Fred Hoiberg stresses importance of remaining aggressive on defense vs. Indiana

Nebraska had a difficult time early on inside against Indiana in their matchup on Wednesday. However, with some defensive adjustments, the Cornhuskers were able to pull away and fully dive into conference play with a win.

Fred Hoiberg spoke about their changes defensively during his postgame press conference after their 86-70 victory over the Hoosiers. With how easily Indiana was getting things inside, he said the ‘Huskers had to apply more pressure both inside and out. That aggression and energy changed it from there as they went on to win.

“Well, we had to adjust in the second half,” explained Hoiberg. “They did a really good job of just throwing the ball up to the front of the rim and we had no answer for it. They were posting (Malik) Reneau and (Kel’el) Ware was just going to the front of the rim. We had to switch up our coverages, go a little bit more one-on-one in the post.”

“It’s something that we have with our defense. Obviously, you can see it. We like to force that thing down and trap it if it gets too low,” Hoiberg continued. “They did a good job kind of baiting us and throwing the lob up. I thought the guys made a good adjustment out there and, again, got good activity.”

Indiana’s size in the frontcourt caused some issues as it does for most opponents they play. In the first half, Ware had a dozen of high team-high of 20 points on the night. That included six points of three baskets within just the first three minutes of the game.

Then, in the second half, Nebraska started to slow him down. Ware still went 3-4, en route to a 75% shooting night, for eight points but had two more turnovers, giving him four on the night, and didn’t score in the final 10 minutes of the game.

The Cornhuskers defense made the most of the turnovers from Indiana as well. In total, the Hoosiers had 19 turnovers with 15 coming by way of steals by Nebraska. Beyond the extra possessions they provided, they also led to 10 additional points in the fast break.

At nearly 80 points per game, Nebraska has more on their resume on the offensive end. Still, against Indiana, they proved again that they can scrap it out with anyone, which is something that Hoiberg appreciates about his team that is now 12-2 on the year.