Despite the setbacks placed upon the Hoosiers from their recent two road losses, IU Head Coach Archie Miller is playing the role of optimist.
In the aftermath of IU’s second-straight Big Ten loss, a 78-75 Friday night defeat at Maryland, Miller told reporters his team got better in the five-day window between that game and IU’s previous defeat at Michigan.
“It’s early January," Miller said. "Right now you’re going through a really brutal stretch in the league. Now the quest will be to continue to get better from Friday."
With a 12-4 overall record and a 3-2 mark in Big Ten games, IU has the chance to snap their losing skid at home Monday night against a Nebraska team also looking to gain confidence in conference play.
The Cornhuskers bring a 12-4 overall record into Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, but Nebraska’s 2-3 Big Ten record only features wins against the conference’s two worst teams — Illinois and Penn State. Similarly to IU, Nebraska has done most of its winning this season at home, posting a perfect 9-0 record at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln while struggling on the road.
Nebraska is 1-3 away from home, with its lone victory coming Nov. 26 at Clemson University. Since defeating Clemson, Nebraska has lost three straight road contests in conference play against Minnesota, Maryland and Iowa by an average of six points.
A Thursday night home win against Penn State stopped a two-game losing streak for Nebraska, and IU junior guard Devonte Green said IU’s mental approach to facing the Cornhuskers will be important.
“I think it’s just coming with a tough mindset,” Green told reporters after the Maryland loss. “Knowing that if we’re undersized we’re gonna have to work harder.”
The Hoosiers were outworked by Maryland’s front court players Friday as sophomore forward Bruno Fernando dominated around the basket, scoring a season-high 25 points and collecting 13 rebounds.
For Miller’s team, the challenge against the Cornhuskers will come farther from the hoop in trying to contain senior guard James Palmer Jr.
After averaging just more than 17 points per game last season, Palmer is averaging 19.5 points per game this season. This makes Palmer one of four Cornhuskers to average double-digit scoring each game.
He’s scored 26 or more points on four occasions and Palmer has led his team in scoring nine times this season.
Much like his IU counterpart in Green, Palmer has struggled to balance assists and turnovers. In five games this season, Palmer has committed at least four turnovers, and he averages two turnovers per game compared to three assists.
But it’s the shotmaking and driving ability of the 6-foot-6-inch Palmer that concerns Miller. Palmer’s field goal percentage has decreased from 44 percent last season to 40 percent this season, but he’s making 34 percent of his three-pointers, the fifth-best conversion rate for a Nebraska team that is very successful behind the arc.
The ever-important injury situation for the Hoosiers is also still unclear ahead of Monday’s game.
Freshman forwards Race Thompson and Jerome Hunter have shown no indication of returning to game action anytime soon, while Jake Forrester was available to play – but didn’t – against Maryland. Junior forward De’Ron Davis was a gametime decision against the Terrapins and played just four minutes, although postgame Miller said he probably shouldn’t have played the Park Hill, Colorado talent.
Perhaps the most important injury development for IU is the status of freshman guard Rob Phinisee. He played for the first time against Maryland since suffering a concussion Dec. 19, logging two points and two assists in 17 minutes.
After the game, Miller said Phinisee will hopefully feel good and can soon return to the on-court consistency he had before the injury.
Regardless of whether the Hoosiers have a full deployment of players on hand, the task for Miller and company will be to avoid a third-straight conference loss.
Tipoff between IU and Nebraska is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday in Bloomington.
