Nebraska Basketball vs. Mississippi State for Hurricane Relief

Nebraska will play Mississippi State in an exhibition game this upcoming Sunday, October 22nd in Starkville, Mississippi. The game will start at 1:00pm CST.

The game will be free to the public with opportunities for those attending to donate to the Mississippi State Relief Fund and the Salvation Army.

From the Athletic Department:

Nebraska and Mississippi State together sought and received a waiver from the NCAA to play the extra exhibition game with the sole purpose to benefit hurricane victims. While admission is free for Sunday’s game, representatives from the MSU Student Relief Fund and the Salvation Army will be collecting monetary donations to benefit Hurricane Irma relief efforts.

“Hurricane Irma was a devastating storm which affected many people in the Southeast and in the Caribbean,” Nebraska Coach Tim Miles said. “Our goal is that we can raise a lot of money for those who need it and have a great time competing against Coach (Ben) Howland and his team. It is a great platform for our two programs to raise awareness and help people in need. We look forward to Sunday afternoon and it should be an exciting game.”

“This is a great opportunity to help so many people in need who were affected by the hurricane,” MSU coach Ben Howland said. “Hurricane Irma was devastating, and our hearts and prayers have been with everyone as they have dealt with horrific and tragic loss. This is a chance for us to do our part in helping those in need.”

“I so appreciated Nebraska and Coach Miles for their incredible willingness to support this effort. It’s going to be a fun day for two Power 5 teams to play an exhibition game and get a head start on the season.”

Mississippi State returns four starters and 10 letterwinners from a team that went 16-16 last season for Howland, who enters his third year at Mississippi State.

Sunday’s game is a rare matchup between the two schools. In regular-season play, the two teams have met just once, with the Bulldogs claiming a 69-66 win in the Ford Far West Classic in Portland, Ore., in 1995.

Sunday’s game will be broadcast by the Husker Sports Network with Kent Pavelka on the call and available on Huskers.com and on the Huskers app. It will be made available to any of the HSN affiliates to carry.

Fans are encouraged to check with their local HSN affiliate to see if they are carrying Sunday’s game.

This is a great way for the Husker program to give back to those who have lost so much over the last few months. I can’t imagine something like this came together very easily in such a short amount of time. Both universities should be commended for putting the time in to pull this off.

Mississippi State is coming off a 16-16 (6-12 SEC) season last year and ended up 12th out of 14 teams in the SEC. They are coached by third year head coach Ben Howland.