Nebraska Shoots Down Hawkeyes

Huskers Complete Regular-Season Sweep of Iowa Basketball

Iowa's Connor McCaffery looks to pass around a double team by Nebraska's Keisei Tominaga (30) and Derrick Walker on March 5, 2023 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. (Rob Howe/HawkeyeNation.com)

There was no magic comeback to be found, no momentum from a dominating performance that felt like it was a long time ago instead of just a few days prior.

Iowa’s 81-77 loss to Nebraska on Sunday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena was the latest valley in this up-and-down season for the Hawkeyes, a dip in the jet stream of emotion that they had been riding in the last week.

Iowa’s regular season ended with a 19-12 overall record, 11-9 in the Big Ten, with the Hawkeyes’ seed in this week’s Big Ten Tournament in Chicago to be determined following the night games in the league.

“I would have liked to have had that one today, obviously,” said forward Patrick McCaffery, who had a 23-point game but would have rather had a victory to go with it.

The Hawkeyes could never shake the Huskers (16-15, 9-11), but when you’re allowing 58.5 percent shooting to the opponent, including 53.8 percent shooting in 3-pointers, it’s hard to pull away from anyone.

Nebraska had 14 3-pointers, a number that Iowa coach Fran McCaffery called fatal to his team.

“You make 14 threes, you’ve got a good shot (to win),” McCaffery said.

Just as devastating was the Hawkeyes’ second-half shooting. They made just 11-of-37 shots, 3-of-16 3-pointers, and didn’t have a field goal in the final 6 minutes, 12 seconds of the game. Iowa had just six points in the final 5:35, all coming from free throws.

“It just happens like that sometimes,” said Iowa forward Kris Murray, who had 22 points but made just 8-of-22 shots. “When they’re not falling for us, we’ve got to figure out the defensive end, just get stops to kind of propel our offense.”

Iowa had two chances to either tie or cut into the gap in the closing minute, and missed both opportunities. Payton Sandfort missed a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left, then Connor McCaffery was called for an offensive foul that wiped out his layup with 16 seconds to play.

The Hawkeyes surged into this game after the comeback overtime win over Michigan State last Saturday, when they scored 23 minutes in the final 1:30 of the second half, followed by a 22-point crushing of Indiana on the road on Tuesday.

“They were playing great basketball,” Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg said.

That didn’t seem to matter against a team that has been pesky in Big Ten play late in the season.

The Huskers had four players score in double figures. Sam Griesel led Nebraska with 16 points. Jamarques Lawrence had 15. C.J. Wilcher had 12. Keisei Tominaga had 11.

Fran McCaffery said the Hawkeyes’ defensive focus was to limit the touches of Tominaga, Griesel and Derrick Walker. None of those three scored in the final 8:16, with all of Nebraska’s points coming from Lawrence, Sam Hoiberg and Wilcher.

“Those guys eventually had to make shots,” McCaffery said. “And they did.”

It was clear this game was not going to be easy for the Hawkeyes the way the Huskers shot the ball in the first half. They were 57.1 percent from the field, 42.9 percent in 3-pointers, and that momentum never went away.

“I thought our spacing was good,” Fred Hoiberg said. “And obviously we got off to a hot start and that helped.”

“I felt guys were hot, and they stayed hot,” Murray said.

The Hawkeyes have shown a knack of bouncing back all season, and with the postseason ahead, that’s going to be important.

“We’re just going to try to learn from it, watch the film, and bounce back,” Patrick McCaffery said. “That’s probably all you can do, because now it’s win or go home, no matter where we’re at.

“We’ll just keep moving forward. That’s all we can do.”