Huskers get bullied, battered in 93-65 blowout loss at Rutgers

While Nebraska had dropped its past two games heading into Saturday’s road trip to Rutgers, it at least gave No. 13 Ohio State and No. 10 Michigan State all they could handle with solid effort and execution.

It was a completely different story in the Huskers’ 93-65 defeat in Piscataway, N.J., though, as the Scarlet Knights bullied NU on both ends of the floor all day in a game that wasn’t even close for the final 30 minutes.

Averaging just 68.6 points per game coming in, RU hadn’t scored more than 83 all season. The season-high 93 points for Rutgers, which came in averaging just 68.6 ppg, were 10 more than any opponent had allowed all year.

The day started OK for Nebraska, as it used a 7-0 run to jump out to an early 11-6 lead while Rutgers didn’t reach double-figure points until nearly seven minutes into the half.

But that effort quickly faded on both ends of the floor from there. The Scarlet Knights fired back with a 15-2 run to go up 25-16 and would hold that lead for the rest of the game.

Rutgers shot 51.6 percent from the field, scored 28 of its 44 points in the paint, and hauled in seven offensive rebounds in the first half.

The Scarlet Knights didn’t let off the gas in the second half and quickly pushed their lead up to 57-37 after the first four minutes.

That deficit would grow to as much as 30 before all was said and done, as RU shot 65.5 percent from the field, including hitting 8-of-10 3-pointers, in the second half and topped its previous season-high point total (83) with 5:38 still to play.

Rutgers ended up scoring 44 of its 93 points in the paint, owned a 37-21 rebounding advantage, and had 23 assists on 35 made baskets.

Ron Harper Jr. led the Scarlet Knights with 29 points on 8-of-13 shooting, and Paul Mulcahy posted a line of 10, seven rebounds, and eight assists.

Bryce McGowens led NU with 17 points, while Derrick Walker scored 12 and six rebounds. C.J. Wilcher chipped in 11 points off the bench.

1. That was embarrassing

Nebraska fans have been through a lot, especially the last two decades.

But the performance we saw from the Huskers against an above-average Rutgers team was somehow a new black eye for a program that has been beaten up more times than it can count.

It wasn't just a matter of NU missing shots and the Scarlet Knights having a breakout performance. It was that Fred Hoiberg's team looked utterly lost, overwhelmed, and uninspired in every facet.

Talent not living up to its perceived potential is merely a tiny part of the equation for what's happened to Nebraska this season. There is no identity on offense, and NU looks like it just doesn't care on defense.

There will be flashes of quality play, but those are always followed by extended stretches of complete ineptitude that spoil any chance of not only winning but even being remotely competitive.

The one thing you could say about the past two losses was that at least the Huskers fought and competed against consecutive top-13 opponents in Ohio State and Rutgers.

But we saw none of that on Saturday. Rutgers didn't do anything special, but Nebraska made everything far too easy for the Scarlet Knights to the point where they served up RU's best overall showing of the season on a platter.

What adds even more salt into the Huskers' wounds was that this game was supposed to be one of their best remaining opportunities for a Big Ten victory per KenPom. It was just a 25 percent chance, but of NU's remaining 15 games, only one is listed as higher than 38 percent (vs. Minnesota at 43%).

KenPom has the Huskers losing out the rest of the year, meaning the loss at Rutgers could be the tip of the iceberg for how bad things could eventually get.

"I hate it. I hate it for our fans. I hate it for the people that care," Hoiberg said during his postgame show on the Huskers Radio Network. "We've got to find a way to compete and be better. The last couple of games, you walk in the locker room, and I thought we played harder than the other team. Tonight, it wasn't the same."

2. Nebraska's defense is atrocious

So much has been made about how poorly Nebraska has shot the ball this season. But more often than not, its defense has been just as much of a problem.

That was the case on Saturday, as the Huskers looked disinterested in defending the paint from start to finish and let Rutgers have its way at the rim and on the boards all game.

It didn't help that NU racked up early fouls and had Derrick Walker and Lat Mayen, arguably its two best post defenders right now, watching from the bench for extended stretches.

But even when they were in Nebraska had no answers for the Scarlet Knights' aggressiveness and physicality with the basketball. That was even with 6-foot-11 starting RU center Cliff Omoruyi only playing 17 minutes after getting onto early foul trouble.

All of that isn't even to mention the numerous wide-open 3-point looks Nebraska allowed, especially in transition, because of lazy defensive rotations and close-outs.

We knew that, as usual, NU would be at a disadvantage more often than not with its lack of front-court size and depth. But it wouldn't matter how big or strong its roster was when it puts forth the type of effort we saw today.

"It's so disappointing to have that lack of competitiveness when things get difficult out there on the court," Hoiberg said. "You have no chance when you have - physically, mentally, we weren't there."

3. McGowens' offense was somewhat of a bright spot

McGowens was as guilty as anyone with how awful Nebraska was defensively, but he at least played with much better discipline and assertiveness on offense.

He came into today's game shooting 18-of-75 (24.0%) from 3-point range this season, including going 1-for-7 last time out at Michigan State. Many of those misses were results of poor shot selection, where he'd jack up deep threes early in possessions and miss badly.

To his credit, Saturday was a much different and drastically improved approach. McGowens played downhill with the ball all game and scored 14 of his 17 points in the paint and at the free-throw line.

McGowens' perimeter shooting woes have been a disappointment, but efforts like this one show that he can still be an effective scorer when he's the aggressor and gets the ball to the rim.

It won't matter much in the grand scheme of things if Nebraska continues to play that badly in every other aspect, but at least it's a small positive for a team that doesn't have much to feel good about right now.

"Listen, you get your ass kicked by 30, it doesn't matter what you do on (offense)," Hoiberg said. "We were a mess on the other end."