The minute after: Nebraska – Inside the hall

thoughts about one 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. They rebounded more than a third (34 percent) of their misses. After a rough start inside a raucous Pinnacle Bank Arena, Indiana went down 13-3 early. However, the Hoosiers settled down and fought back. They even got a lead for part of the first half. While 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 game. possession and had 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-14 12 (58 percent ) on other 2’s. No matter where the Cornhuskers shot from tonight, there was a good chance the ball would go in the basket. According to Michael Niziolektonight marked the first time Nebraska shot better than 60 percent from the floor in a conference game since a win against Northwestern on February 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 figures for the Cornhuskers.

Indiana’s offense tonight was completely different than usual. Nebraska has allowed its opponents to shoot a large number of 3-pointers 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 progressed, the outside shooting cooled off in a big way. Indiana made just 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 longed 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. Especially at the beginning of the second half, Indiana just seemed to throw them up without much ball movement or offensive action. And despite Indiana’s strong offensive rebounding from all their misses, the Hoosiers mustered just 10 second-chance points.

Myles Rice was able to stem the flow 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 trailed by just one point at 68-67 with 6:51 left on 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 from the basket.

What looked like an opportunity for Indiana to pick up 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 won’t get a crack at another quality win until Big Ten play picks up again in the new year.

(Photo credit: IU Athletics)

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