By Pat Harty

The fact that the Iowa men’s basketball team lost 66-50 at Nebraska on Thursday isn’t shocking because the Cornhuskers are finally showing a pulse under fourth-year head coach Fred Hoiberg and were playing before a sellout crowd at home.

What’s shocking about the loss is how poorly Iowa performed on offense.

The same program that has led the Big Ten in scoring in each of the past four seasons under head coach Fran McCaffery looked lost and timid on offense, and never really mounted much of a threat against an opponent that leaves much to be desired.

Nebraska (8-6, 1-2 Big Ten) appears to be making progress under Hoiberg, but that still shouldn’t excuse Iowa’s listless performance.

Iowa (8-5, 0-2) never looked comfortable on offense, and never was able to push the pace, and that’s highly unusual under Fran McCaffery.

The 50 points is a season low for Iowa, and is more than 30 points below its per-game scoring average.

Iowa missed 16 consecutive shots in the first half, and was also outscored 19-0 during a stretch in the first half.

And then when you consider that Iowa was coming off a 93-82 loss to a 3-9 Eastern Illinois squad in its last game, which was called the biggest upset in the last 30 years in men’s collegiate basketball with Iowa having been a 31.5 favorite, the loss at Nebraska looks even worse because Fran McCaffery’s squad is obviously moving in the wrong direction and faces another difficult test in its next game at Penn State on Sunday.

Iowa was at full strength against the Cornhuskers with Kris Murray and Connor McCaffery both having returned from injuries.

But it didn’t matter.

Kris Murray had some nice moments on offense as he scored 17 points, but it wasn’t nearly enough as Iowa fell behind early and never recovered, and now has to win at Penn State on Sunday to avoid starting 0-3 in Big Ten play.

Iowa only made 19-of-73 field-goal attempts and was just 7-of-28 from 3-point range.

“We got 73 shots up, that’s a lot of shots to get 50 points,” Fran McCaffery said.

Junior forward Patrick McCaffery and junior guard Tony Perkins shot 1-of-9 and 1-of-6 from the field, respectively, while point guards Ahron Ulis and Dasonte Bowen both missed all four of their field-goal attempts.

Senior forward Filip Rebraca was the only starter for Iowa to shoot 50 percent form the field as he made 8-of-16 field goal attempts and finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds.

Defense is where Iowa has been most vulnerable under Fran McCaffery, but holding an opponent to just 66 points would usually be enough to win.

The first hall was a disaster for Iowa as it went nine minutes without scoring and was in danger of being blown out until a late run in the closing minutes of the half.

Nebraska built a 21-point lead in the first half and seemed on the verge of burying the Hawkeyes until Kris Murray responded by scoring 10 of his 13 first-half points in the final six minutes of the first half, which ended with Nebraska leading 38-26, but with Iowa having established some momentum.

“We got off to a bad start shooting the ball,” Fran McCaffery said. “I thought coming in the way they (Nebraska) defend, they really work, I’ve been impressed with their defense. So you’ve got to move the ball and you’ve got to go in and out and you’ve got to go side to side and get good shots, which I thought we did.

“And I would say the same for the second half. But if you take out two double-figures guys out (Rebraca and Murray), we shot five for 42.”

The momentum from the first-half rally was shortlived as Nebraska led by double-digits throughout the second half.

Iowa also only made one 3-point basket in the second half.