Nebraska careens further off track with shocking loss to Incarnate Word
The bet Tim Miles made before the season may not come back to haunt him.
Nebraska has to reach its first-ever Sweet 16 for Miles to get tattoos mirroring those belonging to standout wing Terran Petteway, and so far the Huskers don't look anywhere near capable of that.
Whereas Nebraska only lost once all of last season at its raucous new arena, the Huskers fell at home on Wednesday for the second time in three days. They followed a disappointing loss to in-state rival Creighton on Sunday with a mystifying 74-73 defeat against Incarnate Word, a San Antonio-based school in its second year of transitioning from Division II to Division I.
Nebraska put itself in jeopardy Wednesday with two critical turnovers on inbound passes in the final 30 seconds, the first by Tai Webster with the Huskers leading by three and the second by Petteway with the edge down to one. Incarnate Word's Kyle Hittle then made Nebraska pay, hitting a game-winning baseline pull-up jumper over the outstretched arms of Shavon Shields with 2.7 seconds left.
A third loss in the opening four weeks of the season is a major surprise for Nebraska team that appeared poised to build on last year's breakthrough success. The Huskers returned the core of last year's 19-win NCAA tournament team including all-conference candidates Petteway and Shields at the wings and stretch forward Walter Pitchford inside.
If previous losses against Rhode Island and Creighton were early signs that Nebraska might not be the Big Ten contender it was supposed to be before the season, then Wednesday's surprising upset was even more alarming. Incarnate Word did enter the game with gaudy offensive stats and a 5-1 record that included a victory over Princeton, but the Cardinals' other four wins came against Division II foes.
Nebraska's biggest issue in previous games has been poor shot selection and a lack of offensive firepower aside from the slashing and shooting of Petteway and Shields.
Point guard Tai Webster entered Wednesday's game with a poor shooting percentage and a negative assist-to-turnover ratio. Pitchford entered shooting an anemic 26.5 percent from the floor. And with Leslee Smith sidelined due to an offseason injury, the Huskers don't have any real low-post scoring threats, nor do they have many consistent perimeter shooters.
Benny Parker solidified the point guard position Wednesday and Pitchford snapped out of his funk to score 10 points, but Nebraska's offense still remained too reliant on Shields and Petteway to overcome a barrage of perimeter points from Incarnate Word. The Cardinals shot 48.2 percent and received a combined 62 points from their four starting guards.
Nebraska now falls to 5-3 with a tough home game up next against a Cincinnati team with a formidable defense that feasts on one-dimensional offenses.
It would help the Huskers immensely if they could find a way to win that game. Otherwise they'll enter Big Ten play with at least four losses and with lots of ground to make up to have any hope of a return trip to the NCAA tournament that seemed so likely just a few weeks ago.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
