Nebraska “Husks” Indiana for 1st Big Ten Road Win 

The Indiana Hoosiers fell to the Nebraska Cornhuskers 85-70 in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall Wednesday Night. The Hoosiers have lost three in a row and four of the last five as they fall to 14-12 overall and 6-9 in the Big Ten and travel to Penn State on Saturday at Noon. Nebraska sweeps the season series with the Hoosiers as they improve to 19-8 and 9-7 in the Big Ten. Mike Woodson said on Tuesday with his meeting with the media that the Hoosiers needed to win all six games and for most of the game they looked uninspired and only in the second half did they decide to make a run, but Nebraska never trailed and put the game away.

Mackenize Mgbako followed his 20-point performance on Sunday against Northwestern with a new career high 22 points this evening. Kel’el Ware had 17 points and 12 rebounds for his 11th double-double of the season. Malik Reneau added 15 points. Trey Galloway scored 8 points, Gabe Cupps did not score and did not turn the ball over. CJ Gunn scored 6 points and Anthony Leal added 2 points off the bench as the Hoosiers used a 7-player rotation. Indiana finished the game 26-61 from the field for 42%, 4-21 from three-point range for 19% and 14-24 from the free throw line for 58%. The Hoosiers pulled down 37 rebounds, dished out 13 assists, 3 blocks, 3 steals and committed 10 turnovers. The Hoosiers had 38 points in the paint, 6 points off turnovers and 8 bench points.

Nebraska put four players in double figures led by Keisei Tominaga with 20 points, Brice Williams added 18 points, Juwan Gary added 15 and Jamarques Lawrence scored 19 off the bench. The Cornhuskers finished the game 31-63 from the field for 49%, 14-33 from the 3-point range for 42% and 9-14 from the free throw line for 64%. Nebraska pulled down 34 rebounds, dished out 19 assists, 5 steals, 1 block and committed 8 turnovers. The Cornhuskers had 23 points off the bench, 20 points in the paint and 15 points off turnovers.

The Hoosiers trailed 5-0 to start the game and Nebraska jumped out to 22-11 lead with 11:38 left in the first half. Indiana got within 9 twice but Nebraska extended the lead as they led 51-31 at halftime with the Student Section giving the Hoosiers a lot of boos going into the locker room. The Hoosiers made a run in the second half getting the Nebraska lead down to 3 points with 11:27 left down 59-56 after 25-8 run. Nebraska went up 10 with 8:47 left after a 6-0 run and the Hoosiers got no closer than 9 the rest of the game.

Tominaga scored 18 points in the first half with four three pointers and 7-10 from the field. Nebraska drilled nine three pointers in the first half, and it was the same old story for the Hoosiers with lack of hitting three pointers, free throws, lack of defensive intensity and giving up 51 first half points at home which Indiana head coach Mike Woodson knows is inexcusable. Indiana is down to five regular season game left and their chances for the postseason are slipping away with the losses piling up. The Hoosiers are a team that is struggling in all aspects, and it doesn’t look like there is enough time to fix it.