Quick thoughts on an 85-68 loss at Nebraska:
How it happened
After Nebraska raced to a 13-3 lead Friday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena, Indiana had an answer. The Hoosiers took the lead at 20-19 on a pair of Malik Reneau free throws with 11:37 to play in the first half and extended it to four on a Luke Goode 3-pointer at the 11:09 mark. Perimeter shooting had a big hand in Indiana getting back in the game. The Hoosiers splashed three triples during their 20-6 run to grab the lead. After Indiana led 35-32 on an Oumar Ballo jumper, the Huskers closed the half on a 12-6 run to grab a 44-41 halftime cushion. The Huskers shot a scorching 65.2 percent in the first half, including a 5-for-7 mark (71.4 percent) on 3s and scored 1.23 points per possession. Indiana didn’t shoot as well as Nebraska, but limited its turnover (four) and got to the line 14 times and posted a solid 1.14 points per possession in the opening 20 minutes.
The Huskers stretched the lead to nine at 58-49 on a putback by Juwan Gary with 13:44 left, but Myles Rice had an answer. The redshirt sophomore scored nine straight points to pull the Hoosiers within four at the under-12 media timeout. Two more buckets by Rice tied the game at 62 with 10:35 to play and after a bucket by Braxton Meah, Kanaan Carlyle’s pull-up jumper tied it at 64 with 9:57 left. The next four points went to the Huskers and the Hoosiers trailed 68-64 at the under-eight media timeout. After a Luke Goode 3-pointer got the Hoosiers within one, Nebraska got back-to-back buckets from Connor Essegian and Brice Williams to grab a 72-67 lead with 5:39 left. Williams stretched the run to 7-0 for Nebraska with a 3-pointer that made it 75-67 and a Juwan Gary triple followed to make it 78-67 Huskers and put the game out of reach.
Standout performer
Rice finished with a team-high 20 points on 8-for-13 shooting to go along with four steals, three rebounds and an assist in 28 minutes.
Statistics that stand out
The loss to the Huskers was Indiana’s fourth straight as a program. Each loss has come by at least 15 points. The Hoosiers shot 8-for-35 (22.9 percent on 3s) and only scored 10 second-chance points despite grabbing 15 offensive rebounds.
Final IU individual statistics
Final tempo-free statistics
Assembly Call postgame show
(Photo credit: IU Athletics)
Filed to: Nebraska Cornhuskers