3 takeaways from Nebraska’s top-10 loss to Illinois

Nebraska basketball was on fire in the first half against Illinois. But just like in Tuesday’s loss against Michigan, the Huskers cooled off in the second half.

The defense fell apart for the Huskers in the second half. The 3-point shooting came back to the mean, and Illinois evened the season series with a 78-69 road win.

No. 5 Nebraska has now dropped two in a row after a 20-0 start. They are tied with Michigan State for third place in the Big Ten, one game back of Illinois and Michigan.

Braden Frager scored 20 points in his return to the lineup. Rienk Mast struggled. He had five points on 2-of-10 shooting. The Huskers made 11 3-pointers in the first half but just four in the second.

Pryce Sandfort scored 14 points. Just two of them were in the second half. Here are three takeaways from the first home loss of the season for Nebraska basketball.

Nebraska came out firing

The Huskers made 20 first-half 3-pointers against Illinois and Michigan, but went 0-2. They made 11 in the first half against Illinois (11 of 20), but were just 4 of 15 in the second half.

Pryce Sandfort didn’t make a 3-pointer in the second half. The inability to score inside allowed Illinois to put more pressure on the 3-point shot, and Nebraska couldn’t sustain the hot shooting start.

Nebraska will always live and die by the three. Yet, you’ve got to be able to score inside the arc, too, especially in the paint.

The 2-point offense was the issue

Most of the time, the winner of the 2-point battle is going to win the game. It doesn’t always happen, but Illinois had a massive advantage there Sunday, making 62.2 percent compared to 41.6 percent for Nebraska.

The Huskers improved their percentage in the past minute, after Illinois got a little softer on defense, but for much of the game, they were in the 20s-30s. It was 26 percent before making the last five attempts.

Getting doubled up on 2-point percentage when the game is on the line makes it really hard to win. Rienk Mast has to get healthy. The same goes for Frager, who shot well, but couldn’t attack the rim the way he usually does.

Not time to panic

Nebraska basketball lost to the No. 1 and No. 6 teams in the Kenpom rankings this week. Nebraska led at the half in each game. They were competitive, and the Huskers weren’t 100 percent, although they were closer on Sunday.

The point is, Nebraska is one game back in the Big Ten race. They have played four games against top-4 Big Ten teams (Michigan, Nebraska, Michigan State, and Illinois). Nebraska went 2-2 in those games. Michigan State (1-1), Michigan (2-0), and Illinois have all played two (1-1).

Those three teams each have two games left to play against each other. Illinois has to play the Spartans and Wolverines. Michigan and Michigan State also have to play each other.

Nebraska has zero left against those three games. There is a home game against Purdue, plus a home-and-away against Iowa. If the Huskers can win even two of those three, along with the rest, there’s a good chance they’ll win a share of the Big Ten championship.

Even so, a double-bye for the Big Ten tournament, and a No. 2 seed for the NCAA tournament are well-within reach.

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