BLOOMINGTON, Ind. –In the Big Ten’s home opener, the No. 14 Indiana Hoosiers host Nebraska, a team on a three-game winning streak over Florida State, Boston College and at No. 21 Creighton.
Indiana is looking to rebound from a 63-48 loss to Rutgers on Saturday in a game where the Hoosiers shot 30.4 percent as a team. Indiana coach Mike Woodson wants to see better rebounding and toughness from his team Wednesday night against Nebraska.
“You can be beaten by anybody in college basketball if you don’t come play,” Woodson said. “And of course the Big Ten because there are so many good teams and good coaches.”
- *** LIVE BLOG: And once the game is on, follow all the action on our live blog from HoosiersNow.com writer Jack Ankony. To read this story, CLICK HERE.
How to watch Indiana Hoosiers vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers
- Who: No. 14 Indiana Hoosiers (7-1) vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers (6-3)
- What: The Indiana Big Ten Home Opener
- When: 8:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, December 7
- Where: Simon Skjodt Meeting Room in Bloomington, Ind.
- TV: Big Ten Network
- Advertisers: Kevin Kugler (game by game), Stephen Bardo (analyst)
- Direct: fuboTV (Start your free trial)
- Radio: IU Radio Network (Bloomington: 105.1 WHCC-FM, Indianapolis: 107.5 WFNI-FM)
- Radio hosts: Don Fischer (play-by-play), Errek Suhr (color), John Herrick (pre-game, half-time, post-game)
- Point spread: Indiana is a 13-point favorite against Nebraska, and the plus/minus is 135.5 points, according to SI Sportsbook.
- Associated Press Poll: Indiana fell to No. 14 in the AP poll after beating North Carolina and losing to Rutgers. Nebraska is unranked.
- KenPom Ranking: Indiana is ranked No. 11 overall in the KenPom rankings. The Hoosiers are No. 11 in adjusted defensive efficiency and No. 27 in adjusted offensive efficiency. Nebraska is ranked No. 77 overall, No. 71 in adjusted defensive efficiency and No. 98 in adjusted offensive efficiency.
- Season forecast: On Tuesday, Indiana has the second-best odds to win the Big Ten regular-season title at plus-350, behind Purdue at plus-195. Indiana is plus-550 to reach the Final Four and plus-2,500 to win the national championship, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
- Last three matches: Indiana lost 63-48 to Rutgers on Saturday, beat North Carolina 77-65 on Nov. 30 and beat Jackson State 90-51 on Nov. 25. Nebraska won 63-53 at No. 21 Creighton, beat Boston College 88-67 on Nov. 30 and beat Florida State 75-58 on Sunday.
- Records from last season: Indiana went 21-14 overall, 9-11 in Big Ten play, 14-4 at home, 3-8 on the road and 4-2 at neutral sites in 2021-22. Nebraska went 10-22 overall, 4-16 in Big Ten Play, 7-12 at home, 3-8 on the road and 0-2 at neutral sites in 2021-22.
- Series history: Indiana leads the all-time series over Nebraska 18-7. The Hoosiers swept the Cornhuskers last season, winning 68-55 at Bloomington and 78-71 at Lincoln. Indiana has won six straight games against Nebraska, with the most recent loss coming on January 14, 2019. Nebraska beat Indiana 66-51 at Assembly Hall behind 15 points from Glynn Watson Jr. and 14 points from ‘Isaac Copeland Jr. Romeo Langford scored 18 points and Juwan Morgan scored 17, but Indiana shot 19 for 52 from the field and 2 for 14 of 3.
Top scorers
- Indian Hoosiers
- F Trayce Jackson-Davis: 18.3 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 1.9 bog, 67.5 FG pct
- G Xavier Johnson: 11.8 ppg, 4.6 apg, 4.0 rpg, 47.4 3-point FG pct
- Nebraska Cornhuskers
- F Derrick Walker: 16.8 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 73.3 ppt FG
- G Sam Griesel: 11.3 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 4.9 apg
- G Keisei Tominaga: 10.7 ppg, 41.7 FG points at 3 points
- F Juwan Gary: 10.3 ppg, 6.4 rpg
- G CJ Wicher: 10.2 ppg, 36.2 3-point FG
Meet the coaches
- Fred Hoiberg, Nebraska: Hoiberg is in his fourth season at Nebraska and is 30-70 overall with a 9-50 record in Big Ten play. Before Nebraska, Hoiberg was released by the Chicago Bulls in his fourth season with a 115-155 overall record and a playoff appearance. Hoiberg’s first coaching job was at Iowa State, his alma mater, where he held a 115-56 overall record with a 49-39 mark in Big 12 play over five seasons. The Cyclones reached the NCAA Tournament in each of Hoiberg’s last four seasons at Iowa State, won the Big 12 Tournament in 2014 and 2015, and Hoiberg was named Big 12 Coach of the Year in 2012. As a player, Hoiberg was a first-team All-Big Eight selection for Iowa State in 1995, and his number 32 is retired at Iowa State. He was picked in the second round of the 1995 NBA Draft by the Indiana Pacers and played for the Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves before retiring in 2005.
- Mike Woodson, Indiana: Woodson has NBA head coaching experience with the Atlanta Hawks from 2004-2010 and the New York Knicks from 2012-2014. Since 1996, Woodson has also served as an assistant coach with the Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Philadelphia 76ers , New York Knicks and Los Angeles Clippers. Woodson played at Indiana University from 1976 to 1980 and was named the Big Ten’s Most Valuable Player as a senior under coach Bob Knight. He was the 12th overall pick in the 1980 NBA draft and played for various teams from 1980 to 1991, averaging 14 points in 786 games. In his second season at Indiana, Woodson holds a 28-15 record.
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Indiana’s Xavier Johnson (0) scores during the Indiana vs. North Carolina men’s basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Wednesday, November 30, 2022.
Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times/USA TODAY NETWORK
Three things to watch for in Indiana vs. Nebraska
1. Front Ground Depth
Indiana can count on Trayce Jackson-Davis to produce night and night. Even against constant teams of doubles and triples against Rutgers, he had 13 points and 10 rebounds and four blocked shots. But Indiana needs to get more production from Race Thompson, Malik Reneau and Jordan Geronimo to move forward.
At Rutgers, that trio combined for four points and nine rebounds. Reneau faced foul issues throughout the game, Thompson and Geronimo went 0 for 9 combined with six missed 3-point shots and all three were beaten by Rutgers on the glass. Each has shown their ability to perform at a high level in the past, but that has to happen with the approach of Arizona, Kansa and the Big Ten.
2. Jalen Hood-Schifino’s Health
Indiana coach Mike Woodson said Hood-Schifino suffered daily from lower back pain after being out of the game against Rutgers. Indiana sorely missed Hood-Schifino’s playability against Rutgers as the offense fell flat with its lowest point total of 29 points.
If Hood-Schifino stays out, Indiana will need Trey Galloway, Tamar Bates and CJ Gunn to step in. Galloway had a huge game against North Carolina, but he didn’t score at Rutgers.
3. Defending Derrick Walker
Derrick Walker, a 6-foot-9, 245-pound senior, leads Nebraska with 16.8 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. In Nebraska’s 63-53 win at then-ranked No. 7 Creighton, Walker scored 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds against reigning 7-foot-1 Big East Defensive Player of the Year Ryan Kalkbrenner .
He also had a big game against Florida State’s 7-foot-4 Naheem McLeod, scoring 20 points and 13 rebounds. Indiana did a good job against Walker last year, limiting him to 12 points and eight rebounds combined in two games, but he seems to have improved a lot this season.
- WOODSON SAYS JOHNSON “TRIES TO DO TOO MUCH”: Jalen Hood-Schifino and Xavier Johnson played their best game together in Indiana’s win over North Carolina. But with Hood-Schifino injured in the back against Rutgers, Xavier Johnson and the Indiana offense struggled, revealing just how valuable Hood-Schifino is to Indiana’s future. CLICK HERE
- WOODSON RADIO SHOW: Indiana coach Mike Woodson aired his weekly “Inside Indiana Basketball” radio show Monday at Southern Stone’s restaurant in Bloomington, Ind. Here are the highlights. CLICK HERE
- RED FLAGS FOR INDIANA AT RUTGERS: Poor shooting and a lack of toughness took place in Indiana at Rutgers on Saturday, and it raised red flags about the quality of this team. Even Rutgers players knew they could be more physical than Indiana, and they were. For Indiana, have these lessons been learned? CLICK HERE
- INDIANA IN THE AP POLL: Indiana picked up a big win over North Carolina last week, but also suffered their first loss of the year at Rutgers, and that affected their position in the top 25 in this Associated Press poll. week released Monday. CLICK HERE
- HISTORY OF THE GAME, RUTGERS LEAD INDIANA: Indiana struggled to shoot the ball and was whipped to the boards in a 63-48 loss to Rutgers on Saturday in their Big Ten opener. It was the Hoosiers’ first loss of the season. CLICK HERE
