Key takeaways from the Indiana basketball 85-68 loss to Nebraska

The Indiana basketball program suffered its first loss of Big Ten play — an 85-68 loss on the road to Nebraska on Friday night. The last four games against the Huskers have been four losses for Indiana, by 16, 15, 27 and then 17.

The Hoosiers split Big Ten play this week, winning at home on Monday against Minnesota.

Indiana, now 8-3 (1-1), have to reset with two more non-conference games until Big Ten play gets in full swing.

Here are the main takeaways from IU’s loss on Friday.

IU hunting 3s … too much. The most attempted 3s in nearly a decade: To start the game, this was a major positive. When was the last time Indiana was willing to attack opposing defenses from the perimeter? Never. After starting off on a good note, 5-of-8, IU went just 3-of-27 to end the game and was just 3-of-20 in the second half alone. While there were some good looks sprinkled in there, the guards fell in love with the 3 ball in the second half and either forced shots from the perimeter to keep pace with Nebraska, or took quick shots early in possessions. IU’s 35 attempted 3s were the most of the Mike Woodson era and 15 more than the previous season high. The 35 3s were the most from an Indiana basketball team in nearly a decade, since 2016 — when IU went 19-of-36 on Jan 19 against Illinois. While keeping the defense honest with additional looks from the perimeter, Indiana did way more damage to themselves than anything from three.

Indiana’s inability to defend a major issue: This is now a major concern for Indiana basketball and has been for most of the season. But, Friday night seemed to have hit a new low. Indiana’s inability to keep opponents out of the paint is clearly a weak point of this team and clearly has been the weak point in all of Mike Woodson’s defenses at IU. Without a consistent and legit shot blocker at the back of the defense, it’s going to be a nightmare — and it was on Friday. Nebraska got anything and everything it wanted at the rim and inside the paint. The Huskers shot 61.2 on the night and scored 1.250 points per possession. It was a string of issues that stemmed from Nebraska getting into the paint at will — leading to overhelping from IU and either open 3s or open dump off passes in the paint, with easy scoring opportunities at the rim. It was a masterclass from Nebraska on how to attack a struggling defense. On the night, Nebraska outscored IU in the paint, 36-24.

Myles Rice needs to be the focal point of the offense: Rice has been the go-to player at times, but the handcuffs seem to still be on a bit. After Friday, there’s no question he needs to be the focal point of the offense — in a scoring capacity. He’s so talented and difficult to defend when he’s getting downhill and attacking, with a mindset of score first, pass second. Mike Woodson wants him to be the opposite. Friday showed why he needs to attacking with scoring in mind. He finished with 20 points on 8-of-13 from the field, highlighted by 13 straight points in the second half when IU went down nine points, 58-49. His run made it 62-all and put life back into the Hoosiers. He ability to score at the rim opens up his perimeter play and when he gets a bucket or two under him, his defense starts to shine and he did just that on Friday, with numerous steals and looks in the open floor.

Kanaan Carlyle and Bryson Tucker really struggled. That can’t happen: Two of IU’s most dynamic potential offensive options struggled on Friday, and that just can’t happen. The duo of Carlyle and Tucker went a combined 2-of-16 from the field and 1-of-10 from 3. That duo is extremely important to the success of Indiana this season, and yes they’ll have some off nights, but they absolutely can’t be that inefficient from the floor together. Both players seemed to take some rushed shots and then pressed at times when they were in a bit of a slump. The biggest issue was both players played right into what Nebraska wanted — jump shots. Nebraska was the worst Big Ten team defensively in terms of % of points allowed from the free throw line coming into tonight. That pair had just two total free throw attempts.

2 key runs: It wasn’t all bad for Indiana — in fact, after a tough start, IU played extremely well for most of the game. But there were two runs that cost Indiana in the end. IU went without a field goal the final 4:09 of the first half and then was held scoreless the last 3:09 of the game. IU was outscored 18-4 in those two segments. Not to mention a 17-1 run for Nebraska the final 6:27 of the game — one point for Indiana the last 6+ minutes. That’s inexcusable in so many ways.

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