Indiana basketball unravels in embarrassing loss to Nebraska

Posted by Admin December 14, 2024 Basketball

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Indiana basketball unraveled down the stretch at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Friday night in a 85-68 loss to Nebraska.

The game ended with a sold out crowd of Cornhuskers fans raining down “Hoosier daddy” chants as their team closed out the game on a 17-1 run over the final six-plus minutes.

Indiana’s last field goal came with 6:51 left in the game — it missed 12 straight field-goal attempts to end the game — and its last point of any kind was a free-throw with 3:08 to go against a Nebraska team that was coming off a 27-point loss to Michigan State.

The Hoosiers (8-3; 1-1 Big Ten) ended the game shooting just 35.4% from the field and 22.9% from 3-point range while Nebraska shot 61.2% from the field.

It was the first time the Cornhuskers shot better than 60% in a game since a win over Boston College on Nov. 30, 2022 and first time they did it against a conference opponent since a win over Northwestern on Feb. 3, 2015.

Indiana basketball PG Myles Rice can’t go it alone

Rice showed plenty of fire as he reeled off 13 straight points midway through the second half to keep it a one-possession game.

The Cornhuskers had a hard time dealing with Rice on both ends of the floor — he had two steals and drew a charge in the second half — and got TO the basket with ease when he drove through the lane.

It just wasn’t enough.

Rice had 14 points on 5 of 9 shooting in the half while the rest of the team combined for 13 points on 5 of 27 shooting (18.5%). The Hoosiers had a disastrous 3-point shooting performance and only managed 10 second chance points on 15 offensive rebounds.

While it was a breakout game of sorts for Rice — he scored 20 points for the first time since IU’s win over UNC Greensboro on Nov. 21 — he was held scoreless in the final 10:55.

Indiana basketball forward Mackenzie Mgbako fades away

Mgbako followed up an incredible block right under the basket early in the second half with a left-handed layup in transition.

The athleticism on display was a tantalizing reminder of the sophomore’s pro-level ceiling, but it was the first time he impacted the game in any significant way.

Mgbako picked up two fouls in less than 30 seconds to start the game and played just one minute in the first half. He went right back to the bench with 13:17 to go in the game after picking up his third foul.

The game against Nebraska was the third time in four games that Mgbako has played less than 25 minutes. He’s averaging just 8.0 points over the last four games after leading IU in scoring (17.2 points per game) in November.

Indiana can’t afford having its best 3-point shooter on the bench for more than half the game. He tied for the second-fewest minutes of his career (13) and only had two points.

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.