North Texas @ Nebraska preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 29, 2006 ) North Texas 57, Nebraska 76

Coming off a 12-19 campaign - his worst in five seasons in Lincoln - Nebraska coach Tim Miles knew he needed somebody to step up this season after losing three starters, including All-Big Ten performer Tai Webster. After an impressive season debut in a victory over Eastern Illinois, 6-8 sophomore Isaiah Roby will look to stuff the stat sheet again when Nebraska hosts North Texas on Monday.

Roby, an athletic forward who averaged 3.1 points in 15 minutes as a freshman last season and played around a stress fracture to his pelvis and a high ankle sprain, had 11 points, 13 rebounds and six blocked shots - the most by a Nebraska player since 2005 - in 26 minutes off the bench in the opener. “Whatever he had for breakfast, he’s going to have again,” Miles told reporters when asked whether Roby can be more consistent this season. “I think he’s better because he is physically better. But that’s what you hope out of sophomores, is that consistency will go on. Roby is a guy that we definitely need, and he can really fill up a stat sheet, no doubt.” Roby provided much-needed help for junior point guard Glynn Watson Jr., who scored 17 of his game-high 21 points in the second half, as the Cornhuskers overcame a six-point deficit in the final 8 1/2 minutes to dispatch the Panthers. North Texas finished 8-22 last season, including a 2-16 mark in Conference USA, resulting in the departure of coach Tony Benford and the hiring off Texas native Grant McCasland.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, Big Ten Plus

ABOUT NORTH TEXAS (1-0): The Mean Green opened the season with a 122-65 rout of Division III foe Eureka College on Friday - scoring the third most points in school history. Sophomore newcomer Roosevelt Smart scored 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting in his first game for the Mean Green, and sophomore point guard Ryan Woolridge finished with 21 points, seven rebounds, four assists and five steals. Smart, a 6-3 guard, averaged 18.8 points at New Mexico Junior College last year while Woolridge averaged 9.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists for the Mean Green last season.

ABOUT NEBRASKA (1-0): The Cornhuskers shot just 38.6 percent from the field, but held EIU to 39.7 percent shooting, forced 16 turnovers and blocked nine shots. Evan Taylor and Miami (Fla.) transfer James Palmer Jr. had 12 points apiece while Jordy Tshimanga added a career-high 11 rebounds in 20 minutes. Isaac Copeland, a Georgetown transfer, started and added eight points on 4-of-6 shooting with five rebounds in 26 minutes.

TIP-INS

1. Roby’s right leg is a full inch shorter than his left.

2. Nebraska freshman G Thomas Allen, a top-100 recruit who originally committed to North Carolina State, converted 2-of-3 from beyond the arc and finished with six points and two assists in 16 minutes off the bench.

3. McCasland, who grew up 45 minutes from the North Texas campus and graduated and coached at Baylor, was 20-12 at Arkansas State last season in his one year as a head coach.

PREDICTION: Nebraska 86, North Texas 78