LINCOLN, Neb. — Indiana basketball got a wakeup call at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Wednesday night.

The Hoosiers played a sloppy brand of basketball upon re-entering Big Ten play against Nebraska that doomed them in a 86-70 loss.

This came as Indiana had its full line-up available for the first time since a Nov. 26 win over Harvard. Xavier Johnson (ankle) was back in the starting lineup after missing seven straight games and Kel'el Ware (illness) played after missing last week’s win over Kennesaw State.

Indiana (10-4; 2-1 Big Ten) got 20 points on 9 of 12 shooting and 10 rebounds from Ware, who was about the only consistent option for the Hoosiers as coach Mike Woodson tried out various lineups to find a spark — the rest of the team shot 15 of 39 (38.5%) — but none of them provided answers against a Nebraska (12-2; 2-1 Big Ten) team that was happy to clean up the mess after IU tripped over itself.

Indiana basketball's turnover woes reach new heights

The opening minutes of the second half was a prime example of that.

Nebraska extending its lead to 13 points while the Hoosiers allowed an uncontested 3-pointer, turned it over twice and gave up a basket in transition because they failed to get back on defense.

The miscues derailed Indiana every time it got the Cornhuskers lead to under 10 points — Ware was called for a flagrant one when he pulled Josiah Allick to the ground by his face and neck from behind, Sam Hoiberg and Keisei Tominaga were each fouled on 3-point attempts thanks to late defensive rotations (they made all six free throws) and it had a four-plus minute scoreless stretch down the half.

Indiana had a season-high 19 turnovers less than a week after tying its season-high in turnovers (17) in a win over Kennesaw State. The Hoosiers also gave up double-digit 3-pointers (12) for the seventh time this season.

Key Hoosiers spend first half in foul trouble

Things got off to a dicey start for IU in the first half when starting forwards Malik Reneau and Mackenzie Mgbako got into early foul trouble and spent long stretches on the bench. Mgbako picked up his second foul before the second media timeout.

Nebraska was in the bonus with more than three minutes to go in the half and was 11 of 15 from the line while the Hoosiers were just 5 of 7.

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Recap: Indiana basketball gets wake up call in 86-70 loss to Nebraska