CHICAGO (AP) — Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg lamented a handful of “mindless turnovers.” He pointed to deficits in points off turnovers and second-chance points. He wondered aloud about his team’s focus.
The Cornhuskers are searching for the level they showed during their perfect start, and they are running out of time.
“We’ve got to find a way to put two halves together if we want any chance of advancing here starting next week,” Hoiberg said.
No. 11 Nebraska dropped to 6-6 in its last 12 games after falling 74-58 to No. 18 Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament on Friday. The Cornhuskers trailed by as many as 20 in their second loss of the season against the Boilermakers.
Hoiberg’s team is in line for a top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament, but it could be a short stay if it can’t solve some of its recent issues.
“We’ve got to go back and learn from this film and figure out what went wrong exactly,” Nebraska forward Pryce Sandford said. “We’ll do that for sure, and we’ll go from there.”
The Cornhuskers (26-6) opened the season with 20 straight wins, including victories at Illinois and home against Michigan State. They moved to No. 5 in the AP poll for the program’s highest ranking in school history.
The perfect start was halted by a 75-72 loss at Michigan on Jan. 27. Then they dropped their next game against the Illini. They also lost to Purdue and Iowa before posting consecutive wins against Penn State, Maryland and Southern California.
Following an ugly 72-52 loss at UCLA, the Cornhuskers beat the Hawkeyes 84-75 in overtime in their regular-season finale on Sunday.
“We found a way to regroup after the disappointing game at UCLA,” Hoiberg said. “I thought we played great, especially in that second half at USC. Did not play as well against a hot UCLA team, and then found a way to regroup and focus for Senior Night against Iowa at home. Now we’ve got to get that same focus back.”
Nebraska was outscored 17-5 by Purdue in points off turnovers. It also was outrebounded 23-14 in the second half, leading to a 13-3 advantage for the Boilermakers in second-chance points over the final 20 minutes.
“It came down to points off turnovers and second-chance points. That’s the game,” Hoiberg said. “And just watching after the game in the coaches’ room, it just had some mindless turnovers in that first half.”
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