After looking unstoppable in its first 20 games, Nebraska is now just 2-4 in its last six outings with its loss to Iowa on Tuesday night. Huskers head coach Fred Hoiberg knows the danger that lies ahead after catching something in his team that he has not seen all season.
Nebraska has played five games against top-15 opponents and was never outclassed, even in defeat. For whatever reason, Hoiberg believes he saw his players get “rattled” against Iowa for the first time all year.
“I thought we got rattled for the first time, really, all year,” Hoiberg said on Nebraska's postgame radio show, via Steve Marik of Inside Nebraska.
Slow-paced, defensive games are typically up Hoiberg's alley, but his team suffered its third loss of February in a 57-52 low-scoring battle with Iowa. Nebraska has now scored fewer than 30 points in four of its last six halves of basketball.
Nebraska held Iowa to just 33 percent shooting, but it could not keep up on the glass. The Hawkeyes ended the game with a 37-24 rebounding edge, including 12-2 on the offensive boards.
Although Nebraska has been on a slippery slope, the matchup with Iowa seemed like a prime rebound opportunity on paper. The Hawkeyes hosted the game in Iowa City, but they were coming off back-to-back losses, including an embarrassing 78-57 defeat to Purdue.
Iowa guard Bennett Stirtz was the only player to have his offensive game going on either team. Stirtz shot just 8-for-22 from the floor, but ended with 22 points after hitting a pair of clutch buckets down the stretch.
Pryce Sandfort led Nebraska in defeat with just 13 points on 3-for-7 from the field. Jamarques Lawrence was the only other Cornhusker in double figures with 11 points. Rienk Mast, Sam Hoiberg and Berke Buyuktuncel combined for just 16 points.
