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Yes, it was bad from the get go. Coming off the high that was the Purdue game, to endure a sloppy performance, such as this was, was absolutely disheartening. The lack of full effort was obvious. The excuse that we were tired, or there was a letdown, is just that, excuses. Good teams are prepared to play game after game. That is what makes them champions. I know the players and staff are disappointed; but if you are prepared, then disappointment becomes unnecessary. The offense was good when we had movement. We got to the basket; but the number of missed bunnies was/is unacceptable at this level. The bricks being thrown from the outside should have been a hint that we should limit the numbers shot (despite that many of them were wide open looks) instead we kept launching them. SAD. Defefensively, we simply sucked. We had instances where we were caught looking away from our assignment and a clean shot was provided. Their entire team looked like All-American players, rather than the average players that they are. Yes, they hit their shots; but it is made easier when you are wide open. Josiah played well. Kudos to him. Offensively, Eli played well. Mast was okay, everyone else...not so much. Okay, I vented. We now move on.

Defense can’t be a “Once in Awhile” Thing.

Absolutely shit shot selection from the very start of the game. JLaw and Gary took our first 5 3’s and you could argue the game was lost right there. Fred got outcoached when Fran went to zone. FH had no answer and, as usual, is unwilling to coach shot selection and define roles.

A lot of teams face this type of schedule. You have to fight through and find a way to win. That is the difference between a champion and the also rans.

All right, we're winning this bitch. Big start for the second half for the Huskers!

Not gunna lie-- we look dead. Gassed. Like we ran a marathon right before the game. Going to have to dig extra deep to get this one.

Good news: The blizzard didn't force them to pull 3 U of I student rec league officials out of the dorms to do the game. Bad news: The blizzard didn't keep Kipp Kissinger at home.

I expected to go 1-3 in this 4 game stretch. We went 2-2 so we're ahead of the game really. In my mind Iowa was a "house money" game. Would be nice to win, but we've already exceeded expectations so losing is not the end of the world. Looking forward to the discussion of the next 4 @Ron Mexico

They made threes and we didn’t. That was ultimately what decided the game.

Brice Williams.... Help me out here!!! He is the most frustrating player to watch. I just felt like he was going through the motions last night. I just cant figure this guy out. Thoughts??

I’ve got not issue with this. Seems like he and his sister are emotional people and he was pissed. The concern I have here is how he made it seem like there are guys not on the same page on the team.

Just an embarrassing loss.

Defense is supposed to travel...ours got lost somewhere around Des Moines.

Technically, the venues are still drivable...

Can't handle prosperity. This is depressing.

Dang it thrasher31 you took some of my snowed-in research. Big 10 teams lost 22 home non-conference games. 8 of those came against teams currently ranked in top 25 and 4 more were against teams currently receiving votes. Mississippi St. listed as 10 seed per Bracketmatrix has 2 wins versus Big 10 teams. Michigan has 3 home losses to teams in neither if those categories. Purdue is undefeated at home overall this year. Wisconsin's only home loss is to Tennessee. Illinois' only home loss is to Marquette. Nebraska with a home loss to ranked team. Minnesota only home non-con loss is to Missouri. Maryland only non-con home is Davidson. Ohio St. only non-con home loss is to Texas A&M who is listed as 8 seed per Bracketmatrix Indiana has home non-con losses to UConn, Auburn & Kansas. Iowa has 2 home losses. (Oklahoma & Michigan?) Think this shows just how tough it is to win on the road. Big 10 losses to Bucknell, Georgia Tech and Chicago St. are other non-con losses that look bad. Tried to double check my findings but space bar took dump on my laptop so did input on phone.

I was curious on what the road record is for big ten teams in big ten play only starting back in December. So far road teams are 8-29 in big ten play this season. Wisconsin has two of those wins as well. Will be interesting to watch as the season goes on. Need to get a few on the road though @Rutgers, @Maryland, and @Michigan are the best bets imo. Bart has us winning 3 over the season, with those first two I mentioned, Michigan as a slight underdog and IU as a win.

If there’s a 4 game stretch out there that can kind of give us some breathing room and maybe allow us to play “with house money” for a change… it’s this next four game stretch. This is the only one that I see where we can realistically go 4-0. Two home games and our roadies are Maryland and Rutgers. 2-2 should be the bare minimum here. 3-1 probably expected for a true tournament team. 4-0 is not out of a the question for a team that’s a tournament lock.

Fwiw I fully understand this defense and was kind of being a troll here. This defense is a “junk” defense. Junk, not defined as saying it’s “bad,” but junk defined as by saying it’s not a normal, straight-up, defense (true man, or true zone). It’s like playing a box and 1, or triangle and 2, etc… those things are defined as a “junk” defense. To be completely honest, I am so tired of watching it. It requires absolutely perfect communication and perfect execution to beat nearly any common or better opponent. If you don’t have “it,” you’re gonna probably lose to people you shouldn’t. And there’s a major drop off on the road without your crowd energy. Your best defense has and always will be deliberately dictating your offensive tempo and shot selection. Those two things will always do more for your defense than what you’re actually running on defense. It’s time for Coach Hoiberg to be more adamant about their shot selection, and more importantly, who’s taking those shots.

We're just trying to be as inconsistent as our basketball team.

Exactly. We just went from one extreme to the other. 4 of 26 from 3 says "no legs" to me ... as did the inability to stay in front of anyone ... and the late closeouts on 3s ... and the slow start ... etc. Throw in all the energy we had to spend just to get it back to even early in the 2nd half, and the collapse over the final 15 minutes probably shouldn't have been that big of a surprise (although things like this always seem to catch me off guard as they're happening). We just had too much emotion and too much energy involved Tuesday to bounce back that fast against a team that hadn't traveled since Jan 2 had almost a full week to rest up / prepare. There was a reason Vegas made us a 4.5 point dog. The bounce back games are always really tough. Makes Wednesday's game in the armpit of the B1G all that more important. I feel like we have to get 3 B1G road wins at some point to be comfortable.

I appreciate his candor and honesty. I felt he was one of the few bright spots.

4 games in 10 days. That's a tough stretch. They lacked energy and discipline early. Too big of a deficit when you shoot 4 of 26 on threes and the other team is 15 for 35 on threes. It's one game, need to focus on bettering their own deficiencies so that the next road game is a positive outcome. GBR

We aren't going to be 4 - 26 from 3 again. Just like we aren't going to be 14 - 23 again. Just splitting the difference makes it a much closer game.

Not a good game but we sure weren't helped by playing 3 games in 6 days. Especially when two were against WI and Purdue. No legs left.

And still kept shooting 3s.

Well we need to get back safely and start back in the gym and working hard. Sometimes bad things happen to good people. also see how this team feeds off of our home crowd. Except for laying the egg against Creighton we have looked good at home. On the road not so much. also this year can kind of tell how the game is going to go in like the first 4 minutes.

After it was 50-50 we rolled over like a $5 whore.

No excuses. We should have won that game. Simply play average, and you win. We didn't defend, we threw up bricks instead of moving the ball, and we looked like we went out and partied all night and then rolled out of bed to play. Totally unacceptable.

Just awful defense tonight. I will never pick us to win a road game.

hawks had, what, 6 days of rest coming in and we had our customary 2? I'm not going to get too bent about this one. A lot of temas would've run out of gas with this schedule, and if there's anything the conference has been with us as the newbie, it's dicks with scheduling. This stretch is brutal. Our guys need some rest. Preferably before they play themselves out of a possible top half or middle finish.

Rice cannot defend Freeman.

Iowa goes to zone we respond by taking Mast and KT out then we don’t run any action but just pass around the perimeter until someone takes a rushed three iowa is nebraskaing us

That's our plan. Instead of blowing a 15 point lead, we come back from a 15 point deficit.

Ok. We settled in. JL gives us absolutely nothing. I will repeat, nothing that someone else can’t give us. I really hope he can break out of his funk. Gary had 2 but also looked lackadaisical and he needs to set the tone.

it's there for the taking. defense takes energy, tho, and being this winded can hurt that. still, I think we're better. First team to play D wins.

I think he has 2 fouls.

No call on Mast shot, then Sanfort gets a call

My gawd, we are getting a bunch of shrapnel from these Iowa political caucus ads.

Anyone else see this image when they look at Sandfort?

I wonder if Uhlis’s Bookie will be somewhere in the crowd…???

I really, really hate late tip-offs. Tonight's is extremely frustrating. Been snowed in all day, scooped fricking snow, we've had over 16 inches this week, and we're still over 3 hours till radio pregame show. But I have a really good feeling about the game. The sun finally came out in the last few minutes. GBR!

My apologies for both quoting myself and bringing an old game thread back, but I need advice. mrs. cip's back is so bad, she has a handicapped mirror thingee a doctor authorized her to get. Are there any handicapped spots close to PBA? And. if so, where are they and do we have to get there hours early to access one? If not, I have a backup plan. Thanks, guys. She told me to find someone else to take to the game and I said no way in hell!

Maybe like another Bryce we know of.

I couldn't agree more. You want guys to play and shoot confidently but shooting quick 3s when you are not named KT or even CJ played right into Iowa's hands from the beginning. And yes, how long does it take you to adjust to a zone? It shouldn't be that hard. But the guys do look tired and Iowa looks fresh and is hitting way more 3s than normal.

These last 2 minutes, we need to hold. Down 4-6 points, hang on . Keep it at 4.

We all predicted Jo and Eli to be our leading offensive weapons this first half, didn’t we???

9:30 p.m. ET tip. I'll be lucky to make the first media TO.