Indiana men’s basketball ranks 30th in the country in points allowed per game, without its losses. Add those in, and the Hoosiers drop to 166th.
Indiana’s three losses have one commonality that jumps off the box score –– lackluster defensive performances. Head coach Mike Woodson’s team has allowed 85-plus points in each of its defeats, the latest such showing in the Hoosiers’ 85-68 loss to Nebraska on Friday night inside Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska.
“We gotta be better defensively,” Woodson said postgame. “They made shots, and we weren’t very good defensively.”
The numbers speak for themselves. The Cornhuskers shot 61.2% from the field and 8 –for 14 from beyond the arc as Indiana’s defense failed to find ways to create stops.
Defensive struggles were apparent from the start as Nebraska opened the game 7 –for 7 from the field. Senior guard Brice Williams entered the matchup as the Cornhuskers leading scorer and quickly established himself as matchup nightmare for Indiana.
After picking up two fouls in the first 33 seconds of play, sophomore forward Mackenzie Mgbako was replaced by freshman forward Bryson Tucker. Almost immediately, the veteran Williams took advantage of his new assignment and attacked off the dribble, scoring 8 of Nebraska’s first 10 points.
The Huntersville, North Carolina, native ended with a game-high 30 points, the most he’s had as a Cornhusker.
“Once he got going it was tough to shut him down,” Woodson said. “A lot of it was in isolation off the bounce. We gotta get better in that area too… defending off the dribble.”
Time after time Nebraska found high percentage looks and made a disconnected Indiana defense pay the price. One of the few places the Hoosiers found success on that end of the floor was the quick hands of redshirt sophomore guard Myles Rice.
Rice finished with four steals, two of which came on back-to-back first-half possessions and helped the Hoosiers erase an early 10-point deficit. While his ability to pick-pocket ball-handlers was effective, it wasn’t sustainable.
Ultimately, Indiana was able to stay within reach of the Cornhuskers well into the second half by equaling their offensive success. However, as soon as the Hoosiers offense became stagnant, the margin quickly ballooned out of reach.
Indiana scoring four points across the final nine and a half minutes of the game certainly didn’t help its chances of winning, but allowing uncontested looks from beyond the arc and points in the paint nullified them.
“We didn’t defend how we should have down the stretch,” Rice said.
Nebraska closed out the win by sinking seven of its final 10 shots from the field.
The disappointing loss evens Indiana’s record in conference play at 1-1 and serves as a glaring concern with the bulk of conference play rapidly approaching. Allowing opponents to shoot 50% from the field is reason for worry, but 60% is code red.
Indiana hasn’t allowed a team to shoot over 60% from the field since Jan. 26, 2017. That Hoosier squad went 18-16 overall and finished 10th in the Big Ten. Woodson knows the importance of emphasizing quality play on that side of the floor.
“I’m on these guys constantly,” Woodson said. “We work on defense. I know defense wins.”
Coaching is a start, but it all comes down to execution. Indiana didn’t execute defensively against Nebraska and lost yet again as a result.
Follow reporters Daniel Flick (@ByDanielFlick) and Quinn Richards (@Quinn_richa) and columnist Mateo Fuentes-Rohwer (@mateo_frohwer) for updates throughout the Indiana men’s basketball season.
