For the first ten minutes of the game, the Cornhuskers’ tentative and meticulous pacing managed to slow the Hoosiers down to a crawl.

In Wisconsin-like fashion, Nebraska clogged the lane, committed hard fouls, and absolutely refused to give up any easy baskets, effectively knocking Indiana out of any kind of rhythm.

With 9:53 to go in the first, Jordan Tyrance hit two free throws for the Cornhuskers to give the nation’s 333rd offense a 14-11 lead over the nation’s #2 offense.

Fortunately for Indiana, that was the best it got for Nebraska on Wednesday night.

Despite holding the Hoosiers to a season-low 27 first half points on only six made field goals, the Cornhuskers found themselves down by nine at halftime, 27-18.

Perhaps sensing weakness, or realizing that they were simply the vastly superior team, the Hoosiers’ often volatile offense exploded in the second half to the tune of 49 points, eventually winning 76-47.

Although not quite the 70-point performance against Ohio State, Indiana’s ‘Big Three’ once again led the way, with a combined total of 42 points, led by Cody Zeller’s team high of 16.

Once again, Mr. Consistency (Christian Watford) grabbed 11 rebounds to go along with his 13 points, logging his 5th double-double of the season, and his second in the past four games.

Victor Oladipo added 13 points of his own, while the Hoosiers also drew some decent bench production with three players tallying a total of 18 points.

As usual, our Four Factors are below.

FOUR FACTORS

eFG% TO% OR% FTR INDIANA 58.33% 15.58% 50.00% 50.00% NEBRASKA 40.43% 25.33% 25.81% 19.15%

The Hoosiers’ eFG% of 58.33% was right at their season average at Assembly Hall, thanks largely to an impressive second half.

Indiana once again limited their total turnovers (9) while posting a gaudy 50% offensive rebounding percentage and free throw rate.

Nebraska simply wasn’t able to compete, getting beaten in just about all aspects of the game, as was reflected in the box score and on the scoreboard.

STAT OF THE GAME

INDIANA 2ND HALF POINTS: 49

After posting their lowest first half scoring total all season, the Hoosiers responded with their fourth highest scoring second half, with 49 points.

Even if the Hoosiers had been held scoreless in the first half, they still would’ve won the game by two points; they put up more in the second period than Nebraska was able to do all game.

That’s a testament to both Nebraska’s offensive woes, but also a Hoosier defense that held Nebraska to 36% shooting from the field and just .79 points per possession.

WHAT’S NEXT

After dispatching the Cornhuskers in convincing fashion (as was expected), the Hoosiers can now set their sights back onto Purdue on Saturday.

The Boilermakers have slipped below .500 to 12-13 overall and are coming off a tough loss to Illinois in game where Matt Painter managed to get himself ejected for the first time as Purdue’s head coach.

In their previous meeting, Purdue suffered their worst home loss ever to Indiana, 97-60, and coming up in our preview, we’ll see if there’s any reason to believe that the Boilers will be any better against us at Assembly Hall (hint: probably not).

Stay tuned, and go Hoosiers!