Resiliency, resolve and toughness are just a few of the terms that 10th-ranked Nebraska men’s basketball coach Fred Hoiberg used after the Huskers’ 83-77 win at Indiana Saturday.
“The composure of this team has continued to show,” he said on the Huskers Radio Network. “That’s what I’m most proud of with this group.”
Things looked bleak, at best, with Indiana leading by 16 just three minutes and 16 seconds into the second half.
Somehow, someway Nebraska found a way to erase the lead and take a nine-point lead of its own with 1:13 left in the game.
“Unbelievable resilience once again by our guys,” Hoiberg said. “I just continue to be amazed by how they hang in there, don’t hang their heads, and find a way to keep swinging in the darkest of time out there when it got to 16.”
The adversity this Nebraska team can face and battle through is real. The 16-0 (5-0 Big Ten) Huskers are for real. It was the fifth Quad 1 win of the season for Nebraska.
The Huskers didn’t flinch. They had a next play mentality, something basketball coaches preach even at the youngest of ages.
Nebraska outlasted Indiana, a feat Hoiberg credited to the Huskers’ strength and conditioning coach Kurt Joseph.
“I thought our conditioning played a big factor in that win as well,” Hoiberg said. “You look at Jamarques, didn’t get a rest out there at all. I just thought we kind of outlasted them.”
Coming into the game, finding a way to slow down Indiana’s leading scorer, Lamar Wilkerson, was going to be a challenge. The sixth-year senior was averaging a Big Ten-best 26.2 points per game in conference play.
Wilkerson made a mid-baseline jumper on his first attempt of the game and kept the offense rolling, scoring a game-high 32 points on 9-of-20 shooting, including 5-of-11 from 3-point range.
The Hoosiers blitzed the Huskers in the final 4:47 of the first half, outscoring Nebraska 12-2 to take a 39-30 lead at the break. After a layup from Sam Hoiberg to start the second half, the Hoosiers went on a 15-2 run in 3:43 to take the 16-point lead (51-35).
It was Lawrence and the Huskers’ mental fortitude that was the story of the game.
Lawrence finished the game with a career-high 27 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including 5-of-8 from beyond the arc. Not only was he the Huskers’ leading scorer, he finished the game with five rebounds, three assists and just one turnover in 37 minutes.
“He just did everything and he did it in a lot of ways,” Fred Hoiberg said of Lawrence. “I thought he had complete control with the ball in his hands, had good pace. I thought he guarded well.”
It was Lawrence’s third career 20-point game and second of the season. The five 3-pointers tied a career high. In Nebraska’s last two wins in Bloomington, Lawrence is 10-of-13 from 3-point range.
Along with Lawrence, Braden Frager had big moments in the game. Saddled with two fouls in the first half, the redshirt freshman from Lincoln Southwest fought through the adversity. He scored all 11 of his points in the final 5:59 of the game and seven of those from 5:49 to the 2:16 mark of the second half.
“He just made huge plays for us down the stretch,” Hoiberg said of Frager.
It wasn’t just two players that made plays; it was the little adjustments in the game. Nebraska wanted to control the pace and not get into an up-and-down game with the firepower of Indiana offensively.
The Huskers got to the pocket of Indiana’s defense more in the second half, outscoring the Hoosiers 16-10 in the paint after trailing 16-8 in that category in the first half.
Nebraska will have another quick turnaround after getting back to Lincoln Saturday evening. The Huskers will host Oregon Tuesday night in Lincoln.
“We’ve got to bounce back quick,” Hoiberg said. “They’re (Oregon) athletic and you’ve got to be on point with our preparation to go out and keep this thing going.
“I’m really proud. I told the guys in the locker room just how honored I am to coach these guys, just with their approach and the way they’ve handled everything. We have to continue on with that. As soon as we get complacent, start beating our chest, that’s when we’re in trouble.”
