Hoosiers lose late lead at Nebraska for third straight loss

Nine days ago, the IU men’s basketball team was celebrating its first top-10 ranking in the Tom Crean era.

Now, the Hoosiers (15-4, 3-4) dropped their third straight game Wednesday, this time a 70-69 loss at Nebraska (10-8, 2-5) after IU carried an 11-point lead with 6:38 to play.
“We’ve got to learn how to put somebody away when we’ve got it,” IU Coach Tom Crean said. “We didn’t do as good a job with that.”

IU carried a lead for all but the final 11 seconds of the second half and even led by as many as 13 with 15:08 to go after a dunk by freshman forward Cody Zeller.

But two free-throws from Nebraska center Jorge Brian Diaz, gave the Cornhuskers their first win against a ranked opponent this season.

With a chance to take the lead in the final seconds, junior guard Jordan Hulls forced a contested shot in the lane, and Nebraska had the defensive stop it needed. Similar to IU fans after the Hoosiers beat then-No. 1 Kentucky on Dec. 10, Nebraska fans rushed the court.

Crean said it was a crushing blow after IU led for most of the game.

“We’ve got a lot of really, really disappointed guys in there, and I’m not going to let that last long,” Crean said. “As I told them, disappointment — that’s inevitable. Discouragement, that’s on us, and we’re not getting discouraged.”

IU had nothing to be discouraged about after a first half in which it led 41-34 thanks to 56 percent (5-of-9) 3-point shooting.

In addition to fueling the offensive attack from the outside, the Hoosiers also got contributions on the interior. Zeller led the Hoosiers with 10 first-half points.

The freshman big man wasted little time starting back up in the second half, scoring six points in the first five minutes to give IU a 13-point lead.

Then it all went south.

Nebraska chipped away at IU’s lead but struggled to break through a seven-point deficit. Every time the Cornhuskers went on a run, IU answered.

But Nebraska rattled off three 3-pointers to close the gap. Senior guard Bo Spencer, who led all scorers with 23 points, knocked down a pair of 3-pointers, and senior guard Toney McCray also hit two 3’s to get Nebraska within three.

Though it was the deep ball that kept Nebraska in it, Crean said it was a product of IU not stopping the inside-out game.

“The thing that bothers me about our defense is that we gave up much too much middle penetration,” Crean said.

IU allowed 18 points in the final 6:02 to squander its once-double-digit lead. Crean said it was a product of IU giving the basketball away.

“We’re not taking care of the ball well enough,” Crean said. “We’re really not. We’ve got to continue to try and make the right decisions. We made a couple of boneheaded mistakes with the basketball that you just cannot make.”
After only five first-half turnovers, IU had 10 in the second half.

Crean said IU’s inability to care of the ball down the stretch could result in some lineup changes.

“There’s too many times, especially with the turnovers that don’t make any sense,” Crean said. “There’s no way to defend them. That’s where some hard decisions may come on minutes and situations like that because we just can’t have them.”

For IU, it’s another loss to an unranked team. A three-game losing streak is likely not what the Hoosiers envisioned when they were 3-1 in conference this past Sunday after a win at Penn State. But now, IU will face those same Nittany Lions this Sunday at Assembly Hall.

Crean had a simple message for IU fans following the last-minute loss.
“Don’t panic,” Crean said. “Stay behind these guys in a big way.”