Death, taxes and the Nebraska Cornhuskers basketball team playing absurdly poorly on the road.
While Husker fans try to prepare themselves for a team that simply cannot find a winning formula away from the PBA, the way NU has played in the early going so far this year is arguably worse than usual. That includes Sunday afternoon’s obliteration at the hands of the Purdue Boilermakers.
The Nebraska Cornhuskers were coming off an ugly overtime loss to Iowa and hoping to rebound. Instead, Fred Hoiberg’s squad looked like the same team that showed up in the second half against the Hawkeyes. A team that blow what was at one point a 15-point lead. A team that managed to just barely tie Iowa to go to OT and then show very little fight in extra time. This time, that team lost 104-68.
Nebraska Cornhuskers basketball suffers another blowout loss on the road
Unlike the game against Iowa, NU was never really in it against No. 20 Purdue. They were down 45-28 at the half and were then outscored 59-40 after the break. That marks the second time this season in three Big Ten road games that Nebrasketball has been beaten by more than 30 points.
The first was their conference opener against Michigan State.
It’s not just that Nebraska is once again completely incapable of winning (or even putting up a fight more often than not) on the road, its that a defense that was lauded as among the best in the nation just a week ago, has played absolutely awful for the last 60 minutes of game time.
Iowa’s comeback was spurred by Payton Sandfort scoring all 30 of his points in the second half and halftime. That scoring was thanks to shooting 6-for-10 from beyond the arc. He was joined that night by Josh Dix, who scored 31 thanks in large part to 7-of-10 from 3-point land. Iowa shot 17-of-35 from deep as a team.
Purdue continued raining down threes, going 19-for-33 (57.6%) from beyond the arc. The Boilermakers also shot 63.1% from the field. Just in case you were wondering if the perimeter defense was simply because NU had closed off the lane a little too emphatically.
If you want to add insult to injury, keep in mind that the Nebraska Cornhuskers 8-point win over then-No. 15 UCLA was the closest loss for the Bruins in a three game skid that saw them lose at home to MIchigan by 19 followed by an 18-point loss at Maryland. The Huskers need to right the ship, and they’re going to need to do it quickly.