No. 20 Purdue dominated Nebraska men’s basketball from start to finish in a 104-68 win Sunday.
It was Purdue’s 25th straight home win and the Boilermakers made an all-time Nebraska opponent record 19 3-pointers.
Nebraska is now 0-9 in West Lafayette since joining the Big Ten, the only place among the 13 Big Ten schools (excluding the Pac-12 additions) where Nebraska has not won on the road.
With the loss, Nebraska falls to 2-3 in Big Ten play and 12-4 overall.
Bad Start
Nebraska needed to start fast to stay within striking distance by taking care of the ball. That didn’t happen.
The Huskers started the game with an airball 3-pointer on the first offensive possession. It only got worse from there.
The Huskers had four turnovers in the first six minutes, three of which were careless unforced turnovers, and Purdue built a 15-7 lead early.
“Obviously not the start we wanted with the turnovers early in the first half,” Coach Fred Hoiberg said on the Huskers Radio Network. “I think we shot 50% at halftime. We were getting handed to us because we couldn’t take care of the ball.”
Nebraska tried to fight back as a Brice Williams jumper brought the Huskers to within three, 10-7, in the first five minutes. But a 16-3 run from Purdue grew the lead to 26-10 at the 10-minute mark of the first half, and the Boilermakers took a 17-point lead into halftime.
Lost the Keys
In his pregame radio conversation, Hoiberg said the keys to the game were don’t play in a crowd, make simple plays, take care of the ball, keep it out of the pocket and don’t give Purdue extra possessions.
The Boilermakers won all five of those keys. Nebraska had 17 turnovers to Purdue’s 10 in the game. The Boilermakers had a 22-11 advantage in points off turnovers, scored 14 second-chance points to Nebraska’s four, and out-rebounded Nebraska 33-20 inclduing 9-4 on the offensive glass.
“They got that thing in the pocket and then they were hitting their shots,” Hoiberg said. “When they got confidence, obviously they were very difficult to shut off.”
Top-15 Defense Failed, Again
It was the second game in a row the top-15 Nebraska defense failed against a top-15 offense.
Coming into the game, Nebraska ranked No. 14 according to KenPom in adjusted defensive efficiency, while Purdue ranked No. 11 in offensive efficiency.
In Nebraska’s previous six games, the Huskers had given up a very good 0.89 points per possession. Sunday, Purdue scored a blistering 1.5 points per possession. The Boilermakers shot 63% from the field (41-of-65) and 57.6% (19-of-33) from behind the 3-point line.
It wasn’t just the 3-point shooting that won the game for Purdue. The Boilermakers made nine of their 12 layups in the game.
Best Were Worst
Nebraska’s two best players, Brice Williams and Juwan Gary, were at their worst against Purdue.
Gary was a game-low minus-24 and Williams minus-23 in plus/minus.
Williams scored nine points in the game, tying his lowest total of the season. It is only the second time in 16 games he didn’t score in double figures.
There were two positives for Nebraska. Sam Hoiberg’s first-half effort was good; he had seven points, two steals, one assist and shot 3-of-3 from the field in the first 20 minutes.
The two Hoiberg steals were his sixth multi-steal game of the season.
Connor Essegian saw the ball go in the basket in the second half, albeit in a blowout. He had all 17 of his team-high 17 points and was 3-of-8 from 3-point range in the final 20 minutes. His 17 points were the 16th double-figure game by a Husker bench player this season.
Nebraska has a few days off to figure things out after two straight losses before Rutgers comes to Lincoln on Thursday night for an 8 p.m. tip.
“We’ve got to find a way to bounce back,” Hoiberg said. “The team has done that for the most part. We are 2-3 in the league now with two home wins and three losses on the road. We’ve go to find a way to regroup, get back, and protect the ball.”
