Nebraska Basketball: Poor first half dooms team in loss
Nebraska Basketball could not get the job done.
Nebraska Basketball lost to Northwestern by a 62-57 score. However, there was a major reason why they lost. It had to do with their slow start in the first half. Nebraska was never able to recover after the slow start and that ultimately doomed them.
Nebraska Basketball was outscored by a 42-27 margin. They went 10-of-33 from the field and five-of-15 from beyond the arc. Even their free throw shooting was a struggle for them. They went two-of-six from the line. They played much better in the second half however. They outscored Northwestern by a 30-20 margin and shot 11-of-34 from the field. Nevertheless, the Wildcats had enough of a lead that if they made one big three-pointer or one shot, it was enough to just stretch the game out of reach.
Miller Kopp and Pat Spencer were a huge reason why Northwestern was able to have a ton of success. Kopp went 5 of-of-15 from the field and three-of-10 from behind the arc. Those aren’t fantastic numbers. However, it always seemed like cop made the big-time shot when it was needed. Spencer went six-of-12 from the field and two-of-three from beyond the arc.
Nebraska made a valiant come back in the second half for sure. However, it just wasn’t enough. Northwestern had a tremendous size advantage on Nebraska in the paint. Furthermore, they did a nice job of screening for their shooters. Many times, the shooters had open looks but they weren’t able to hit them. That seemed to be the theme for both teams on the afternoon.
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Slow first halves seem to be a problem for Nebraska this season. It certainly was on Saturday, as Northwestern was in full control of the game for most of it. Cam Mack led all Nebraska scorers with 11 points on the day, but it just wasn’t enough. After the huge win against Iowa earlier in the week, it would’ve been nice to continue the positive momentum against Northwestern. Nevertheless, Nebraska will have to go on the road against Ohio State in what is another big game for both teams.