Nebraska Basketball: Huskers can right the ship by upsetting Wisconsin

Nebraska basketball faces a big test at home against Wisconsin Tuesday night, but if the Huskers can win, it might just save their season.

Things have not gone well recently for the Nebraska basketball team, as just a couple of weeks ago, the Huskers looked like a strong bet for the NCAA tournament.

The high point for Nebraska basketball came after a road win at Indiana when the Huskers improved to 3-3 in the Big Ten. Since then, Nebraska has fallen to Michigan State, Rutgers and most recently Ohio State.

The loss to Michigan State really stung because Nebraska could have won the game, however, it shot just 32 percent from the field and went 5-of-26 from 3-point range. Against Ohio State, the Huskers also shot 36 percent from the field and while they were 8-of-22 from three, another poor shooting effort cost them dearly.

While the offense has been falling off recently, the defense has also struggled. In the last three games, Nebraska has allowed more than 70 points or more and according to Kenpom, the Huskers defensive efficiency has dropped all the way to 36th, even though they still allow an average of just 62.5 points per game.

On top of all that, Nebraska will also have to finish the 2018-19 season without one of their star seniors Isaac Copeland, who suffered a catastrophic knee injury against Ohio State. According to the Lincoln Journal Star, the Huskers will put Tanner Borchardt into the starting lineup and he will take over the center position, while Isaiah Roby will move down to power forward, joining James Palmer, Thomas Allen and Glynn Watson.

Obviously, moving Borchardt into the starting lineup will impact the depth of the Huskers, who will need guys like Nana Akenten and Amir Harris to step up, especially Akenten who can be dynamic. He scored in double figures twice during the first four games but hasn’t since, so he will need to recapture that.

Not long ago, Wisconsin was in a similar position to the Huskers. The Badgers lost four of five games before upsetting second-ranked Michigan and now, the Badgers will come into the Vault tonight sporting a three-game winning streak.

At 3-6 in the Big Ten, the Huskers have little room for error and even without Copeland, the Huskers are the favorite tonight according to Vegas against No. 24 Wisconsin and if Nebraska is going to make a run at the NCAA tournament, it might be a must-win game.

Despite some solid non-conference wins over Creighton, Seton Hall and Clemson, the Huskers probably need to finish 10-10 in the league to make the tourney and unless they beat Wisconsin tonight, it’s hard to see that happening.

A 6-4 record over the final 10 games still seems like a challenge, but having to go 7-3 against a schedule that features  road trips to Illinois, Purdue (No.17), Penn State, Michigan (No. 5) and Michigan State, as well as home games against Maryland (No. 21), Minnesota, Northwestern, Purdue and Iowa, seems like an impossible task.

Even finding six wins during that stretch will be difficult. So if the Huskers are going to save their season, it needs to start tonight.