An even start and runs in both halves weren’t enough as the Huskers missed opportunities late to give themselves a chance at the win.
Neither team led by more than three early on, until Nebraska(7-11, 2-5 Big Ten) went on an 11-0 run to lead 23-14 at the 12:18 mark of the first half. The Huskers would then have a stretch of 4:40 without a field goal and Indiana(14-4, 4-3 Big Ten) used a 22-6 run to lead 46-41 at the half.
“Once we got cooking a little bit, we scored 46 in the first half, that carried over into the second half,” said Indiana coach Archie Miller. “I thought we pushed the ball. We were able to go inside. We had 21 assists, which I don’t think we’ve had 21 assists in any of the Big Ten games combined. We made some shots.”
Cam Mack scored 10 of the final 13 points of the half for Nebraska to get himself 17 points and five assists in the first 20 minutes.
“I think there’s maybe one or two players in college with the ability to pass the ball like Cam Mack passes the ball,” said Miller. “He’s not seeing the first read. He’s picking on your second and third guys with one-handed baseball passes on a dime. He’s a special passer.”
The Hoosiers came out strong in the second half, starting with a 16-2 run for their largest lead of the game 62-43 at the 15:02 mark. The Huskers would then use a 13-2 run while Indiana didn’t get a field for 8:07 of game time. During that stretch, Nebraska shot 5-for-11 and committed five of their 11 turnovers. In the middle of that, though, Nebraska the Huskers were on a field goal drought of their own.
“We were turning down some shots and that did lead to some turnovers,” said Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg. “When you have the shot when the offense presents an open look, you have to rise up with confidence and take those. We missed some really good looks early in the second half, and again what costs us was not getting back in transition you’re not going to make all of those.”
From the 8:28 mark to 1:32, Nebraska made just one field goal. That drought allowed Indiana to keep the edge around 10 points. In the final minute the Huskers closed the gap to six twice but on both offensive occasions Dachon Burke Jr. and Mack missed their three-point attempts.
“We just aren’t deep enough, talented enough right now to fight through those stretches,” said Hoiberg. “We certainly showed that we’re capable, but the overall consistency needs to get better and that’s where we have got to continue to grow and we’re going to teach and hopefully learn and get this thing to a point where we can give ourselves a chance by not going through those stretches.
“The overall consistency, some of that’s on me. Our guys got a little tired, that’s on me for not getting them out of there a little bit earlier to get a little bit of rest and then back on the floor.”
Indiana only made one field goal in the final 2:35 but held on for the 82-74 win.
The Hoosiers shot 50.8-percent for the game, including 8-for-26 from deep. The Huskers shot just 39.7-percent from the field while going 9-for-30 from beyond the arc.
Mack led the Huskers with 20 points and nine assists. Thorir Thorbjarnarson was also close to a double-double as he scored 13 points and grabbed a career high nine rebounds. Burke and Haanif Cheatham both reached double-figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Charlie Easley came off the bench for a career high eight points that included a pair of triples. Easley forced two turnovers late where the officials had to go to the monitor to check for possession.
“At the beginning of the second half we were too flat, and Charlie [Easley] came in and helped us a lot,” said Thorbjarnarson on his teammate. “He got us on the good run and we had some good stops in the second half, but it wasn’t enough.”
With the loss, the Huskers have now dropped three in a row for the second time this season.
Nebraska goes on the road twice this next week, going to Wisconsin(11-7, 4-3 Big Ten) January 21 and to Rutgers(13-4, 4-2) January 25. This will be the first meeting with the Badgers this season while the Scarlet Knights won 79-62 in Lincoln earlier this month.
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