In a must-win game to keep its NCAA Tournament hopes alive and earn a spot in the 15-team Big Ten Tournament, Nebraska couldn't get the job done at home against the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Iowa instead advances to the conference tournament with an 83-68 win over Nebraska. The Hawkeyes improve to 16-15 overall and 7-13 in the league while the Huskers drop to 17-14, 7-13.
With the NCAA Tournament officially out of the picture, the Huskers' postseason could include the NIT or College Basketball Crown Tournament in Las Vegas, a tournament in its first year that includes teams from the Big Ten, Big East and Big 12 that don't make the NCAA Tournament.
Here are three quick thoughts on the game:
In the biggest game of the season, Nebraska didn't look like it had enough left in the tank to play a complete 40-minute basketball game
Nebraska enjoyed a strong start that had it leading 18-10 at one point in the first half, but then it seemed like the Huskers hit a wall.
That also happened to be the moment when Iowa started hitting shots, and the Huskers didn't have enough offensive firepower to keep up.
While Juwan Gary finished with 24 points before fouling out, the team's best player, Brice Williams, was held in check. The 6-foot-7 Williams ended his day with only 7 points after entering the game as the Big Ten's top scorer in conference games at 21.4 points. Williams didn't score a point in the second half as he was the focus of Iowa's defense.
Scoring came too easy for Iowa as Nebraska's defense didn't provide nearly enough resistance to get the job done
In the first matchup between these two teams in Iowa City on Jan. 7, Iowa went 17-of-35 from 3-point range. Nebraska's transition and perimeter defense was a problem that night.
Iowa's 3-point shooting was an issue once again on Sunday. The Hawkeyes went 6-of-15 from 3 in the first half and had a stretch where they hit five of seven. In the second half, Iowa went 5-of-13 from 3 to finish 11-of-28 from 3 in the game.
Nebraska just didn't have the shooting to keep pace with Iowa. After making three of their first four 3-point attempts, the Huskers ended the first half going 3-of-14 from 3 and missed their last 10 attempts heading into halftime. The Huskers went 6-of-27 from 3 for the game.
It wasn't just the 3s, though. Iowa hurt Nebraska inside the arc, too, with plenty of successful backdoor cuts and different actions that led to open lanes to the hoop.
Simply put, there needed to be more resistance at the basket, and Nebraska's defensive rotations weren't crisp enough to keep the Hawkeyes at bay. Scoring the ball came much too easy for the guys in black and gold.
After such a disappointing season, is there really any excitement to play in the postseason?
There's no other way around it, the 2024-25 season was a major disappointment at Nebraska.
Being one the of the three teams to miss the conference tournament is an ugly look. With next year's roster featuring another bunch of transfers, is playing in the postseason that beneficial to this current roster and the players set to return?
Nebraska will play at least one more game. The Huskers likely won't turn down an opportunity to play on a national stage. But is there any excitement for that in the fan base? The late-season collapse was difficult to stomach.
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