No. 25 Hoosiers look to get back on track vs. Nebraska

Perhaps a return home and visit from a Nebraska squad that's struggled on the road will help Indiana get back on track.

Looking to avoid a third consecutive defeat, the No. 25 Hoosiers try to remain perfect at home Monday night when they face the Cornhuskers in Bloomington.

Indiana (12-4, 3-2 in Big Ten) went 6-0 in December and opened January with a win over lowly Illinois at Assembly Hall. However, the Hoosiers followed their most recent victory with a 74-63 loss at second-ranked Michigan on Jan. 6, then blew a 14-point first-half advantage in Friday's frustrating 78-75 loss at Maryland.

It's the first time this season that Indiana has dropped back-to-back contests, and leaves it saddled with a 1-4 mark in road games.

"It's early January, right now you're going through a really brutal stretch in the league, and for us it's about constantly trying to get improved," coach Archie Miller told Indiana's official website.

"(We've) got to pick ourselves up. It's a long year and it's a tough league, and we have Nebraska on Monday night. We're going to try and push forward on that."

The good news for the Hoosiers is that they are shooting a nation-best 55.9 percent, averaging 82.3 points and have allowed just one opponent to score more than 67 points while going 10-0 at home this season. It's the program's best home start since winning all 17 games at Assembly Hall in 2015-16.

By comparison, Indiana is shooting 43.7 percent, averaging 68.6 points and yielding 75.4 in its five road games.

Home or away, star freshman guard Romeo Langford (18.8 points per game) continues to shine for the Hoosiers. Langford notched a career-high 28 points for the second time in three games on Friday. He's also shooting 55.0 percent in his last nine contests.

Like Indiana, Nebraska (12-4, 2-3 in Big Ten) has done its best work at home this season. The Cornhuskers avoided a third straight defeat with Thursday's 70-64 triumph over Penn State that extended their home winning streak to 20 games - equaling a school record.

Nebraska, which has shot 48.5 percent, averaged 83.3 points and allowed a stingy 53.0 points over nine home games in 2018-19, won its road opener at Clemson in November, but has since yielded 84.0 points and 48.0 percent shooting while going 0-3 away from home in the Big Ten.

"I think (our players) feed off that energy from the (home) crowd," coach Tim Miles told the Cornhuskers' official website. "It might hurt us a little bit on the road when you don't have the same, but that's something we just have to figure out."

Leading scorer James Palmer Jr. (19.5 ppg) was held to 11 points against the Nittany Lions, but totaled 46 in the Cornhuskers' last two road games.

Nebraska, though, has actually won the last two meetings against the Hoosiers, including the most recent in Bloomington, 87-83 on Dec. 28, 2016. Palmer scored 15 and Isaac Copeland Jr. (14.3 ppg) added 13 in the Cornhuskers' 66-57 home win over Indiana last season.

--Field Level Media