Nebraska will need a great effort on def
For much of the season, one of the biggest strengths for Nebraska basketball was the defense. But lately, it has really fallen off. Every Big Ten opponent has scored at least 60 points, two have reached 80 and three have been in the 70s. Heck, Iowa was seven points from 100.
Right now, in five Big Ten games, the Huskers are allowing teams to score an average of 75 points and opponents are also making nearly 40 percent of their 3-pointers against the Huskers, two numbers that just aren’t sustainable if Nebraska wants to beat the better teams.
At one time, it seemed like Nebraska basketball was going to be one of the better teams in the Big Ten, but now it just feels like this is a team trying to avoid the bubble again. Winning tonight would be a huge help but the defense has to show up.
Indiana isn’t a deep team and outside of Langford and Morgan, no one averages in double figures. When it comes to Langford, he has been a machine. He hasn’t scored fewer than 12 points in a game and he’s capable of 30 on any given night. Inside, Morgan is just as good and between the two, they average around 36 points a game.
As long as Nebraska basketball keeps them in that 35-40 range, the Huskers should be alright. The key will be containing the rest of the lineup and not giving up a bunch of 3’s. Simply put, Nebraska has to give up 65-70 points to have a shot to win this instead of 75-80 because if that happens, with Indiana’s defense, the Hoosiers will win.