As Indiana basketball’s team defense seemed to have turned the corner from a rough showing in The Bahamas, Nebraska put on a shooting clinic, handing Indiana its first conference loss.
Although the defense had its moments, Nebraska’s ability to make shots down the stretch ultimately led to the Hoosiers’ fourth consecutive loss to the Cornhuskers and third in the calendar year.
Indiana couldn’t stop the Cornhusker offense from the start in its 85-68 loss on Friday night. The Huskers immediately put the Indiana defense on the ropes with a fast 13-3 start, making its first seven attempts from the field.
“We had no defensive presence to start the game,” Indiana head coach Mike Woodson said postgame. “you have to establish yourself from a defensive standpoint.”
In its first conference game against Michigan State last weekend, Nebraska only mustered up 52 points in a 37-point defeat in East Lansing to the Spartans. Having a full week to prepare, Indiana became Fred Hoiberg’s team’s ‘get-right game.’
Nebraska used Indiana’s defensive miscues to its advantage, hitting shots at a stellar 61.2% rate from the field. Of its 30 made field goals, the Cornhuskers made 8-of-14 shots from deep, good enough for 57%.
Miscommunication on defense has plagued the Hoosiers all season long and tonight was no different as Indiana looked lost at times defensively, especially on screens both on and off the ball.
Even when Indiana played better defense, Nebraska found its way downhill toward the basket and converted on contested shots.
Nebraska saw shots fall early, giving the Cornhuskers the confidence to make even the toughest of shots later in the game.
“They made tough shots,” Woodson said. “But we have to better defensively.”
Nebraska guard Brice Williams once again had a tremendous game against the Hoosiers. After averaging 18.7 points per game in Nebraska’s three wins against Indiana last season, Williams scored a season-high 30 points on 10-of-15 shooting.
"Getting downhill, getting to the free throw line. He made a couple of tough shots,” Woodson said, “once he got going, he was tough to shut down.”
While the offense collapsed in the game’s waning minutes, so did the defense. After tying the game at 62 with just over nine minutes left in the game. Williams took over while Indiana could not buy a stop defensively. Williams finished with 16 second-half points as Nebraska finished the game on a 23-4 run, making 7 of its final 10 shots, a direct indictment of how poor Indiana’s defense was in the game’s final minutes.
“Tonight [Nebraska] had it both ways,” Woodson said. “They made shots and we weren’t very good defensively.”
Luckily for Woodson and Indiana, there will be plenty of time to resolve and clean up defensive struggles before the next conference game. The Hoosiers will host Chattanooga and Winthrop over the holiday break before restarting Big Ten play on January 2nd.
“We just gotta keep working to get it fixed, especially because it’s tough winning on the road in the Big Ten.”
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