Indiana fell 85-68 Friday night to Nebraska at Pinnacle Bank Arena, which dropped the Hoosiers to 8-3 overall and 1-1 in Big Ten play.

Here are five takeaways from the loss to the Huskers:

Despite its talent upgrades, Indiana’s defense is still broken

Indiana turned over much of its roster from last season’s 19-14 campaign. The talent, at least on paper, is improved.

The defense is still broken. As is typically the case under Mike Woodson, when the Hoosiers are beaten, they are beaten soundly. Friday’s performance was the same.

Nebraska scored 1.233 points per possession for 85 points. It was a similar defensive performance to Louisville (89 points, 1.233 PPP) and Gonzaga (89 points, 1.195 PPP).

Through 11 games, the Hoosiers have the 66th-best defense nationally. That ranks 12th among Big Ten programs.

Unless Indiana can show meaningful progress defensively – and there’s no sign at this point that it will – the ceiling is an NCAA tournament bubble team by season’s end.

Indiana had no answer for Brice Williams

Indiana struggled to offer defensive resistance against Brice Williams from the opening tip.

The 6-foot-7 wing got where he wanted on the floor and delivered an efficient offensive performance. Williams finished with 30 points on 8-for-12 shooting on 2s, 2-for-3 shooting on 3s and 8-for-11 from the free throw line.

It didn’t matter who Indiana put on Williams, the Hoosiers had no answer.

While Indiana was lauded in the offseason for adding help in the backcourt in Myles Rice and Kanaan Carlyle, along with Oumar Ballo in the post, its defense on the wing is underwhelming.

Mackenzie Mgbako had foul issues from the start trying to contain Williams, Bryson Tucker couldn’t guard him and neither could Luke Goode.

Indiana has no consistent leader

Myles Rice and Trey Galloway are Indiana’s captains. But the Hoosiers have no consistent leader on the floor.

Indiana recovered from adversity early on against Nebraska by getting a few stops and knocking down perimeter shots. But with the game in the balance and the Hoosiers trailing 68-67 with 6:51 to play, the on-court leadership was lacking.

Outside of Rice, who scored 14 of his 20 points in the second half, Indiana’s most experienced players delivered little in the second half.

Galloway was 1-for-8 with two turnovers in 14 second-half minutes. Goode was 1-for-5 in 13 second-half minutes. Malik Reneau was 1-for-4 in nine second-half minutes. Mgbako was 1-for-4 in 13 second-half minutes. Remarkably, Ballo didn’t attempt a shot in the second half.

These performances will not deliver wins, particularly away from Assembly Hall.

Hoosiers hoist 35 3-pointers and only connect eight times

Nebraska came in with the plan of forcing Indiana to take perimeter shots and the Hoosiers attempted a season-high 35 attempts.

The number of attempts was the most for the program under Woodson since his arrival in the 2021-22 season.

While many looks were clean and Indiana simply missed, many were relatively early in possessions and not in rhythm. Indiana’s best 3-point shooter, Mgbako, only attempted one 3-pointer, and its worst 3-point shooter, freshman Bryson Tucker, attempted five shots from the perimeter.

“I thought we had good looks tonight, we just didn’t make them,” Woodson said postgame. “I don’t care if you take 30, 40, 50 threes, when you take them, you’ve got to make them.”

Indiana also attempted five shots that were long 2s (from 17 feet to just inside the 3-point line) and went 2-for-5 on those attempts.

This was Nebraska’s fourth straight win against Indiana by 15 or more points

Dating back to last season when it beat Indiana three times, Nebraska has won four straight games in the series.

And none of the games have been close.

The Hoosiers have given up at least 85 points in all four losses and at least 1.197 points per possession. The average margin of victory for the Huskers in those four games? 18.8 points.

This domination by the Huskers is another data point to illustrate the Hoosiers are far from competing near the top of the Big Ten. Woodson’s stated goal upon his arrival to Bloomington and again in the preseason was to compete for conference and national championships.

Currently, the program is a long way from both goals.

(Photo credit: Nebraska Athletics)

Filed to: Mike Woodson, Nebraska Cornhuskers