Nebraska’s 15-0 Record is on the Line at Indiana (Still a Basketball School)

While some Big Ten enthusiasts struggle to accept that Indiana is a football school these days, Nebraska basketball coach Fred Hoiberg holds no such illusion.

Indiana, winner of 22 Big Ten basketball championships and five national championships, is a basketball-first institution and Hoiberg knows it. Football might be more of a fad — albeit a pretty good one — but basketball is eternal in the Hoosier State.

Hoiberg’s 15-0, 10th-ranked Huskers visit Indiana on Saturday at 11 a.m. CT on Big Ten Network. The Hoosiers, who haven’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2023, are 12-3 this season and have a golden opportunity to end Nebraska’s winning streak.

Nebraska is 4-0 in the Big Ten, with road victories at Illinois in December, and Ohio State on Monday. In both road games, the Huskers had a workable margin and looked as if they had things under control, before an inevitable rally from the home team tightened the game.

But one thing: The game tightened but the Huskers didn’t. These Huskers have shown an knack for facing late-game adversity. When you’re 15-0, you’re probably winning games in every fashion.

Huskers’ composure

Nebraska’s margin of victory was three points in each of the Big Ten road games, meaning the Huskers had to ward off the opponent’s momentum.

“I think the biggest thing is composure,” Hoiberg said at a news conference. “Our guys have done a really good job staying with it.

“You get down a couple possessions and one thing we’ve been very fortunate with is we’ve gotten off to good starts on the road.

“We built a 14-point lead at Illinois, at Ohio State, and then you have a cushion when a team does go on a run which invariably will happen and especially when you’re playing in an opponent’s gym.

“So, for us, when teams have gone on runs, you look at that stretch, we had that six-, seven-, eight-minute stretch where we really struggled to put the ball in the basket. There was no head-hanging.

“And once we got moving again, I was really pleased in the last six minutes. We had three three-point plays then hit a couple of big threes and a few of those were just making huge plays on 50-50 balls.

“Our guys … they keep swinging. They keep going even when things are looking a little bit dire out there on the floor. And to me, that’s a sign of great leadership.”

Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg talks to guard Jamarques Lawrence during the second half against Ohio State. | Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images

Huskers senior guard Jamarques Lawrence believes his team’s experience is helping them down the stretch of these tight games.

“This team [has] so much experience,” Lawrence said at a news conference. “We just talk a lot about how old we are. We’ve been in a situation plenty of times before and just sticking to the game plan. You know what we need to do to overcome those ones.”

IU in the Big Ten

Indiana, like Nebraska, is a veteran team. The Hoosiers are 3-1 in the conference, the loss coming at Minnesota. The Hoosiers have defeated Penn State, Washington and Maryland.

Both teams play solid defense. The Huskers are ranked 28th nationally in scoring defense, allowing 65.7 points per game. Nebraska will be challenged by the Indiana offense, which is ranked 58th in the nation and averages 85.1 points per game.

Indiana’s defense averages 67.1 points allowed, 47th best in the nation. Nebraska’s averages 81.1 points per game, 107th in the nation.

“You look at their numbers, they’re really good on both ends of the floor,” Hoiberg said. “And the thing that’s been really impressive to me is how their numbers have gone up once they’ve played league opponents and they’ve got shooting all over the court.

“That’s where it starts with Indiana and Darian [DeVries] just runs unbelievable stuff to get those guys open. It starts in transition as it does with every game, especially when you’re on the road.

“You have to try and force them into the half-court and then just be on point with your closeouts.

“They’re really good. They run a lot of different screening type actions … They put a lot of pressure on your defense, but it starts with getting back in transition.”

Big-time matchup with Mast and Wilkerson

Nebraska relies on balanced scoring with seven players averaging at least seven points per game. Indiana is similar with seven players averaging at least 6.9 points per game.

But this game could be determined by which of teams’ leading scorer controls the game. Nebraska’s Rienk Mast averages 16.3 points per game and is a prolific distance shooter, hitting 37.5 percent. Pryce Sandfort is right behind Mast with a 15.9 per game average and 37.8 shooting from distance.

Indiana guard Lamar Wilkerson averages 19.5 points per game and has an impressive game that includes outside shooting and slices to the basket.

Both teams rely on the three, which could be another factor in this game.

“They have a ton of talented guys on their team that can really fill it up and we’re gonna have to be really locked in defensively to come out with a win on the road,” Huskers guard Sam Hoiberg said at a news conference.

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