Nebraska Basketball defeats Iowa in tremendous upset
Nebraska Basketball pulled off the upset at The Vault on Tuesday.
All season long, you have heard me talk about and peaks and valleys for Nebraska Basketball. Tuesday night was definitely one of the high points of the season. In what was a hard-fought contest, the Huskers beat Iowa by a 76-70 score.
The first half was a big one for Nebraska. They were able to set the tone, thanks in part to Iowa’s poor shooting. In particular, it seemed like the Hawkeyes couldn’t do anything from beyond the arc. They went two-of-19 in the half. Looking at the statistics, that was definitely the biggest outlier between the two programs. They were pretty much even in every other aspect. Perhaps an encouraging statistic was the fact that Nebraska was outrebounded by only one rebound. Iowa led that category by a 20-19 margin.
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Even still, Iowa never led in the half. Nebraska held the lead in the half for 18:36. Speaking of success from behind the arc, Nebraska went seven-of-16 in the half. That was good for 43.8%. As the buzzer rang at Pinnacle Bank, the Cornhuskers led by a 38-31 margin.
Nebraska Basketball did not rely on the three-point shot so much in the second half. They went three-of-10, which certainly wasn’t ideal. However, Iowa was two-of-14. What separated the two programs in the half was their ability to get to the line. Nebraska had success at the free-throw line, something that had been elusive at times this season. They went 11-of-20, which was good enough for a 55% conversion rate. Nebraska was actually dominated on the glass in this half, with Iowa controlling the rebounding margin by a 28-15 tally. In particular, offensive rebounding was troublesome for Nebraska. They were outrebounded by the Hawkeyes 14-4 in that category.
Nebraska Basketball got contributions from everybody Tuesday night. Thor was the leader in the points department with 17. Cam Mack him had 15, in what is becoming a nightly solid performance from him. We have now begun to expect that he will play well every single time he steps on the floor. Haanif Cheatham chipped in 14 points while Kevin Cross recorded 11. It was a great performance for everybody involved, and this was a signature win against Iowa, it’s always great when Nebraska beats Iowa, and they did that Tuesday night. Hopefully, they can keep this momentum going when they take on Northwestern. Tipoff for the game is at 4:30 p.m. ET and can be seen on the Big Ten Network.