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Thoughts on an 85-68 loss to the Cornhuskers:
Indiana did some of the things it needed to do to win on the road in the Big Ten.
The Hoosiers turned the ball over on just 13 percent of their possessions, a season-best mark. They rebounded more than a third (34 percent) of their misses. After a rough start inside a raucous Pinnacle Bank Arena, Indiana got down 13-3 early. However, the Hoosiers calmed down and battled back. They even grabbed a lead for a portion of the first half. As the storms kept coming, Indiana continued to weather them on the road in the Big Ten.
But Indiana just couldn’t get enough stops in this one.
The Cornhuskers scored 1.23 points per possession and posted an effective field goal percentage of 69. Nebraska made 8-of-14 (57 percent) from deep, 15-of-23 (65 percent) on dunks and layups and went 7-of-12 (58 percent) on other 2s. No matter where the Cornhuskers shot from tonight, there was a good chance the ball was going in the basket. According to Michael Niziolek, tonight was the first time Nebraska shot better than 60 percent from the floor in a conference game since a win against Northwestern on Feb. 3, 2015.
Brice Williams was terrific, leading all scorers with 30 points on 10-of-15 shooting. He also got to the line a ton (8-of-11) and dished out a game-high five assists. Juwan Gary (14 points), Conor Essegian (13 points) and Andrew Morgan (10 points) also scored in double-digits for the Cornhuskers.
Indiana’s offense tonight was quite different than usual. Nebraska has been allowing its opponents to shoot a high volume of 3-point shots so far this season. Indiana continued that trend tonight. The Hoosiers attempted 35 3-pointers, the most in a game in the Mike Woodson era. The Hoosiers started hot, making 5-of-8. But as the game wore along, the outside shooting cooled off in a big way. Indiana only made 3-of-27 (11.1 percent) the rest of the way and finished just 8-of-35 (22.9 percent) for the game.
While many have been dying for Indiana to take more 3-point shots under Woodson, tonight felt like too many. The Hoosiers attempted 53.8 percent of their shots from deep. Particularly at the beginning of the second half, Indiana seemed to just be chucking them up without much ball movement or offensive action. And despite Indiana’s strong offensive rebounding off all their misses, the Hoosiers mustered just 10 second-chance points.
Myles Rice was able to stem the tide by putting on a show in the second half. At one point, he scored 13 straight points for the Hoosiers. And despite the poor shooting from IU, this was a competitive, entertaining game. Indiana was down just one point at 68-67 with 6:51 to play after a Luke Goode 3-pointer. But from there, the bottom fell out. Indiana finished the game 1-of-18 from the field, allowing the Cornhuskers to close the game on a 17-1 run. The Hoosiers didn’t make a field goal after the Goode 3-pointer, as they missed shots from deep and at the basket.
What looked like an opportunity for Indiana to get a conference road win ended up as a fourth straight loss to Nebraska, each by 15 or more points. With Chattanooga and Winthrop up next, Indiana will not get a crack at another quality win until Big Ten play picks up again in the new year.
(Photo credit: IU Athletics)
Filed to: Nebraska Cornhuskers
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