Indiana Hoosiers NCAA Tournament Hopes Dashed by Nebraska
By Evan Reller
Mar 5, 2014; Bloomington, IN, USA; Indiana Hoosiers forward Troy Williams (5) gets blocked out by Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Terran Petteway (5) at Assembly Hall. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
The Indiana Hoosiers were a long shot to make the NCAA Tournament, provided they won out their remaining regular season games. But those dreams came to an end Wednesday night against the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
The Hoosiers fell to Nebraska 70-60. The Cornhuskers were also fighting for their postseason lives and trying to earn a bye in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. The loss dropped IU to 17-13 overall, and 7-10 in the conference.
IU once again played without Noah Vonleh who continues to recover from a foot injury. Coach Tom Crean never sounded too hopeful that he would play earlier in the week and Vonleh didn’t even warm-up with the team.
Indiana is 1-1 without him in the lineup. The recently knocked off a ranked Ohio State team over the weekend without him. His status for Saturday at Michigan is still in question.
The Hoosiers rallied from an 11-point deficit to tie the game with 10 minutes left to play. IU was unable to take the lead and could barely keep up with Nebraska down the stretch. The Hoosiers offense disappeared far too often and they couldn’t manage to string together back-to-back baskets.
Three starters scored in the double-digits for IU. The other two, Austin Etherington and Jeff Howard, played sparingly down the stretch and didn’t contribute noticeably on the stat sheet.
Troy Williams led the team in scoring with 18 points. Williams also came away with six rebounds and a steal.
Yogi Ferrell had 10 points, but struggled mightily from the field connecting on just 4-of-13 attempts. He took far too many three’s and was 1-for-10 from the arc. On the positive side, he came away with seven rebounds, five assists, and a steal.
Will Sheehey had some impressive plays on Senior Night, but disappeared late in the second half when the team needed him most. He had 13 points and four rebounds.
The bench continued to give IU solid minutes. They combined to score 18 points, but it took 18 shots to get there.
IU will be back in action on Saturday at No. 12 Michigan.
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