Quick thoughts on the 85-68 loss at Nebraska:

How it happened

After Nebraska built a 13-3 lead Friday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena, Indiana had an answer. The Hoosiers took a 20-19 lead on two free throws from Malik Reneau with 11:37 left in the first half and extended it to four with a three-pointer from Luke Goode at 11:09. Outside shooting played a big role for Indiana as it got back into the game. The Hoosiers hit three triples during their 20-6 run to take the lead. After Indiana led 35-32 on a jumper by Oumar Ballo, the Huskers ended the half with a 12-6 run to secure a 44-41 halftime lead. The Huskers shot a stellar 65.2 percent in the first half, including a 5-for-7 mark (71.4 percent) on threes, and scored 1.23 points per possession. Indiana didn’t shoot as well as Nebraska, but it limited its turnovers (four), got to the line 14 times and scored a solid 1.14 points per possession in the first 20 minutes.

The Huskers extended their lead to 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 to a four-point lead at the 12-and-under media timeout. Two more shots from Rice tied the game at 62 with 10:35 to play, and after a basket by Braxton Meah, Kanaan Carlyle’s pull-up jumper tied the score at 64 with 9:57 left. The next four points went to the Huskers and the Hoosiers trailed 68-64 at the U8 media timeout. After a 3-pointer from Luke Goode brought the Hoosiers within one point, Nebraska got back-to-back shots from Connor Essegian and Brice Williams to take a 72-67 lead with 5:39 left. Williams extended Nebraska’s run to 7-0 with a 3-pointer that made the score 75-67, followed by a triple from Juwan Gary that made the Huskers’ score 78-67, and put the game out of reach.

Outstanding artist

Rice finished the game with a team-high 20 points on 8-for-13 shooting, along with four steals, three rebounds and one assist in 28 minutes.

Statistics that stand out

The loss to the Huskers was Indiana’s fourth straight loss. Each loss was at least 15 points. The Hoosiers shot 8 of 35 (22.9 percent on 3s) and scored just 10 second-chance points despite grabbing 15 offensive rebounds.

Final IU individual stats

Final pace-free statistics

Call for a meeting after the game

(Image credit: IU Athletics)

Submitted to: Nebraska Cornhuskers