Bridger Finishes UNO Career As One of School's Bes
Mar 18, 2010 | General, Men's Basketball
OMAHA, Neb. - UNO senior guard #Andrew Bridger# said that he has always had a passion for the game, a passion forged very early in his life.
“I have to thank my dad for getting me into the game at a really young age,” Bridger said. “I was always outside playing basketball all the time and really developed an appreciation for the game.”
Before making the choice to bring his game to UNO, Bridger was a two-time all-conference and all-state selection at Lincoln Northeast High School. In his career at Northeast, he averaged 15.8 points and 3.8 assists per game, while shooting 81 percent from the free throw line. He also tied a school record hitting seven 3-pointers in a single game.
Highly recruited by UNO, Bridger said that his choice was not hard to make after learning about the tradition of the university's athletic program and coaching staff.
“The choice to go to UNO had a lot to do with the amount of interest that they showed in me throughout my junior and senior years in high school,” he said. “The coaching staff is great and this is such a great university….that really drew me in.”
In his four year career at UNO beginning in 2006, Bridger wrote his own chapter in the school's record books in several categories. He finished his Maverick career as the school's all-time assists-per-game leader with 4.9 and he's second with 506 total assists in his four years.
“It really means a lot to me….the things I have accomplished,” he said. “The most important things are what we have accomplished as a team because without my guys, anything I did really wouldn't mean much. It's just great that everything paid off through a lot of hard work.”
In addition to the assist record, Bridger is the school's fifth best in 3-pointers made (164) and sixth in steals (158). He ended his career fourth in free throws made with 304.
“It's been a pretty big focus for me personally in the last two years, especially in the summer and in the off-season,” he said. “Free throws can definitely determine the outcome of a game, and I have really worked hard to make sure that I am always ready at the line.”
With 1,128 points, Bridger is 13th all-time in points and is eighth in average points per game with 11.0. He's also third in games started (94) and sixth with 3,005 minutes played.
“I've always tried to help some of the younger guys make that transition from high school to the next level,” he said. “It can be a little different kind of experience, and I just go out there and give them tips or whatever I can to make them feel a little bit more comfortable.”
Bridger led the Mavs to a 2010 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association postseason tournament championship on March 7 before ending his career on March13 in the NCAA South Central Region tournament with a 75-71 loss to Tarleton State.
He also helped lead the Mavericks to a 2007-08 North Central Conference championship and UNO's first appearance in the NCAA tournament since 2004-05.
Bridger finished his career starting in 94 of 103 games played, averaging 29.2 minutes. He finished with a 3-point shooting percentage of .369, a field goal percentage of .417 and a .804 percentage from behind the free throw line, hitting 304 of 378. As a guard, he grabbed 246 rebounds and forced 279 turn overs.
“Coach (Derrin) Hansen has given me the confidence to go out there and lead the team,” he said. “The main thing I have learned from the coaches and players at UNO is a lot of details about the game. I would have to attribute my success to what my teammates and coaches have done for me along the way.”
