Nebraska Basketball falters from 3-point line in loss against Michigan State

Nebraska basketball had a golden opportunity to upset Michigan State Thursday night. Unfortunately, the Huskers couldn’t buy a shot from 3-point range.

Nebraska basketball has been in search of a signature win all season, for two years in fact. And Thursday night, inside Pinnacle Bank Arena, the Huskers had the perfect opportunity to take down sixth-ranked Michigan State.

But in the end, the Huskers couldn’t seal the deal and why? Because Nebraska basketball couldn’t make a 3-pointer to save its life. The Huskers finished the game going 5-of-26 from deep, which included 15 straight misses in the second half as Michigan State left the Vault with a 70-64 win.

Outside of the missed 3-pointers, the Huskers played really well and they did it against one of the best teams in the country. Make no mistake, the Spartans are capable of winning not only the Big Ten but the national championship.

The win was Michigan State’s 19th consecutive in Big Ten play which is a new school record. That’s almost an entire Big Ten season without a loss, although they did lose to Michigan in the Big Ten tournament. Moral victories don’t matter but college hoops expert Andy Katz still likes Nebraska quite a bit.

Michigan State is an elite program and the Huskers went toe-to-toe with the Spartans. Nebraska basketball forced MSU into 15 turnovers while committing just nine itself. The Huskers held Michigan State to 43-percent shooting from the field and just 6-of-20 from beyond the arc.

In terms of offensive rebounds, Nebraska had 15 compared to 10 or Michigan State. In fact, when it was all said and done, the Huskers were only outrebounded by only four. James Palmer also scored 24 points and was 11-of-11 from the free throw line.

All those numbers point to a missed opportunity for Nebraska simply because it couldn’t make shots. When the final buzzer sounded, the Huskers shot just 32 percent from the field and were even worse (19.2 percent) on 3’s.

The defense was solid, the rebounding was good enough and with the turnover battle in their favor, it was the perfect recipe for an upset. However, one ingredient was missing and that was the 3-point shot.

If the Huskers were going to beat Michigan State, they were going to need to shoot the ball well. You just don’t knock off the No. 6 team in the country shooting 32 percent overall or making just 5-of-26 shots from beyond the arc.

This Nebraska team is built on defense, athleticism, 3-pointers and James Palmer. Some of those aspects were working quite well Thursday night. Yet, basketball is still about being able to put the ball in the hoop and when it mattered the most against Michigan State, the Huskers simply couldn’t do it.

And that’s why Nebraska basketball missed out on what could have been a season-changing win.