3 keys and a prediction for Nebraska basketball at Iowa

After losing three of its last five games, Nebraska basketball desperately needs a quality win, which the Huskers can get with a road win over Iowa on Tuesday.

Iowa is ranked 28th in the NET rankings, so this would be a clear quad-1 win. The Huskers are 5-3 in quad-1 games so far this season, but their NCAA seeding is trending down. ESPN’s latest bracketology dropped them down a No. 4 seed, as hard as that is to believe at 22-3.

Nebraska has only lost to top-10 teams. And they did have a seven-point second-half lead in two of those three games, plus a free throw to go up with 10 seconds left in the other.

It’s not far-fetched to think Nebraska could still be undefeated if the ball had bounced a little differently, or if Braden Frager and Rienk Mast hadn’t gotten hurt or ill.

Regardless, Iowa has a new head coach and is 18-7. The Hawkeyes’ rotation is built on transfers, with only one regular playing being on the roster previously. Four players followed head coach Ben McCollum from Drake.

That includes Bennett Stirtz, a 6-foot-4 guard, who plays 36 minutes a night, and scores 20.4 points per game. He’s also a top playmaker (4.7 assists) and shoots 40.3 percent from 3-point range. Tavion Banks, a 6-foot-7 guard is the only other Hawkeye averaging double figures (10.7 ppg). He shoots 46.7 percent from three, even though he’s not a high-volume shooter.

Nebraska hasn’t been playing its best basketball. There’s a lot to clean up, and with that in mind, here are three keys and a prediction for Nebraska at Iowa.

Protect the ball

Turnovers have killed Nebraska recently. They averaged 11 turnovers per game in the three losses this season. The Huskers also turned it over 10 times in the first half against Northwestern. It’s the reason that the Wildcats were up four in the second half.

Iowa isn’t a great defensive team. They rank outside the top 10 in Big Ten play in opponent field-goal percentage (14th), 2-point percentage (14th), and 3-point percentage (10th).

But, they are third in the league with 11.3 turnovers forced per game. If Nebraska takes care of the ball, meaning fewer than 10 turnovers, although fewer than eight would be ideal, they will win the game.

Nebraska needs to attack the basket

The Huskers need to make 3-pointers. That’s just part of the deal with a Fred Hoiberg team. They tend to live and die by the three. However, in the three losses this season, Nebraska basketball has averaged 12.6 3-pointers per game.

The bigger issue is that the 2-point offense has fallen off a cliff. Nebraska was shooting about 62 percent heading into Big Ten play. Now, they are 58 percent for the season, and making just 56 percent in Big Ten play.

Nebraska should win the 2-point percentage battle tonight. The 3s need to fall, but this team has to be better around the rim than it has been the past five games.

Bring the defense

Sam Hoiberg needs to shut down Bennett Stirtz. The pesky Nebraska basketball player is the most important player on the court tonight.

The Huskers are allowing opposing teams to shoot just 39.8 percent from the field this season. That number is at 42.3 percent in Big Ten play (4th). The Huskers lead the Big Ten in 12.1 turnovers per game.

Nebraska is the best 3-point shooting team in the Big Ten and second best in 3-point percentage defense. That needs to hold, which is easier said than done inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Prediction: Nebraska 79, Iowa 72.

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