Starting 5: Women's Basketball at Nebraska

Tuesday, February 1

Lincoln, NE

8 PM ET

Rutgers University

Nebraska

Photo by: Rich Graessle

Jan 31 | Women's Basketball

Rutgers Game Notes Nebraska Game Notes Watch on B1G+Live Stats RutgersWBB Media Guide 2021-22

The five things to know before the Scarlet Knights tip-off against the Huskers on Thu., Jan. 20 at 8 p.m. ET at Pinnacle Bank Arena and live on B1G+

LINCOLN, Neb. - Rutgers women's basketball (7-15, 0-10) plays Nebraska (15-4, 4-4) on the road at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Tuesday, Feb. 1 at 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. CT) and live on B1G+. The game is a makeup from the previously scheduled Jan. 20 at Nebraska.

ON THE AIR

Watch on B1G+ (Larry Punteney & Jami Hagedorn)

The 5 Things to Know

1. THE SCOUT

Nebraska turned the tide on three straight losses - which included a pair of setbacks to top-25 Iowa around a seven-point loss at No. 6 Indiana - with two consecutive wins over Wisconsin and Purdue.
Alexis Markowski led Nebraska against Purdue with 23 points and seven rebounds to capture her fifth Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Week award on Monday. The 6-3 forward/center is averaging 19.3 points and 6.8 rebounds in six games as a starter and leads NU with 16.4 points per game in Big Ten play. She was the USBWA National Freshman of the Week (Jan. 11).
Returning All-Big Ten guard Sam Haiby has scored in double figures in all seven Big Ten games she has played this season and is averaging 11.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists on the year.
Jaz Shelley is the only Big Ten player to rank in the conference's top 20 in scoring (12.9 ppg), rebounding (7.6 rpg), assists (4.8 apg), blocks (1.3 bpg) and steals (1.9 spg).
Through games Jan. 30, the Huskers ranked among the top 25 teams nationally in scoring margin (7th, +19.8), scoring offense (7th, 81.2 ppg), three-point field goal percentage (11th, .370), assists per game (11th, 18.0 apg), assist-to-turnover ratio (12th, 1.27), defensive rebounds per game (13th, 29.9 rpg), field goal percentage (15th, .462), rebounds per game (18th, 42.9 rpg), three-point field goals made per game (18th, 8.9 pg), assists (21st, 342), three-point field goals made (23rd, 169) and blocked shots per game (24th, 4.9 bpg).

2. THE HEAD-TO-HEAD

3. 55 ALIVE & WELL

Rutgers has second best scoring defense in the Big Ten at 59.0 points allowed per game, trying to finish the season leading that conference category for a third consecutive year. The Scarlet Knights' pressure up front has led to a No. 3 conference ranking with 9.5 steals per game and the presence down low has RU ranked No. 4 in the B1G in blocked shots per game at 3.8.

4. ALL GLASS, NO BRAKES

Rutgers has equaled or outrebounded opponents in 18 of 22 games this season with an average margin of +6.0, which ranks third in the Big Ten, trailing Nebraska's +7.3 in second place. Osh Brown leads the RU effort with 9.0 per game, coming in fourth individually in the conference.

5. NEVER OUT

Rutgers erased a 21-point deficit to tie the game at Purdue before a heartbreaking Boilermaker buzzer-beater on Jan. 2, and in the last road game, shrunk a 15-point deficit at Northwestern to one in the final minute of play before Northwestern forced two turnovers to hold on for the win. The Scarlet Knights came back from 18-down in a victory over Harvard on Nov. 19, the second-largest comeback for a win in school history. Rutgers then shrunk an 18-point deficit down to two points in a close loss to DePaul in the Virgin Islands on Thanksgiving Day.

#Trending

• Lasha Petree made three 3-point field goals last time out against Michigan State, marking the fourth time this season with 3+ three-pointers in a game.

• Sayawni Lassiter is now ranked sixth in the Big Ten with her 1.8 steals per game.

• Tyia Singleton ranks seventh in the Big Ten with 1.1 swats per game.

• Osh Brown's 24 points against Ohio State marked a season-high and the third 20+ point game of the season for the grad transfer.

• Rutgers enjoyed its best three-point and free throw shooting performances of the season at Northwestern, connecting on 8-of-19 for 42 percent from beyond the arc and 13-of-14 (.929) from the stripe.

• Shug Dickson's eight assists against Wagner tied her career-high from March of last season when she played for Mizzou against Alabama.

• RU held opponents an average of 12.5 points under their season scoring averages over contests from Dec. 1 to Jan. 6.

• The Rutgers defense has held opponents under their scoring average in 38 of its last 41 games, and 125 of its last 136 dating back to 2017-18.

• Rutgers' 24 assists against Delaware State were the most in a game since 25 vs. Hampton on Dec. 18, 2020.

• Rutgers ranks 19th in the country in total steals (204) and 39th in total blocks (84). Its per-game marks (4.0 blocks and 9.7 steals are both top-four in the Big Ten).

• Osh Brown's 20-point, 20-rebound double-double vs. DePaul was Rutgers' first in a game since Betnijah Laney's 24-24 against UNC on Dec. 5, 2014 in a 2OT game (21-20 at the end of regulation). It fell two shy of Brown's career-high of 22 rebounds, set in the 2021 NCAA Tournament last season, a Ball State program record.

• Rutgers passed out 21 assists on its 22 field goals in the St. Peter's victory, setting a school modern-era record (since 2001-02) for the highest percentage of field goals assisted (95%).

• In the St. Peter's win, Rutgers forced its most turnovers by an opponent (34) since 38 against Penn State during the 2014-15 season.

• The nation's fourth-best steals per game team last season, Rutgers grabbed 21 steals in the 2021-22 season opener, the most since 22 at Wisconsin in Game 2 last season on Dec. 11, 2020.

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