The Nebraska basketball team finished the 2016-17 season with yet another soul-crushing loss (this time in overtime) and finished the year with a 12-19 record thanks in large part to a final five-game losing streak. Despite those factors, the Nebraska athletic director believes the future is bright for Tim Miles' program thanks in large part to a young roster which will see just one impact player graduate. If the future does truly look bright for the Huskers' basketball program, then there are quite a few clouds hovering over it at the moment.
Yet another bad showing
The Nebraska basketball team came into Wednesday afternoon's contest against Penn State having just been dealt four straight losses of 15 or more points. Their last loss, a 36 point debacle was the worst home defeat in the program's history. The three games before that seemed to collectively drive a stake through the heart of a season where some Nebraska fans were still hoping for an outside shot at the NCAA tournament thanks to a brutal strength of schedule.
Some thought Nebraska could use the game against the Nittany Lions, who the Huskers had beaten by 16 in their previous meeting, as a kind of cleanser. There is some bad morale around the program thanks to worries about Miles' job and the way the team has played in the final 15 games of the year.
No offense, not enough defense
Instead, Nebraska underlined all the problems that have plagued them recently. The Huskers offense has been hiccuping badly recently and the team shot just 34 percent from the field today. The Nebraska basketball team also didn't play great defense against one of the worst offenses in the conference, allowing Penn State to shoot nearly 40 (7-18) percent from three-point land.
Look forward to next season of @HuskerHoops under @CoachMiles leadership...the future is bright! GBR!
— Shawn Eichorst (@BigRedAD) March 8, 2017
Nebraska did look like it might turn the game around when it made a mini-run at the end of the second half, sending it to overtime. Unfortunately, the team saw its senior leader in Tai Webster foul out (finishing his final game shooting just 4-16 from the field) and the Nittany Lions outscored NU 16-7 in the final period.
Despite all of that, the Huskers athletic director tweeted just minutes after the game was over that he felt the future looked bright and he was excited that Miles was returning. If the head coach's seat was hot at the end of 2017, it's going to be on fire next season.
