MILWAUKEE – You could tell the Nets had vivid memories, if not nightmares, of what happened the night before in Indiana. It’s hard to forget something like being beaten by 32 points.

But those memories weren’t enough for the Nets to shake their road cobwebs no matter how hard they worked last night against the Bucks.

The Nets definitely played with more urgency and passion than in Indiana – they couldn’t play with less – but weren’t efficient enough and didn’t make nearly enough shots to beat Andrew Bogut and the Bucks.

So another road game and another loss, this one a 91-81 defeat that dropped the Nets 20 games below .500.

Eventually, they’re going to have to figure out how to win some road games. At this point it could be as much mental as it is physical. This was the Nets 11th in a row away from the Prudential Center and their 21st loss in 22 games on the road.

The Nets never really hung their heads the way they did in Indiana. They tried to come back but were doomed by a 12-point second period and just not having the muscle and presence to keep Bogut from controlling the middle.

Few teams do.

Brook Lopez played well again, scoring a game-high 26 points. But he didn’t match up with Bogut’s line of 17 points, 18 rebounds and seven rejections.

“He changes things,” coach Avery Johnson said, “but Brook held his own. Brook got a couple of fouls there in the first half. For the most part Brook held his own. I thought he showed a lot of passion and emotion, which I’m really excited about.”

Lopez did, but Kris Humphries needed to do a better job of riding out Bogut and trying to keep him off the glass. But this is a problem most teams have. Bogut came in averaging 11.5 rebounds.

The Bucks, defensively, also funnel everything inside to Bogut because he’s a great last line of defense. He seemed to have more than seven blocks and he altered countless other shots.

“He’s a great player,” Lopez said. “He’s a big challenge for [me] and I just tried to give my best effort.”

But it wasn’t just Bogut that killed the Nets. It was their own offensive struggles that included a 2-for-11 night by Devin Harris, 3-for-8 performance by Sasha Vujacic and 0-for-6 effort from Kris Humphries.

Credit Bogut with some of those misses, but the Nets aren’t as patient and don’t move the ball as well on the road as they do in the Prudential Center. There is no question it’s a confidence thing, which makes it a mental thing.

They all were looking forward to going home, where they recently completed a 4-1 homestand. The Nets play four of their next five at home, starting with a visit from Carmelo Anthony and the Nuggets on Monday.

That should be an emotional and important game for both teams, but more so the Nets.

They need to continue their strong play at home and get these two defeats out of their system, not to mention the significance of Anthony being in their building.

Nearly half the team was set to leave in order for the Nets to get Anthony. It weighed on their heads, but now the Nets say it’s out of their system. Eventually, they hope to get the road woes out of their system, too.

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Harris left the game in the fourth with a shin injury, returned, but then left for good. The Nets expect him to play Monday.

They also hope to have Jordan Farmar back. He missed the past two games with a back injury.

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Coach's Corner

"The first half they really banged us on the boards. They had nine offensive rebounds. We just had a tough second quarter. We tried to get Devin a little two-minute break and it hasn’t really worked well for us both nights. We were a little bit better with him game in the fourth quarter when he kind of tweaked his leg a little bit. When we lost Devin both nights on this road trip we’re going to have to find a solution for that unless we’re going to have to play him 48 minutes."

- Johnson after the game.

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Follow me on Twitter: @Al_Iannazzone

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Al Iannazzone covers the Nets for The Record (Bergen County, N.J.)