Halftime Report
Iowa and Nebraska have shown up to the game, but their offenses sure haven’t. Sitting on a score of 41-36, Iowa has looked like the better team, but there’s still one more half to play.
Iowa came into the contest with some extra motivation after the defeat they were dealt the last time these two teams faced off. We’ll see if they’re able to flip the script or if it’ll just be more of the same.
Who’s Playing
Nebraska Cornhuskers @ Iowa Hawkeyes
Current Records: Nebraska 13-3, Iowa 9-6
How To Watch
What to Know
Nebraska and Iowa are an even 5-5 against one another since January of 2018, but not for long. Both teams will face off in a Big Ten battle at 9:30 p.m. ET on Friday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Nebraska pulled off an upset win in their last outing, and are hoping to pull that off once more against the 4.5-point favorite Hawkeyes.
Even though Nebraska has not done well against Purdue recently (they were 2-8 in their previous ten matchups), they didn’t let the past get in their way on Tuesday. The Cornhuskers came out on top against the Boilermakers by a score of 88-72 (the very same score they lost by the week prior). Winning is a bit easier when your three-point shooting is a whole 21.5% better than the opposition, as Nebraska’s was.
Nebraska got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Brice Williams out in front who almost dropped a triple-double on nine points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists. Those nine assists set a new season-high mark for him. Keisei Tominaga was another key contributor, scoring 19 points.
Meanwhile, the Hawkeyes rang in the new year with a 86-77 win over the Scarlet Knights on Saturday.
Among those leading the charge was Payton Sandfort, who scored 24 points along with eight rebounds. Those 24 points set a new season-high mark for him. The team also got some help courtesy of Ben Krikke, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and ten rebounds.
The Cornhuskers’ victory was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 13-3. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 85.0 points per game. As for the Hawkeyes, they are on a roll lately: they’ve won four of their last five matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 9-6 record this season.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as Nebraska and Iowa are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Nebraska hasn’t had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 78.4 points per game. However, it’s not like Iowa struggles in that department as they’ve been averaging 86.7 points per game. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Nebraska didn’t have too much breathing room in their contest against Iowa in their previous matchup back in March of 2023, but they still walked away with a 81-77 victory. Will Nebraska repeat their success, or does Iowa have a better game plan this time around? We’ll find out soon enough.
Odds
Iowa is a 4.5-point favorite against Nebraska, according to the latest college basketball odds.
The line has drifted a bit towards the Hawkeyes, as the game opened with the Hawkeyes as a 3-point favorite.
The oddsmakers are expecting fireworks from the offense and set the over/under at a high 166.5 points.
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Series History
Iowa and Nebraska both have 5 wins in their last 10 games.
- Mar 05, 2023 – Nebraska 81 vs. Iowa 77
- Dec 29, 2022 – Nebraska 66 vs. Iowa 50
- Feb 25, 2022 – Iowa 88 vs. Nebraska 78
- Feb 13, 2022 – Iowa 98 vs. Nebraska 75
- Mar 04, 2021 – Iowa 102 vs. Nebraska 64
- Feb 08, 2020 – Iowa 96 vs. Nebraska 72
- Jan 07, 2020 – Nebraska 76 vs. Iowa 70
- Mar 10, 2019 – Nebraska 93 vs. Iowa 91
- Jan 06, 2019 – Iowa 93 vs. Nebraska 84
- Jan 27, 2018 – Nebraska 98 vs. Iowa 84
