Column: Petteway too much for IU

In 11 matchups between Nebraska and IU, the Cornhuskers have won only twice.

One of those came in 1920. But nobody was there to live-tweet it, so who knows if it really happened.

The other time is fresh in the memories of Hoosier fans. In 2012, the Cornhuskers upset the Hoosiers 70-69 in Lincoln, Neb.

Expect to see Nebraska register its third-ever win against IU.

IU (13-7, 3-4) plays Nebraska (10-9, 2-5) at 8:15 tonight on BTN.

Nebraska features 6-foot-6 forward Terran Petteway. He is third in the Big Ten in scoring, averaging 18.2 points per game. And the Huskers like to go to him.

A lot.

Petteway is used in an incredible amount of the Huskers possessions. He has a usage rate of 29.7 percent, which is 63rd in the country, per kenpom.com.

That is a large number.

The Huskers go to Petteway a lot as is, but he may get even more touches.

Junior guard Deverell Biggs was kicked off the team earlier in the week for undisclosed reasons. Biggs was averaging 10.8 points per game in Big Ten play.

So with Biggs out of the equation, expect to see Petteway get an even bigger piece of the shot distribution pie.

In the one game Nebraska played without Biggs, Petteway went off.

His stat line was pretty amazing — 35 points, six rebounds, and three assists on 10-for-15 shooting from the field, including four threes in just 31 minutes. He also went 11-for-14 from the line.

But perhaps the most amazing part was he only had two turnovers.

Look, Petteway will get to double figures in scoring. And probably a lot more. He’s scored in double figures in 18 of 19 games this year.

So the question becomes, who can check Petteway?

IU will probably do a rotation of Will Sheehey, Stanford Robinson, Jeremy Hollowell and maybe even a little bit of Jeff Howard on Petteway.

But this won’t be enough. I don’t think IU will contain Petteway.

Nebraska is a steady, non-flashy team. They are pretty much average in every statistical category, except their dominance at home.

Given IU’s inconsistency, I don’t think the Hoosiers are ready to knock off a decent team on the road quite yet. But it will be close.

However, if IU wins this game, it should turn heads. It will be one of the biggest wins of the year for the Hoosiers.

But IU will have to wait for their signature road win.

Prediction — Nebraska 67, IU 65.

Evan Hoopfer is 7-4 in predictions this year.

­— ehoopfer@indiana.edu