3 takeaways from Nebraska basketball collapse against Iowa

Iowa is never out of a game inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena and that’s a lesson Nebraska basketball learned once again after an overtime loss to their arch-rivals.

The Huskers led by as many as 15 points in the second half, but Iowa got red-hot from 3-point range at the same time Nebraska basketball got stagnant. Eventually, it took a buzzer-beater from Brice Williams to force overtime.

Once the extra session started, Iowa dominated. The Hawkeyes scored over 20 points in overtime and notched a 97-87 win that Nebraska basketball will have a tough time forgetting.

Williams scored 28 points in the loss and was 10-of-19 from the field, an effort that included four 3-pointers. Juwan Gary added 13 points and 13 rebounds. Rollie Worster finished with points. Iowa made 17 3-pointers in the win with seven coming from Josh Dix and six from Payton Sandfort.

The Huskers missed out on what would have been a quadrant-1 win. They are now 2-2 in the Big Ten, 12-3 overall, and here are three takeaways.

A missed opportunity

It’s hard to win in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes do stuff like this (rally from 15 down to win) all the time. The refs didn’t help and Iowa caught fire.

Considering all that, Nebraka still should have won this game. It feels like this team has a chance to contend for the Big Ten title this season or at least get a top-four seed in the Big Ten tournament.

It’s hard to do that if you blow 15-point leads. Purdue is up next, on the road, and now Nebraska needs to win that game to avoid falling to 2-3 in the conference.

It’s a much different situation than going in 3-1 with back-to-back quad-1 wins.

Nebraska basketball defense didn’t travel

We said that a solid defensive effort from 3-point range was going to be the key to victory, it usually is against Iowa, but the Huskers didn’t pass that test. Iowa averaged 10.4 3-point field goals coming in and made 17. Too many of them were open looks due to poor communication or having to overhelp.

The ball-screen defense was atrocious in the second half. It felt like the Huskers gave up either an open layup or an open 3-pointer. Iowa’s transition offense shredded Nebraska basketball too.

The Hawkeyes made 29 field goals and 23 of those buckets were assisted. That’s another sign of bad defense and that cost Nebraska basketball on Tuesday night.

Refs didn’t do the Huskers any favors

Outside of the blown double-dribble, the refs missed a bunch of clear fouls committed by Iowa players down the stretch. Juwan Gary was drilled on a clear block and instead of two free throws, Nebraska had to take the ball out of bounds.

I honestly don’t know how you miss this.

pic.twitter.com/DOrTnEnbOq

— HuskerBR (@HuskerBr) January 8, 2025

There were a bunch of missed calls like that but missing the double-dribble was atrocious. It’s also on par for a conference with some of the worst officials in sports, like any sport in the entire world, period.

For More Nebraska content, follow us on Twitter, like our Facebook Page, and Subscribe to the Husker Big Red YouTube Channel. You can also find our podcast on Apple or Spotify.