Shooting woes bite NU again in 62-51 loss to Wisconsin

Nebraska was undermanned and reeling coming into Tuesday’s game vs. No. 24 Wisconsin after dropping five of its past seven games and losing senior forward Isaac Copeland for the season.

But even after falling behind by 14 points to open the game, the Huskers showed they still had some gas left in the tank to reclaim the lead in the second half. Unfortunately for NU, it couldn't overcome its worst shooting performance of the season in a 62-51 home defeat.

The Huskers finished the night a season-low 28.3 percent from the field, their worst effort in 45 games, and went 4-of-20 (20 percent) from 3-point range. Nebraska has now lost four games in a row and dropped to 13-8 overall and 3-7 in Big Ten Conference play, and its NCAA Tournament hopes plummeted further than ever.

“It is kind of like we are starting over,” said junior forward Isaiah Roby, who scored a team-high 18 points with nine rebounds. “It makes sense after losing a key player like Copeland. I think it was just trying to start the season. You don’t know where you’re going to be, and you don’t know where you’re going to find your shots.”

Wisconsin wasted little time taking control of the game by using a 16-1 run to jump out to a 23-8 lead while Nebraska went more than six minutes without scoring a point and nearly eight minutes without making a field goal.

The Huskers ended up making just one shot in a span of 14 attempts, and it wasn’t until sophomore Thomas Allen finally hit their first 3-pointer of the night after starting 0-for-6 from behind that arc that NU was able to pull back within 24-16 after a quick 7-1 spurt.

That turned into a 12-2 run for Nebraska that coincided with a 6:19 Wisconsin field goal drought and cut the deficit down to 25-21 after a free throw by James Palmer Jr. with 1:20 to go in the half. A three by Brevin Pritzl with 58 seconds left finally ended UW’s shooting woes and made it a 28-21 Wisconsin lead at halftime.

Nebraska missed 23 shots and went a dismal 23.3 percent from the field for its lowest point total and shooting percentage in a half this season. The Huskers also went just 1-of-8 from 3-point range and 6-of-10 from the free throw line.

“Wisconsin does an excellent job (on defense), but we have to take better shots,” head coach Tim Miles said.

Needing to set the tone right away after the break, NU did exactly that with a 14-4 run out of the gates to take their first lead since the 14:12 mark of the first half at 35-32 on an And-1 by senior Glynn Watson.

A three by Allen put NU up 40-37 with 12 minutes to play, but Wisconsin responded with a game-defining 18-4 rally that included 10 straight points from guard Brad Davison to take a 55-44 with 4:33 remaining.

Nebraska would end up making just one field goal over the final 8:35 to allow the Badgers to put the game away with ease down the stretch, matching their biggest lead of the night (14) on four straight points by forward Nate Reuvers before settling on an 11-point final margin.

Following Allen’s 3-pointer with 12:03 left, NU made just three of its final 17 shots the rest of the game.

“One thing we have to do is get guys like Glynn and James just to relax a little bit,” Miles said. “Not all the burden’s on you. I thought we took some quick shots trying to do too much tonight, trying to do our own thing. We’ve just got to trust everybody.”

Palmer finished with 14 points but did so on just 5-of-19 shooting (1-of-7 from three), while Allen chipped in 10 points. Davison led Wisconsin with 13 points, scoring 10 in the second half, while Ethan Happ and Reuvers both added 10 points for the Badgers, which shot 46.4 percent and was 5-of-10 on 3-pointers after halftime.

Nebraska will hit the road on Saturday to take on Illinois for a 1:15 p.m. CT tip on Big Ten Network.

“We have to stay positive,” Miles said. “That has been the theme since Ohio State, since Rutgers, in terms of us staying in a good place. I thought we were pretty close tonight in terms of being in a fighting mentality, staying together.”

1. Nebraska just can’t score right now

Nebraska is dealing with a laundry list of issues right now, but maybe the most baffling of all is its sudden inability to put the ball through the hoop. Tuesday night was the worst it’s been yet, as the 28.3-percent shooting and 17 made field goals were both season lows. It marked the first time in 45 games that Nebraska shot worse than 30 percent, dating back to Dec. 3, 2017, when it hit just 27.4 percent in a loss at No. 3 Michigan State. It wasn’t just that the Huskers were awful from the field and from behind the arc, they once again couldn’t even consistently convert point-blank shots at the rim. NU was a staggering 9-of-27 on dunks and layups and 10-of-31 in the paint. It also went just 13-for-20 at the free-throw line. That’s an issue of confidence and one that this team didn’t have only a few weeks ago. Nebraska needs to see some shots fall in order for that to change, and that’s something that hasn’t happened in far too long.

2. Copeland's absence changes everything

The absence of Copeland, who had started the first 20 games of the season before suffering a torn ACL against Ohio State, cannot be understated. Nebraska was a team that was already dealing with a major depth problem, and losing arguably its most complete overall player and top vocal leader was something it couldn’t afford. The Huskers started senior walk-on Tanner Borchardt in his place, and he finished with one point and six rebounds before fouling out after 15 minutes of work. Sophomore Thorir Thorbjarnarson, who had played a total 65 minutes this season and just one minute in Big Ten play, stepped up with three points and a team-high 10 rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench. But that was as good as it got. NU’s bench was again was a non-factor on offense, scoring just the four points from Thorbjarnarson and Borchardt in a combined 44 minutes. Roby had a solid night, but the other stars – Palmer and Watson – were inconsistent at best. Palmer had 14 points but missed 14 of his 19 shots. Watson was even worse, scoring a season-low five points on 2-of-10 shooting.

3. Happ was kept in check, but UW’s balance was too much

Miles probably would have taken Happ’s final line of 10 points, nine rebounds, and four assists any day of the week coming into the game. The problem was Wisconsin was able to add to that with a complete effort from the rest of its roster. Davison led the way with 13 points, as five other Badgers scored eight or more on the night. It wasn’t just the balanced production, but the timeliness of the scoring. When Nebraska finally reclaimed the lead for the first time early in the second half, UW responded with a D'Mitrik Trice 3-pointer to tie it. Twice more the Huskers pulled ahead, and Wisconsin answered with an equalizer. Charles Davis IV, who was averaging 2.1 points per game and had made just two 3-pointers all year, was the one who started UW’s second-half run with five straight points, including a 3-pointer to knot it at 40-40. That balance and bench contribution was the X-factor for Wisconsin tonight.