Indiana Commits 19 Turnovers, Defense Falters in 86-70 Loss at Nebraska

Indiana turned the ball over 19 times and allowed 12 Nebraska 3-pointers Wednesday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena, handing the Hoosiers their first Big Ten loss of the season.

Jack Ankony | Jan 4, 2024

Indiana Commits 19 Turnovers, Defense Falters in 86-70 Loss at Nebraska /

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Indiana Hoosiers

LINCOLN, Neb. – Outside of Kel’el Ware’s 20 points, almost nothing went right for Indiana Wednesday night at Nebraska.

Turning the ball over 19 times, the Hoosiers were thoroughly outplayed in the final 30 minutes of a 86-70 loss at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The loss drops Indiana to 10-4 overall and 2-1 in Big Ten play.

Following a similar trend from most of their first 13 games, the Hoosiers didn’t bring much pressure on Nebraska’s outside shooters. The Cornhuskers finished the game 12-for-32 from 3-point range, and four players made at least two threes, led by Keisei Tominaga with 28 points. Indiana shot it well from beyond the arc, too, going 9-for-18, but it wasn’t enough to make up for the poor defensive performance.

"This team is not as good as we were defensively the last two years," Indiana coach Mike Woodson said. "A lot of it is because we do have new faces, but we've got to overcome that. I've got to get them over the hump when it comes to defending and rebounding and not turning the ball over."

Ware was a reliable option all night, but that couldn’t be said for the rest of the Hoosiers. In his first game back from injury, senior point guard Xavier Johnson scored zero points on 0-for-3 shooting with four turnovers and three fouls in 15 minutes.

"[Johnson has] had a few practices under his belt," Woodson said. "And we thought he was ready to go and we played him some tonight."

Malik Reneau finished with 14 points on 4-for-9 shooting, but foul trouble kept him from making an impact in crucial points of the game. Trey Galloway and Mackenzie Mgbako didn’t contribute much on the wings, combining for 16 points on 6-for-18 shooting. Their defense on Nebraska’s 3-point shooters wasn’t up to par, either.

In the first half, the Hoosiers and Cornhuskers went back and forth for the first 10 minutes. Indiana exploited its advantage inside with Ware against Rienk Mast and Josiah Allick, neither of whom are great rim protectors. Ware scored 12 first-half points on 6-for-8 shooting.

While Indiana had success pounding it inside to Ware, issues taking care of the ball led to an eight-point halftime deficit. Nebraska began doubling Ware and Reneau in the post, forcing Indiana’s guards to beat them. Trey Galloway had a rough first half, going 2-for-7 from the field with two turnovers.

Nebraska scored 14 points off nine Indiana first-half turnovers, four of which came from Johnson. Indiana also struggled to defend without fouling, which allowed Nebraska to go 20-for-26 at the free throw line in the first half, a seven-point advantage over Indiana in that category.

Against an Indiana defense more focused on stopping drives than limiting open 3-pointers, Nebraska shot 4-for-15 from three in the first 20 minutes. Indiana’s first-half deficit could have been greater, but Nebraska missed several open looks from beyond the arc.

Ware’s dominance continued in the second half, scoring on hook shots, alley-oops and put-back dunks. Indiana cut it to seven and eight points a few times early in the second half, but that’s as close as it would get.

CJ Gunn fouled Keisei Tominaga on a 3-point attempt, and those free throws pushed Nebrasks’s lead to 17 points with 7:36 left in the game. Williams banked in a three on the following possession, giving the Cornhuskers a 20-point lead. A comeback was unlikely before that, but Williams shot officially represented the dagger with 6:59 on the clock.

Next up, Indiana returns to Assembly Hall for a matchup against the Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET. The Buckeyes are coming off a 76-72 home victory Wednesday night over Rutgers, led by 24 points from sophomore point guard Bruce Thornton and 22 points from senior wing Jamison Battle.

Along with focusing on taking better care of the ball, the Hoosiers have some defensive adjustments to make before taking the court Saturday. They also must get stronger contributions out of veteran guards Johnson and Galloway against an up-and-coming Ohio State backcourt.

"When I look at the stat sheet and look at the perimeter play, they outplayed – our starting two guards were awful tonight," Woodson said. "Their two guard were really good – one, two and three."

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