No. 5 Nebraska men’s basketball suffered its first loss inside Pinnacle Bank Arena this season Sunday as No. 9 Illinois handed the Huskers a 78-69 defeat.
The loss, Nebraska’s second in a row after a 21-0 start to the season, snapped the Huskers’ 12-game home winning streak.
The Fighting Illini have now won 11 straight games and are just the fifth team ever to have back-to-back road wins against top-five opponents in eight days after defeating No. 4 Purdue 88-82 on Jan. 24.
“Give Illinois credit, they are playing really good basketball right now,” Fred Hoiberg said after the Huskers’ loss.
Illinois’ defense has been its biggest improvement since their last loss, 83-80 at home to Nebraska on Dec. 13.
“You only win on the road if you can guard at a certain level and rebound at a certain level,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said “I think that’s the one thing we’ve been able to do, at least these last couple.”
In the Huskers’ win at Illinois, Nebraska shot 10 fewer 3-pointers than it did in Sunday’s loss. The difference in the game Sunday was the 2-3 zone Illinois went to after the under-16 timeout of the first half.
The zone slowed the Huskers’ pace and it took away some of the offensive sets Nebraska likes to use that allow cuts to the basket and curl actions. If you look closely at the Husker offense, they like to use high ball screen actions to get open looks for Pryce Sandfort in particular.
“We’re giving up more (3-pointers) because we’re trying not to give up as many 2s and as many layups,” Underwood said. Those are 100% shots … We’re going to give up some 3s but we’re going to count on not giving up 2s and not giving up 100% shots as much.”
With the Illinois zone and the length, it slowed the pace and took the rhythm of the Husker offense away.
Nebraska did find success shooting from distance in the first half, making 11 of its 20 3-point attempts in the first half.
The second half was a different story. The Huskers finished the game making 15 of their 35 3-point attempts but just 10 of their 24 shots inside the arc.
“When you make 15 3s, you should win that game,” Hoiberg said. “Their length bothered us in the paint and that’s the reason they went away with the win.”
In the second half, the Illini played more man principles but were higher or extended farther past the 3-point line to take away Nebraska’s curl actions.
“They switched some things up defensively,” Sandfort said. “We just couldn’t knock them down. We got the open ones and that made the semi-contested ones even tougher.”
Physicality was a priority for Nebraska and a key to the game for the Huskers heading in. Illinois was the more physical team, particularly on the defensive end.
“Freedom of movement, that’s got to be enforced,” Hoiberg said. “We run a pretty aesthetically pleasing offense, but when you’re being held, you can’t run it. We’re going to try to continue to do it and cut with force and do everything we can to get these guys open and free them up.”
Key Pieces Return
Two Huskers made their return to the lineup Sunday.
Rienk Mast, who missed Tuesday’s game at Michigan due to illness, made his return after spending time in the emergency room Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning.
“I give Rienk a lot of credit for going out there and battling, being able to play 25 minutes,” Hoiberg said. “He played like he was in the ER until 3 in the morning.”
You could tell his timing was off on his shots and even a little on the defensive end. He didn’t score until the final minute, missing his first eight shots before converting a put-back for a three-point play then hitting a jumper to finish with five points, five assists and four rebounds.
“He’s going to get his timing back, he’s going to get his wind back,” Hoiberg said. “It was tough for him, but he battled. He battled his ass off and he’ll get it going again.”
Braden Frager’s ankle injury was initially expected to sideline him for two to four weeks, but the freshman made his return to the lineup Sunday after missing two games and just nine days. Coming off the bench in his usual substitution pattern, Frager led the Huskers with 20 points on 6-of-12 3-point shooting plus a pair of free throws.
“It’s great having Braden back out there healthy and feeling good,” Hoiberg said. “I give Braden a lot of credit for going out there and playing the way he did and fighting the way he did that first game back.”
Moving On
The back-to-back losses to top-10 opponents aren’t the end of the world for the Huskers.
Nebraska entered the game with the 12th-best KenPom rating in the country and remained at 12 after the game. Illinois entered the game eighth in the NET and Nebraska seventh. After the loss, Nebraska fell to No. 10 in the NET rankings.
“We’ve just got to look at the film tomorrow and learn from it and keep our head high and flush it as we get ready for Rutgers,” Sandfort said.
Hoiberg’s message after the game wasn’t doom and gloom but encouraging the next-game mentality the Huskers have had all season long.
“We’ve got to keep battling, we’ve got to keep fighting,” he said.
Nebraska now has the mid-week bye, something the team needs to recover both physically and mentally after a tough stretch of two losses, illness and injuries.
“It comes at a good time for us to get our guys that are a little banged up to get them right,” Hoiberg said. We’re actually going to come in and watch film tomorrow and get some shooting skill work. Then we are going to take Tuesday off, then give us three days to prepare for Rutgers on Saturday.”
