After picking up a Big Ten victory against Wisconsin on Jan. 23, Iowa came up short in its quest to start a conference winning streak, falling to Nebraska (16-8, 7-4) on the road, 98-84.

The Hawkeyes stayed within striking distance for the majority of the first half until the Huskers went on a 20-8 run to close out the first frame.

Facing a 48-34 halftime deficit, Iowa eventually went on a run to make it a 2-point game, but the Cornhuskers followed that up with an 11-0 run of their own, and that was that.

Once again, Iowa’s poor defense was exposed — Nebraska shot the lights out and scored the most points it has in a Big Ten game.

The Cornhuskers shot 57.7 percent from the field and 57.9 percent from behind the arc to suck the life out of the Hawkeyes on the defensive end of the floor.

“It certainly wasn’t one [issue]. It was multiple,” Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery said. “I think at some level, you’ve gotta give credit to the other team. They’re a talented group that shares the ball. I think that’s the thing that’s impressed me. They’ve got a lot of good individual players, but I don’t see any selfishness there.”

Isaac Copeland and James Palmer Jr. had great nights for Nebraska.

Palmer led the way with 28 points, and Copeland had an efficient night, scoring 23 on 8-of-11 shooting and grabbing 11 rebounds in the process.

The two were a big reason for Nebraska’s stellar percentage from deep. They connected on 7 3-pointers on 11 shots.

Isaiah Roby and Jordy Tshimanga rounded out the double-digit scoring for the Huskers, dropping 17 and 11.

Iowa did get solid contributions from Jordan Bohannon and Tyler Cook, however.

Bohannon hit 6 3s on his way to a 24-point night, and Cook continued his offensive prowess by posting another 24 points and 10 boards. Cordell Pemsl added 10 points.

Overall, the Hawkeyes had a decent night offensively. They hit 50 percent of their shots and had 20 assists to 9 turnovers, but Nebraska still outperformed them by taking advantage of their defense.

“[Eighty-four points] should be [enough to win], but we’ve got to play better defense, obviously,” McCaffery said.

The loss drops Iowa to under .500 a game after it put together one of its most complete performances of the season.

The Hawkeyes showed fight after halftime again, attempting to mount a comeback as they had done previously, but it wasn’t enough to get the job done, because the same problems returned to haunt the team.