3 takeaways from Nebraska basketball loss to St. Mary’s

In the first test of the 2024-25 Nebraska basketball season, the Huskers lost to St. Mary’s inside the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

It’s technically a neutral court game, but it was anything but for the private school from California. St. Mary’s was better on the floor though, especially when it came to shooting.

They made more 3-pointers. Grabbed more offensive rebounds and took care of the ball better. That’s the whole ballgame in basketball — most of the time — and despite a great effort after falling behind by double digits in the first half, an exciting rally fell short.

Here are three takeaways from a 77-74 loss by the Huskers in an exciting November game that is a reminder of why the sport of college basketball is so great.

The shooting still needs to be better

Yes, Nebraska basketball didn’t shoot the ball well enough from deep. You have to make more than five 3-pointers against a team like St. Mary’s. Really against any team.

Poor 3-point shooting has been a trend. Nebraska has shot just 24 percent this season so 29 percent was a slight improvement. Hopefully, that will increase the confidence but until this team starts making more 3-pointers, it’s going to be tough to beat top-50 teams.

Extra possessions are a problem

Nebraska basketball continues to have problems taking care of the ball. It was a key before the game and St. Mary’s forced 15 turnovers that led to 23 points.

The Huskers won the overall rebounding battle 31-27, but they allowed the Gaels to grab 14 offensive rebounds. I said they need to limit that number to around 10 points and if they had done that, the Huskers would be 4-0.

Like 3-point shooting, these have been issues all season long. It’s just four games, but Fred Hoiberg needs to address those issues, although, like last season, 3-point shooting, rebounding, and turnovers will be fundamental to winning and losing.

If Nebraska loses all three categories, it’s going to lose the game.

Keep playing games at the Pentagon

My other takeaway is that the Huskers need to keep playing a game at the Sanford Pentagon. The fanbase turned the place into PBA North — as they did the past two games — but it was just a great college basketball game. Win or lose.

The good thing for Nebraska is that this loss doesn’t kill you. It’s not a bad loss at all. It would have been a quadrant-1 win, so it’s more of a missed opportunity.

If the resume is lacking key wins, it could come back to bite Hoiberg’s team but the more chances you can give yourself in these kinds of games, the better.

This felt like a big-time game and being in those matchups is something Nebraska should get used to.

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