New season, same story. After getting run off the floor by Nebraska all three times the teams met last season, Indiana was only able to stay close with the Cornhuskers for 33 minutes Friday before being buried in Nebraska's latest barrage of 3s.

Myles Rice scored 20 points, including 13 IU tallies in a row during a second-half stretch, and Oumar Ballo added eight points and 11 rebounds for Indiana, but it wasn't enough and host Nebraska won 85-68 at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska. It was the Cornhuskers' fourth straight victory over the Hoosiers, all by at least 15 points.

The defeat snapped a four-game winning streak for the Hoosiers (8-3, 1-1 Big Ten). Nebraska improved to 6-0 at home this season after going unbeaten in Lincoln in Big Ten play in 2023-24.

Central Noble graduate Connor Essegian, who came in as Nebraska's second leading scorer at 13.0 points per game, poured in 13 points on 4-for-7 shooting, including a 2-for-3 mark from 3-point range.

The Cornhuskers (7-2, 1-1) went 8 for 14 from beyond the arc while IU was 8 for 35. The 35 attempts were Indiana's highest total in a game the four-season tenure of Hoosiers coach Mike Woodson. IU had not topped 30 attempts from deep in more than three seasons.

"We had good looks, we just didn't make them," Woodson said. "You can take 30, 40, 50 3s and you gotta step up and make them when you take them. ... We had our chances, it was a 5-point game with five, six minutes on the clock but we just couldn't make shots."

Woodson noted IU's bench players went a combined 5 for 26. Kanaan Carlyle was 1 for 7 and 0 for 5 from deep and freshman Bryson Tucker was 1 for 9 and 1 for 5 from beyond the arc. Fort Wayne native Luke Goode was 3 for 10 from the field, with all of his shots coming from long distance. He missed eight of his final nine and finished with nine points.

After trailing by as many as nine early in the second half, Indiana tied the score at 64 on a Carlyle pullup jumper from 14 feet with 9:57 to play. 

The Cornhuskers responded with the game's defining run, getting a tough layup at the rim from Brice Williams to take the lead for good, a smooth midrange jumper from Essegian and then back-to-back 3s from Williams and Juwan Gary during a 14-3 run.

Williams scored 30 points on 10-for-15 shooting and added six rebounds and five assists.

"He made a couple of tough shots, you live with some of them," Woodson said of Williams. "After he got going, it was tough to shut him down. A lot of it was in isolation off the bounce."

Indiana scored four points in the final 9:56, going 1 for 18 from the field and 1 for 12 from 3-point distance in that span. The Hoosiers did not have a field goal in the final 6:50.

"We took a couple of shots that were probably out of rhythm and we didn't defend how we should have down the stretch," Rice said. "That's a recipe for disaster when you put those together. We just have to be better going down the stretch and just continue to play as a team."

All told, Nebraska shot 61% while Indiana hit 35% from the floor.

The Hoosiers trailed 44-41 at halftime and Nebraska grew the lead to 58-49 after an Essegian layup and then a Gary jumper with 13:44 to play.

It was Rice who led the Hoosiers back into the game, getting the push started with a lightning-quick drive to the rim with his right hand for a layup. He followed with a tough baseline jumper from 10 feet and then hit a pair of free throws.

With IU down 62-55, the redshirt sophomore transfer from Washington State stepped back and hit a 3, pulled up from 16 feet for a jumper and then notched a steal and a layup going the other way to knot the score at 62.

Rice went 8 for 13 from the field in his third 20-point game of the season and added four steals.

Indiana forced 14 Nebraska turnovers and had just nine of its own.

Hoosiers stars Mackenzie Mgbako and Malik Reneau struggled with foul trouble all night and played a combined 33 minutes. Mgbako picked up two fouls in the first 33 seconds of the game and scored just two points in 13 minutes.

Nebraska, which was coming off an 89-52 loss to Michigan State in its Big Ten opener, raced to a 13-3 lead just 3:02 into the game.

"We had no defensive presence to start the game," Woodson said. "That's something we gotta keep working and get it fixed. Especially on the road, it's tough on the road in the Big Ten and you gotta establish yourself from a defensive standpoint. ... They had it both ways, they made shots and we weren't very good defensively."

The Hoosiers answered with a 20-6 spurt that featured a pair of 3s from Goode, the latter a step-in jumper from NBA range at the top of the key in transition to put IU up four.

Nebraska used an 11-2 run to regain the lead before halftime, holding IU without a basket for the final 4:09 of the half.

Indiana had a 15-6 lead in offensive rebounds and attempted 65 total shots to 49 for the Cornhuskers.

dsinn@jg.net