After delivering one of their best performances of the season to open up conference play earlier the week, the Indiana Hoosiers’ momentum quickly faded, ending the week with one of their worst collapses and a result that left much to be desired.
Indiana men’s basketball was handed its third loss this season at the hands of Nebraska on Friday night, falling to the Cornhuskers 85-68 in Lincoln.
The loss marked the Hoosiers’ fourth straight defeat to the Cornhuskers.
“We got to be better defensively,” Mike Woodson said. “I know defense wins, especially when you’re not making shots. It at least keeps you in the ball game and tonight, (Nebraska) had it both ways, you know. They made shots and weren’t very good defensively.”
Two minutes into the game, it looked like this game was already just about over for the cream and crimson. Nebraska’s Brice Williams scored six of the Cornhuskers’ eight points, while Indiana scored zero.
Along with defensive miscues, foul trouble was rearing its head early for the Hoosiers. Mackenzie Mgbako picked up back-to-back fouls in the first 30 seconds of the game and would not return for the remainder of the first half. Both teams racked up a total of nineteen fouls in the first 20 minutes of play alone.
Indiana then turned to its perimeter production. Heading into Friday night’s matchup, Nebraska ranked at the eighth team in the nation in 3-point field goals allowed.
Early on, it was clear what Mike Woodson’s strategy would be for the night, as Trey Galloway drained IU’s first points of the night with a 3-pointer. Just six minutes later, that game plan was working, as Luke Goode knocked down the Hoosiers’ fourth made 3 in the first half to give Indiana the four-point lead.
Indiana concluded the half outscoring the Cornhuskers 41-36 and headed into halftime down by three.
But as has often been the case for the Hoosiers this season, it was a tale of two halves.
Despite a 13-point run all at the hands of Myles Rice, Indiana played one of its worst halves all season.
Just about at the halfway mark of the second half, a Rice steal and wide open layup tied the game up at 62, putting Rice at 20 points on the night.
Following that run, however, Nebraska went on a run of its own. The Cornhuskers closed out the game on a 23-6 stretch.
The Hoosiers shot 2-for-19 from the field in their final 10 minutes of play, and failed to knock down a single field goal in the last seven minutes of play.
“We took a couple shots that was probably out of rhythm, and we didn’t play how we should have down the stretch,” Rice said. “That’s a recipe for disaster when you put both those together. We just got to be better going down the stretch and continue playing as a team.”
Indiana concluded the night shooting 8-for-35 (23%) from the 3-point line, the most 3-pointers attempted in Woodson’s tenure as the Hoosiers’ head coach. Those struggles exemplified in the second half, where the Hoosiers shot 3-for-20 (15%) from beyond the arc.
Heading into Lincoln, Indiana had averaged 17 3-point attempts per game. However, Woodson made clear that it wasn’t the intent for the Hoosiers to reach its season high in 3-point attempts.
“I thought it played out that way,” Woodson said. “We had good looks. Just didn’t make them. You could take 30, 40, 50 3’s, you gotta step up and make them when you take them.”
Ultimately, it was defensive lapses, shooting woes, and self-inflicted wounds that handed the Hoosiers their first conference loss of the season.,
Next up, the Hoosiers will take some time off to regroup and prepare for their final stretch of non-conference play. Indiana will tip off against Chattanooga on Dec. 21 at noon, back at Assembly Hall.
