Hoosiers “Tominaga’d” by Huskers

Keisei Tominaga scored a season high 28 points to lead Nebraska. The Senior from Japan went 9-15 from the field, 4-10 from three-point range and 6-7 from the free throw line along with a rebound and assist. Tominaga scored 18 points in the second half and his parents along with his sister made the trip from Japan to see him play and once he got going, he was hard to stop. Brice Williams added 15 points, Jamarques Lawrence scored 12 points and C.J. Wilcher added 11 points off the Bench.  The Huskers finished 27-59 from the field for 45%, 12-32 from three-point range for 37% and 20-26 from the free throw line for 77%. Nebraska pulled down 29 rebounds, dished out 15 assists, 15 steals, no blocks and committed 8 turnovers. The Huskers were locked in on the defensive end as the Hoosiers committed 19 turnovers and got Freshman Mackenize Mgbako in foul trouble as he picked up two fouls in the first 4 minutes and 39 seconds of the game.

Kel’el Ware led the Hoosiers with 20 points and 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. Ware missed the Kennesaw State game with a COVID-19 Illness, but he was able to make his presence felt early scoring the first basket of the game and catching the ball in traffic and being able to finish. Malik Reneau scored 14 points and pulled down 6 rebounds and Trey Galloway added 10 points. Sixth year Senior Xavier Johnson returned for the first time since injuring his foot in November against Harvard in Indianapolis. Johnson started and played 14 minutes as he did not score with 3 assists, 2 rebounds, an assist but committed 4 turnovers. Freshman Gabe Cupps played 26 minutes off the bench scoring 5 points, dishing out 3 assists and did not commit a turnover for the second game in a row and fifth time this season.

The Hoosiers finished the game 24-51 from the field for 47%, 9-18 from three-point range for 50% and 13-19 from the free throw line for 68%. The Hoosiers pulled down 36 rebounds, dished out 19 assists, 5 steals and 2 blocks. Indiana was settling for shots early and forcing passes as the turnovers added up early and the foul trouble started in the first half with Mgbako and Reneau picking up two fouls in the first half. The Hoosiers led 9-4 with 17:01 left in the first half. The Huskers led 11-9 with 15:21 left using a 7-0 run as Trey Galloway’s layup with 14:52 left tied the game at 11-11. The Hoosiers took the lead 13-11 as Galloway scored on a jumper but Juwan Gray tied the game at 13-13 with 13:51 left as Nebraska took the lead on a Sam Hoiberg layup and outscored the Hoosiers 29-18 the rest of the half with Nebraska leading 44-31 going into the locker room.

The Cornhuskers outscored Indiana 45-37 in the second half and never trailed the rest of the way. Nebraska led by 11 points with 19:11 left and Indiana got within eight points on a Malik Reneau Three pointer with 13:12 left to make it 55-47. Brice Williams drained a three pointer to put the Huskers up 11 with 12:48 left and the Hoosiers could not cut the deficit.  Nebraska led by 20 points 73-53 at the 6:59 mark and increased the lead to 22 points after Tominaga made a layup with 5:23 left to make it 80-58. Indiana Head Coach Mike Woodson said on his post-game radio interview with Voice of the Hoosiers Don Fischer “I always make it clear when we go on the road, you got to defend and not turn it over and It was the opposite”.   Indiana will have a quick turnaround Saturday Night facing an Ohio State team who held on to beat Rutgers 76-72 Wednesday Night in Columbus.