Huskers stumble to costly road loss at Rutgers

After missing a golden opportunity at home against No. 6 Michigan State, Nebraska went on the road with the top goal of avoiding its first “bad loss” of the season at Rutgers on Monday night.

Instead, the Huskers were flat from start to finish and dropped a 76-67 defeat to a Scarlet Knights team that came in just 1-6 in Big Ten play.

Nebraska led by as many as 13 points in the first half, but Rutgers would go on to out-score NU 58-38 the rest of the way with the help of scoring runs of 15-0, two 8-0 spurts, and a 7-0 finish to close out the game.

The Huskers shot just 41.7 percent from the field (35.7 in the second half), 9-of-22 from 3-point range, a season-worst 10-of-18 at the free-throw line, were out-rebounded 44-34 (14-9 on the offensive glass), got out-scored 42-28 in the paint, and turned the ball over 12 times that led to 19 RU points.

The loss to Rutgers (9-9, 2-6), which was No. 142 in the latest NET rankings, dropped Nebraska to 13-6 overall and 3-5 in conference play and handed the Huskers their first Quadrant 3 loss of the year.

“I was disappointed with our mentality coming into the game,” head coach Tim Miles said on his post-game radio show with the Husker Sports Network. “In the pre-game locker room there was talking, joking around a little bit, and I thought that set the tone with how we played…

“We didn’t do enough to win, and in this league, it doesn’t matter who you play or where you play; you’ve just got to prepare yourself with a fight every night out.”

The first half was a tale of hot and cold streaks by both teams, starting with Nebraska missing its first five shots and opening up just 1-of-7 from the field.

The Huskers would settle in and go on a 9-0 run followed by a 19-4 spurt that gave them a commanding 31-18 lead after a 3-pointer by Glynn Watson with 4:50 left. But NU would hit another shooting drought to allow Rutgers to respond with a 15-0 rally of its own and reclaim the lead at 33-31 with 1:54 to go in the half.

“It’s a little bit of everybody,” Miles said. “There’s not just one guy out there screwing it up… You’ve got to understand what you’re going against. I just really upset about tonight.”

Desperately needing to regain some momentum, Isaac Copeland knocked down two baskets, and James Palmer Jr. put the icing on the cake with a 40-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer to send Nebraska into halftime on a 7-0 run and holding a 38-33 lead.

Aside from the scoring spurts on both ends, it was an ugly first 20 minutes offensively. The teams combined to make 27 field goals and committed 22 total turnovers. Copeland led the way with 14 of his 16 points in the first half.

It didn’t take long for Rutgers to come right back and tie it up at 43-43 with another 8-0 rally early in the second half, and the Scarlet Knights took the lead on a 3-pointer by Geo Baker with 11:44 remaining.

As the Huskers failed to get anything going offensively, Rutgers built its lead up to 59-53 with seven minutes with seven straight points during a three-minute NU scoring drought.

Nebraska pulled within three after a Palmer free throw, but Peter Kiss drained a 3-pointer, and Myles Johnson threw down a dunk to give the Knights their biggest lead yet at 64-57 with six minutes to play.

Trailing by five with just over three minutes left, Palmer knocked down a 3-pointer and then made two free throws to tie it up at 67-67 with 2:02 left.

But that would be all the comeback NU could muster, and Rutgers answered with a 7-0 run to end the game while the Huskers missed six of their final seven shots from the field.

Palmer ended up with 22 points and four assists, while Watson added 14 points, five rebounds, and four dimes. Montez Mathis, who was averaging just eight points per game, led Rutgers with 20 points and nine rebounds, while Baker scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half.

“I want to see us play harder; I want to see us play sharper; I want to see us more focused on little things,” Miles said. “I think when we take care of that and clean ourselves up, and we come out prepared for a battle, good things will happen. That’s when you make your free throws, that’s when you step in and make your threes, that’s when you get rebounds…

“That’s where our mentality, our focus, and our commitment to the fundamentals just have to get better.”

1. Nebraska was never dialed in

Even after jumping out to a 13-point lead late in the first half, it never really felt like Nebraska was locked in tonight. Whether it was the ice-cold shooting start or committed 11 turnovers in the first 23 minutes of the game, the Huskers couldn’t seem to stay out of their own way. Miles called the performance “general sloppiness” in every sense, adding: “I just question our mindset.” Nebraska turned the ball over 12 times, couldn’t make a free throw, missed 13 3-pointers, gave up 14 offensive rebounds for 17 second-chance points, and shot just 9-of-18 on dunks and layups. You’re not going to beat anyone playing like that.

2. Free throws were critical

Nebraska is the type of team that is at its best being the aggressor on offense and racking up opponent fouls and points at the free throw line. The Huskers did their job in drawing 19 fouls and getting into the bonus for the final 12 minutes of the second half. But they left one opportunity after another at the charity stripe, missing eight of their 18 attempts for a season-low 55.6 percent. Even worse, at least three of those misses came on the front end of one-and-one situations. This is a team that came in shooting 73 percent from the line and 75 percent in Big Ten play, but it somehow missed eight free throws in a seven-point loss.

3. The bench was once again non-existent

There was a brief stretch in the first half where Nebraska’s bench was providing some really productive minutes, as senior Tanner Borchardt, sophomore Nana Akenten, and freshman Amir Harris were all making plays on both ends of the floor. That production came to a screeching halt after halftime, though. The Huskers were outscored by a whopping 31-6 in bench scoring, and their reserves combined to take five shots and committed five fouls in 30 total minutes. Miles said he challenged his bench before the game to step up and help take some of the load off the starters, but they clearly didn’t answer the call.