The road trip to Chicago for the 2026 Big Ten Tournament was a short one for Nebraska men’s basketball.
A backbreaking start to the game, a 13-3 lead for seventh-seeded Purdue less than four minutes into the game, doomed the second-seeded Huskers in the 74-58 quarterfinal loss.
“We’ve got to find a way to put two halves together if we want any chance of advancing next week,” Fred Hoiberg said after the loss.
The Boilermakers had more to play for and it showed. According to just about every NCAA Tournament projection, Nebraska was a three seed and Purdue a four. That could flip on Sunday when the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee meets and produces the March Madness bracket.
Nebraska did a much better job of staying even if not playing better than Purdue in the second half of the game. Finding a way to respond to adversity is something Nebraska has been good at all season.
The matchup with Purdue is a bad one for the Huskers. The Boilermakers size and physicality to go with the experience and depth is something Nebraska struggles with.
There weren’t clean looks for the first-team All-Big Ten player Pryce Sandfort. Every time he touched the ball it seemed like a Boilermaker was there, and he didn’t get enough help from the other guards and wings from Nebraska.
The team’s starting guards were held to 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting. Their counterparts, Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer, had 24 points on 6-of-18 from the field. Smith only made one field goal, but he controlled the game with 10 assists in his 37 minutes.
Failed the Keys
The four keys to the game Nebraska had to start the game, Purdue won. The Huskers needed to avoid a slow start; they clearly didn’t.
Nebraska needed to win the turnover battle and points off of them, but Purdue won those two categories, forcing 10 Nebraska turnovers to its nine.
“They were just mindless,” Hoiberg said of the turnovers. “And the 2nd half, we have two. We did a much better job of taking care of the basketball, but you give them eight opportunities, and the points off turnover differential in the first half, and then the inability to finish the possession.”
The Boilermakers in the first half had 17 points off eight Nebraska turnovers. Nebraska had no points off of four Purdue turnovers.
“When you get outscored, whatever it was, 36 to 13, and the second chance points and points off turnovers, it’s hard to win,” Hoiberg said. You got to find a way to narrow that gap and give yourself a chance.”
Nebraska did a much better job keeping Purdue off of the offensive glass, only losing the offensive rebounding battle 13-10. The problem for the Huskers was that they didn’t scramble quickly enough and gave up 19 second-chance points.
A big reason for the second-chance points was that the Husker guards and wings needed to rebound down, which left Smith and Loyer and others open to make skip passes or knock down second-chance 3-pointers.
“In the second half, they did a solid job on the glass. At halftime, actually, we were out-rebounding them,” Hoiberg said. “A team that’s a lot bigger and more physical than we are. And then the second half, that was the difference, first half, was the turnover, second half, was the rebounding.”
Regroup
Should Nebraska win the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament game next week, it will need to find a way to have a positive response to the short stay in Chicago.
It’s something the Huskers have done all season following a loss or even bad performances in games.
“We found a way to regroup after the disappointing game in UCLA. I thought we played great, especially in that second half at USC, did not play as well against a hot UCLA team, and then found a way to regroup and focus for senior night against Iowa at home,” Hoiberg said. “Now we gotta get that same focus back. And, you know, listen, give Purdue a lot of credit. They’re playing great basketball. I thought they were terrific last night. They followed that up with another really good game in this one … we’re going to go back and watch the film and find a way to get this thing back right, and hopefully go on a run here, starting next week.”
The loss stings, sure, but it’s not the end of the road for Nebraska, after all, this group of players has tied the school record for wins in a season with 26. It’s five losses, all to teams that should be in the NCAA Tournament when the bracket comes out Sunday evening.
It’s a disappointing loss, but the bigger picture is right in front of this team; they should be a clear favorite to win the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament game next week, after all, that’s never been done in Nebraska men’s basketball history.
