Indiana let a golden opportunity slip away.
The Hoosiers fell behind by seven early, but completely flipped the script over the course of the first half. IU outscored the No. 10 and undefeated Cornhuskers 32-16 over the final 13 minutes before halftime. And things got better after the break, as IU’s lead swelled to 51-35 with 16:54 left. But Indiana imploded from there, as Nebraska outscored them 48-26 the rest of the way.
Let’s take a deeper look at how Indiana lost 83-77 with our latest edition of The Report Card.
The Hoosiers (12-4, 3-2) will return to action on Tuesday when they travel to Michigan State.
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OFFENSE (B)
Indiana’s offense was generally good enough to win this game, save for the stretch in the second half.
Turnovers played a major role in Indiana giving away the lead. In particular, poor second half passing led to several live ball turnovers going the other way. IU had six turnovers in just over eight minutes, and in that span, a 55-45 lead became a 69-65 deficit.
“It’s a pretty simple deal. You take care of the basketball, you win the game,” IU coach Darian DeVries said. “We got that lead, and then we had, I don’t know, four out of five possessions I think we turned the ball over during a 10-0 run when we had the lead up to 16. That’s just something that you just can’t do if you’re going to beat a good team.”
Nebraska had 11 points off IU turnovers, and six came in that key second half stretch.
IU scored 1.15 points per possession. They’ve won every game this season when they’ve scored that much, and several games when they scored less. And it was the third most points per possession Nebraska has allowed this season.
DEFENSE (D)
Indiana’s defense broke down in the second half. Nebraska blitzed the Hoosiers for 1.24 points per possession, the second most IU has allowed this season. That’s particularly concerning because the high came two games ago against Washington, so the trend is not favorable.
In addition to getting layups off turnovers, Nebraska executed better on offense than Indiana on defense.
“I think the number one thing was just the paint touches they got, and then there was some high ball screens and things that we messed up some switches, which we did a good job of for a good part of the game,” DeVries said.
“Then second half we didn’t communicate that well enough, and they were able to get to the rim.”
IU did some things well. They didn’t send Nebraska to the line excessively, and didn’t give up too many offensive rebounds. They held Nebraska star Rienk Mast relatively in check.
But Nebraska shot 57.6% from two, 41.2% from three (with 14 makes), and only had eight turnovers. And the Hoosiers completely lost track of Jamarques Lawrence, who went off for 27 points. IU won’t won’t win many games with numbers like that.
MORE GAME COVERAGE
- Watch: Darian DeVries discusses loss to Nebraska
- Three reasons Indiana men’s basketball lost to Nebraska, highlights, stats, quotes
THE PLAYERS (*starters)
*Tucker DeVries (B-) The game flipped when DeVries picked up his third and fourth fouls early in the second half. Indiana was up 10 when he left, down 2 when he returned. The calls were silly in how they contrasted, but foul trouble for DeVries is a larger trend. Indiana can’t afford to have him on the bench. He proved that with his 29 minutes on the court.
*Lamar Wilkerson (B+) Wilkerson was the primary reason Indiana took the big lead, but he was obviously on the court when the Hoosiers gave it all away. Nebraska’s guards and wings caused most of the trouble for IU’s defense, and he was on plenty of those assignments.
*Sam Alexis (D) It was a second straig ht game when Alexis failed to make an impact. His aggressive offensive putback showed intentionality about bringing more energy. But he had just one rebound and two turnovers in 10 minutes.
*Conor Enright (C) Enright wasn’t able to impact the game with scoring or facilitation in this one. And while you never doubt his effort, the defensive impact wasn’t up to what he’s capable of either.
*Tayton Conerway (C) Conerway never really got involved in the offense, and like everyone else, he wasn’t good enough on the other end.
Reed Bailey (B) This was Bailey’s best rebounding game as a Hoosier. And he was more efficient on the offensive end. He’s clearly earning the coach’s trust over the last couple games.
Trent Sisley (C) Sisley’s trademark sprinting, cutting and rebounding had no impact in this game. He hit a key first have three, but otherwise had a quiet afternoon.
Nick Dorn (B-) Dorn continues to shoot the ball at a nice clip, but he didn’t impact the game in a major way otherwise.
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Jasai Miles, Aleksa Ristic and Andrej Acimovic did not play — coaches decision.
Jason Drake and Josh Harris were out with injuries.
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