WHO: Nebraska Cornhuskers (12-8, 4-5 Big Ten)
WHEN: 12:00 PM CT
WHERE: Carver-Hawkeye Arena (Iowa City, IA)
TV: FOX (Brandon Gaudin and Sarak Kustok)
RADIO: Hawkeye Radio Network (Rob Brooks and Jaime Cavey Lang) | Sirius/XM 136/195
MOBILE: www.foxsports.com/mobile
ONLINE: www.foxsports.com/live
FOLLOW: @IowaAwesome | @IowaWBB | @IowaonBTN

Nebraska is one of the biggest surprises of the Big Ten season so far. Coming into the year, Nebraska looked like a team on the rise. The Huskers finished last year 24-9, and returned most of the key contributors from that team. They were ranked in the pre-season Top 25, and it even seemed possible for them to contend for a Big Ten title if things fell their way.

Unfortunately for Nebraska fans, things haven’t gone their way. The Huskers only have five players who have played in all 20 of their games, and only two of the five have started all 20.

In part as a result of those injuries, the Huskers are just 12-8 overall, and 4-5 in the Big Ten. They have a nice non-conference victory over Kansas, but also got blown out by Creighton, Drake, and Virginia Tech. They somehow beat #10 Maryland by 23, but also lost to 8-13 Rutgers by 12.

It’s worth noting that most of Nebraska’s blowout losses occurred on the road. But then again, so did that big victory over Maryland.

The sum of those results is a team that is very difficult to predict game to game. Nebraska at its best could absolutely beat Iowa, even on the road. If Nebraska is at its worst, Iowa could win this game by 30.

At its best last year, Nebraska looked a lot like Iowa. The Huskers’ offense ranked 11th in the nation in points per 100 possessions. They liked to play decently fast, and shot fairly well from both two and three. Like Iowa, Nebraska’s defense lagged behind its offense, ranking 121st in opponent’s points per 100 possessions.

This year, Nebraska profiles like a completely different team despite having a similar roster as last year. Nebraska’s defense has been much better this year (ranked 60th in points per 100 possessions), but its offense has really fallen off (114th in points per 100 possessions). The Huskers' pace of play has also dropped considerably and now ranks 182nd out of 361 teams.

A big reason for Nebraska’s offensive woes: shooting the ball. The Huskers' 2-point shooting percentage has dropped 3.2%, and their three-point shooting percentage has dropped 3.3%. Nebraska’s turnover rate has also jumped from 16.3 to 18.1% despite playing at a slower pace this year.

Overall, I don’t fully know what to make of Nebraska. It almost looks like they tried to turn a fast offensive-focused team into a slow, defensive-focused team with the same personnel. Maybe injuries played a role in that. The net result, though, is a team that has been less fun and seems like less of a threat overall than last year’s version.

Nebraska is led again this year by point guard Jaz Shelley, who averages 12.9 ppg, 6.3 apg, and 4.2 rpg. She shoots a decent 36.5% from three, but is weaker from two shooting just 41.9%. Shelley’s minutes and assists are up from last year, but she’s shooting worse from the floor than last year, her rebounds are down, and her turnovers are up.

Forward Alexis Markowski was last year’s Big Ten Freshman of the Year and looked like a future star in the conference. Unfortunately for Nebraska, she really hasn’t taken much of a step forward this year. Her overall stat line—12.2 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 50% from 2, 35.6% from 3—is all solid, but she looked capable of being an offensive star last year, and has played more like a number two scoring option at best.

Nebraska’s final healthy player averaging in double-figures is Isabelle Bourne. She averages 10.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 56.0% from two, and has played in 17 of Nebraska’s 20 games. Bourne doesn’t offer much defensively, however, and shoots just 28.6% from three and 52.9% from the line.

Like Ohio State, Shelley and Markowski are Nebraska’s two clear shooting threats, so if the Huskers start hot offensively, I wouldn’t be shocked if Coach Bluder goes back to the triangle-and-two defense to see if she can strike gold again.

No big offensive anomalies. On paper, Nebraska is a fairly similar team talent-wise to Michigan State. The Huskers shouldn’t have the fire power to stick with Iowa if the Hawkeye offense is even close to it’s A-game.

The reason the Michigan State game was close, though, was that everything seemed to go wrong at once. McKenna Warnock got hurt. Monika Czinano battled foul trouble. Caitlin Clark’s shooting was off, and she struggled to create without her best two weapons on the floor. As long as things don’t go that sideways again, Iowa should win this game.