Fred Hoiberg downplays emotional letdown in Indiana loss

Lightning didn’t strike twice for Nebraska, as they followed their impressive upset victory over No. 7 ranked Creighton with a blowout loss to No. 14 Indiana, falling to the Hoosiers 81-65. Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg was asked after the game if he felt that their team may have been on too much of an emotional high following their upset win.

“I don’t think so, we’ve had a couple good days of prep and again when you find out an hour and a half before the game that your leader isn’t gonna be on the floor it makes it very tough,” Hoiberg said.

Nebraska’s starting point guard Sam Griesel was a late scratch in Wednesday’s game due to an illness. Griesel was definitely a big loss in this matchup, entering the game as the team’s second-leading scorer and leader in assists. The lack of his presence was surely felt, as the Cornhuskers got off to a slow start in the first half on both sides of the ball, finding themselves down by a 22-point margin at one point and entering halftime losing 39-26.

“I was proud of our guys in the second half for the way they came out and had we come out of the gate that same way we might have at least been in the game and had a chance,” Hoiberg said.

The Cornhuskers definitely improved their play in the second half, scoring 39 points, led by a 17-point second-half scoring outburst by CJ Wilcher. But it was too little too late for Nebraska, as they had issues all night stopping starting guards Trey Galloway and Tamar Bates off of the bench. Galloway led the Hoosiers in points with 19, and when he wasn’t generating offense, Bates was with 19 points of his own.

“But give Indiana credit, they were the harder playing team early and really set the tone,” Hoiberg said.

Nebraska’s first conference game of the season didn’t go the way they wanted, but they’ll get a huge opportunity to bounce back as they head back home for their next game taking on No. 4 Purdue. The Boilermakers are undefeated this season, with big wins over top-10-ranked Gonzaga and Duke.

The Cornhuskers will have to play some of their best basketball in order to knock off the Boilermakers on Saturday, but if they can get Griesel back into the lineup and start the way they finished their last game, they may have another upset victory up their sleeve.