Remember when the Nebraska basketball and Nebraska football teams couldn’t ever find a way to beat Iowa? It appears that those struggles are a thing of the past. At least for a little while.
On Sunday afternoon, a Huskers squad that came into the matchup against the Hawkeyes as 11.5-point dogs found a way to not only beat the hated rivals but swept the season series.
And when I say they found a way. I mean it. That was a weird, weird game. There were times when the Nebraska basketball team looked absolutely lost, especially on defense. However, Hoiberg’s Heroes managed to put together one of their best offensive games of the year and scored just enough to outpace Fran McCaffrey’s squad.
In the 81-77 win, the Huskers shot 58.5 percent from the field. They shot an insane 53.5 percent from beyond the 3-point line. And they did that despite the man who carried the Nebraska basketball team so often down the stretch not really contributing.
Keisei Tominaga was just 5-for-9 and 1-for-4 from deep. In his place, Jamarques Lawrence, a freshman who looks like he could be a real weapon for the Cornhuskers next season, went 5-for-8 from 3 and scored 15 points. It was the second straight time Lawrence scored 15, and third straight game he scored in double digits. He had just three games where he scored 11 or more all season, entering February.
CJ Wilcher, too stepped up big after what has been a rather disappointing sophomore season. He added 12 points and went 2-for-4 shooting from beyond the arc.
That offensive performance overcame a defense that allowed Patrick McCaffrey, a player that came into the game averaging 9.5 points per game, to score 23 thanks to 6-for-10 shooting from three range. The Nebraska basketball team turned it over a whopping 15 times. They allowed Iowa to haul down an astounding 21 offensive boards. And yet, Iowa is 0-2 against the Cornhuskers this basketball season.
Pair that with the Nebraska football win that ruined Iowa’s chance to go to the Big Ten title game, and it’s been a special kind of ownage. The Huskers haven’t swept Iowa in basketball since they joined the B1G.
Now we get to see if they can continue what has mostly been a hot streak for Nebraska basketball.