and Verduzco were part of the Knights’ offensive staff, helping UCF lead the nation in scoring offense at 49.4 points per game. UCF scored at least 30 points in all 12 games this season and ranks fifth nationally in total offense at better than 540 yards per game.

Chinander, Dawson, Dewitt and Fisher formed the UCF defensive staff that led an impressive improvement over the past two seasons. Chinander served as the defensive coordinator as the UCF defense improved its scoring defense by more than 12 points per game over the past two seasons. The Knights had 55 takeaways over the past two seasons to rank fourth among all FBS schools in that time period.

Former Nebraska linebacker Barrett Ruud is also a member of Frost’s staff and is currently on the road recruiting for the Huskers.

The new assistant coaches will all have two-year contacts through Dec. 31, 2019. All of the coaches are currently part-time employees to allow them to coach UCF in the Chick Fil-A Peach Bowl. Their status will change to full-time after the UCF bowl game.

Brief Bios on Nebraska Staff
Greg Austin—A former Nebraska offensive lineman, Austin brings eight years of coaching experience to the Husker staff. Austin has spent a total of five seasons working on offensive staffs with Frost, including the past two seasons as UCF’s offensive line coach. Austin helped the UCF offensive line rank among the national leaders in fewest sacks allowed in 2017, while heading into the bowl season ranked first in the nation in scoring and fifth in total offense. Austin also has three seasons of NFL coaching experience, working on Chip Kelly’s Eagles staff from 2013 to 2015. Austin made 18 career starts as an offensive guard at Nebraska and was an honorable-mention All-Big 12 pick in 2006.

Erik Chinander—Chinander has spent the past two seasons as the defensive coordinator at UCF. A 2016 Broyles Award nominee as the nation’s top assistant, Chinander comes to Lincoln after leading a dramatic defensive turnaround. His UCF defense allowed 12.5 fewer points in 2017 than it did in the season before his arrival. Chinander’s defense also ranked fourth nationally in takeaways in 2017. Chinander spent the 2014 and 2015 seasons as the outside linebackers coach at Oregon, after serving on the Philadelphia Eagles defensive staff in 2013. Chinander has been on the staff of one FCS and two FBS teams that have played in a national championship game.

Mike Dawson—Dawson brings 19 years of coaching experience to Nebraska, including the past two seasons on the UCF staff and three years of experience in the National Football League. At UCF, Dawson’s defensive line ranked fourth in the AAC in rushing defense in 2017 and two of his three starting defensive linemen earned all-conference honors. Dawson spent three seasons on Chip Kelly’s Philadelphia Eagles staff from 2013 to 2015, working with the defensive line. Dawson also has college coaching stops at several schools, including Boston College, Akron, New Hampshire, Pittsburgh and Maine.

Jovan Dewitt—Dewitt brings a wealth of experience to the Nebraska staff, with 18 overall years of coaching experience, including nine seasons as a defensive coordinator and four years as a special teams coordinator. Dewitt spent the past two seasons as the associate head coach at Central Florida, where he worked with the linebackers and served as special teams coordinator. In 2017, Dewitt’s linebackers helped UCF rank third in the AAC in scoring defense and pass efficiency defense. Dewitt has previous college FBS experience at Army and Florida Atlantic and worked on the staff at Northern Iowa from 2009 to 2011.

Travis Fisher—A former NFL cornerback, Fisher join’s Frost staff after working on the UCF defensive staff for the past two seasons. Fisher’s defensive backs were a big reason why the Knights recorded 55 takeaways and scored eight defensive touchdowns over the past two seasons. In 2017, UCF ranked fifth nationally with 18 interceptions. Fisher had two defensive backs earn first-team All-AAC honors and UCF ranked in the top 20 nationally in interceptions. A former Knight cornerback, Fisher was selected in the second round of the 2002 Draft by the St. Louis Rams and played eight seasons in the NFL. He began his coaching career at UCF in 2013, spent one season at Southeast Missouri State and has been in Orlando the past three seasons.

Ryan Held—Held returns to his alma mater with 17 years of college coaching experience, including 12 seasons as a head coach. On Frost’s staff at UCF the past two seasons, Held has coached the running backs as the Knights led the nation in scoring offense in 2017, while ranking fifth in total offense. Held previously made a name in the coaching community as a successful junior college, Division II and NAIA head coach. Held served as a head coach at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, Highland (Kan.) CC, Southwestern Oklahoma State, Oklahoma Panhandle State and Peru State. Held was a part of two national championship teams in 1994 and 1995 as a walk-on receiver for the Huskers, and began his college coaching career as a graduate assistant on Tennessee’s 1998 national championship team.

Mario Verduzco—Verduzco brings 41 years of coaching experience to the Nebraska staff, including serving as both a junior college and high school head coach. Verduzco served as the UCF quarterbacks coach the past two seasons and directed the development of McKenzie Milton who was one of the nation’s top quarterbacks in 2017. Milton completed better than 69 percent of his passes this season, while throwing for 3,795 yards and a school-record 35 touchdowns. Verduzco was Missouri State’s offensive coordinator in 2015, after a 14-year stint with Northern Iowa, working on the same staff as Frost for two seasons. Verduzco spent five seasons at Rutgers from 1996 to 2000, and prior to that coached for 19 season at various levels in his home state of California.

— NU Athletics —

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Jaren Jackson gave himself a chance to show some of his potential because he figured out how to stay out of foul trouble.

The freshman had 15 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks to help No. 3 Michigan State beat Nebraska 86-57 on Sunday.

Jackson was limited to a total of eight points and eight rebounds in the two previous games, wins over No. 5 Notre Dame and then-No. 9 North Carolina, because he had four fouls against the Fighting Irish and three against the Tar Heels. He had four fouls in each of his first two games, overcoming that well enough against top-ranked Duke to score 19 points, and he fouled out in a scoreless game against Stony Brook in his third game.

“Usually, I get four or five of them,” Jackson acknowledged. “I just didn’t want to pick up anything crazy.”

The 6-foot-11 forward is regarded as one of the top prospects for the 2018 NBA draft if he leaves school, and Cornhuskers coach Tim Miles hopes he jumps at the opportunity.

“I can’t wait until he goes pro,” Miles said. “Maybe he can go at semester.”

Michigan State’s Nick Ward, meanwhile, matched his season high with 22 points despite being limited to just 16 minutes because he had a season-high four fouls. Cassius Winston scored 16 points and had seven assists and Miles Bridges had 12 points for the Spartans.

Michigan State (7-1) has won six straight since losing to top-ranked Duke, beating each team by at least 18 points.

Nebraska (6-3) kept the game close for about 10 minutes, unlike the Fighting Irish in an 81-63 loss Thursday night.

The Spartans took control with a 16-4 run that gave it a 34-16 lead with 5 minutes left in the first half and coasted to another lopsided victory.

BIG PICTURE

Nebraska: The Cornhuskers are searching for more players who can score against quality opponents. Their only double-digit scorer was James Palmer, who had 15 points.

“How we create for others and get easy shots for our teammates is something that we’re figuring out, slowly,” Miles said. “That needs to improve.”

Michigan State: Ward has to find a way to stay out of foul trouble. He played just 16 minutes in the Big Ten opener against Nebraska.

“Sometime, he tries to go over guys’ backs,” Izzo said.

When Ward can stay on the court, he’s tough to cover and keep off the boards.

“I’m really impressed with Nick Ward,” Miles said. “He’s improved. He’s running better. He’s not just one-dimensional.”

POLL IMPLICATIONS

The Spartans may get more No. 2 votes than Kansas (7-0) due to their strength of schedule, beating the fifth-ranked Fighting Irish and then-No. 9 North Carolina during their dominant run. Michigan State is the only team among the Power Six conference to face three schools in the Top 10 in November.

BLOCK PARTY

The Spartans blocked 11 shots, one shy of their season high, and are averaging 7-plus blocks a game.

“You have to drive to pass,” Miles said. “You can’t drive to score on these guys.”

BALL SECURITY

Michigan State had just six turnovers, its lowest total in nearly two years.

HE SAID IT

Michigan State football coach Mark Dantonio attended the game after finding out the Outback Bowl chose unranked Michigan over the No. 18 Spartans . The Wolverines won fewer games and lost to Dantonio this season for the eighth time in 10 years.

“I’ll just continue to concentrate on beating Michigan and let things sort of sort out,” Dantonio told reporters.

UP NEXT

Nebraska: Hosts No. 12 Minnesota on Tuesday night.

Michigan State: Plays at Rutgers on Tuesday night.

— Associated Press —