Hoosiers still stung by last-second loss at Nebraska last year

With the game on the line last season in Lincoln, Neb., senior guard Jordan Hulls uncharacteristically missed the front end of a one-and-one with IU clinging to a one-point lead against Nebraska.

Cornhusker Jorge Diaz hit both of his from the charity stripe with just nine seconds left and Hulls couldn’t connect on a last-second 3-point heave as the Hoosiers fell 70-69 in the team’s third straight loss.

Even with the success and praise the No. 1 Hoosiers have received since that tough loss in Lincoln last season, Hulls said the loss is still hard to swallow as the Hoosiers prepare to face Nebraska tonight, this time in Assembly Hall.

“The guys who were there last year and had to experience that loss — it left a bad taste in our mouths,” Hulls said. “We definitely don’t want to repeat that.”

IU lost in a similar fashion last week.

The team never quite closed out unranked Illinois on the road before Tyler Griffey rolled in a layup at the buzzer to take down the top-ranked team in the country.

IU Coach Tom Crean said even though his team comes into tonight’s matchup with Nebraska a much more mature and experienced basketball team, last-second losses still sting.

“We didn’t take care of business there (at
Nebraska),” Crean said. “We didn’t finish it off. We allowed them to get momentum back. We allowed them to get the crowd in it. That loss was very disappointing.

“It was a very tough locker room and a very tough trip home the next day. I think you remember those things.”

Crean also noted that just as the Hoosiers come into the team’s only matchup of this season a different team — one that was able to hold onto a No. 1 ranking even with a loss last week — so, too, do the Cornhuskers.

The Hoosiers will only see two players Wednesday that they battled last season in Lincoln. Seniors Dylan Talley and Brandon Ubel combined for 12 points and 13 rebounds in last year’s upset win.

But the game was largely dominated by Bo Spencer, who hit four 3-pointers and scored a game-high 23 points.  

Crean said although much of the Nebraska roster doesn’t have a large amount of in-game experience compared to IU’s, they’ve taken on a different style under first-year Coach Tim Miles.

The new style has improved a team that went just 4-14 in the Big Ten last season, Crean said.

Tonight, Crean said, the Hoosiers can not let the Cornhuskers dictate the pace of the game, a mistake that has arguably led to at least two of IU’s three losses this season.

“People don’t get up into them, and they can run their pace,” Crean said. “They get to shoot quick if they want to, and they can also take it down 25 or 30 seconds. That’s now how we play. We want to come out here and get after it, and we need our fans to do the same.

“They believe they’re tough, and I haven’t seen anything in film to make me believe they are not, so then it’s a matter of your team coming in and establishing that we’re going to build on our toughness.”

Junior guard Ray Gallegos leads the team in scoring with 13.3 points per game.

Talley and Ubel round out the trio of double figure scores for the Cornhuskers, averaging 13.1 and 11.9 points per game, respectively.