In December, Nebraska men’s basketball was a gritty, grimy team. They said it themselves, at least Fred Hoiberg and Juwan Gary did in front of the media.
That was in the middle of a six-game winning streak after Michigan State browbeat them 89-52 in East Lansing on Dec. 3.
Remember the trip to Hawai’i where everyone, including me, thought they had turned the corner and the Michigan State game was a throwaway loss to a really good team on their home court?
That seems like a decade ago, not last month. The Huskers have now lost five in a row, and it wasn’t that long ago that a five-game losing streak turned into 10 straight losses. That streak was Jan. 2 through Feb. 8, 2022.
“Toughness,” “sticking together,” “staying to their roots,” “be tougher,” “take control of the narrative” were just some of the postgame comments after USC came to Lincoln and won 78-73 by out-toughing Nebraska.
USC came into the game 282nd in the nation in offensive rebounding percentage at 26.4%. The Division I average is 30.1%. Wednesday, the Trojans out-rebounded Nebraska 12 to 6 on the offensive end. After the game the Trojans rank 276th in offensive rebounding percentage at 26.8%.
It wasn’t an effort thing for Nebraska.
“We play hard, we are playing hard, there is no doubt about that.” Fred Hoiberg said after the loss. “We are giving effort right now.”
The sloppy turnovers are back after taking a game or two off. There were one-handed passes at the top of the key that turned into a steal and runout for USC. On two occasions in the game Nebraska had multiple turnovers in short spurts, one with three turnovers in a 2:23 span late in the first half and another with two in the first three minutes of the second half.
Three times in the first half the Huskers had their hands on the ball for an offensive rebound and just couldn’t secure it before it went out of bounds. Two of those were on the first two possessions of the game. That isn’t an effort play, that’s a mentally tough or “toughness” play.
“Our ball club is not the biggest team, but I thought we did a really good job on the boards,” USC coach Eric Musselman said. “It’s one of our highest games all year of offensive rebounding and scrapping out loose balls.”
USC out-rebounded Nebraska 36 to 31. It was just the third time in 19 games this season Nebraska has lost that battle.
The smaller Trojans didn’t just out-rebound the Huskers, they played sound defense, used their toughness and physicality to disrupt Nebraska offensively and took the fight to the Huskers.
Juwan Gary and Brice Williams came back to Nebraska to get them over the hump and win an NCAA Tournament game. After beating 15th-ranked UCLA on Jan. 4 for a program record-tying 20th straight home win Nebraska was looking at what seed it could earn for the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
A 15-point second-half collapse at Iowa in 16 minutes and 54 seconds felt like a tidal wave, just a blip that a veteran team can overcome. That has turned into what now feels like a tsunami.
Life in the Big Ten can be hard, but this program isn’t Washington with a first-year coach and a new league to navigate, including travel from coast to coast.
It doesn’t get any easier for Nebraska. Its next three opponents are ranked in the top 20.
A road game at Wisconsin, followed by a home game against Illinois and a road trip the the Pacific Northwest for back-to-back games against Oregon and Washington are up next.
The Huskers are now negative-two by their own definition of success in the league after two home losses to middle- or bottom-of-the-pack teams in the league this season. Nebraska is now one of those bottom-of-the-league teams at 2-6, tied for 17th.
“We have to find a way to steal a couple on the road,” Hoiberg said. “We have some really good opportunities ahead of us and some very difficult tasks, but we have to stay together. When you’re on a streak like we are right now, human nature is to start questioning and to separate a little bit, but we have to find a way to stay together through this tough time and hopefully get this thing reversed soon.”
The Big Ten is only taking the top 15 to the league tournament this season. Nebraska is currently not one of those teams. The NCAA Tournament seeding conversation has turned into a question if Nebraska can make it to the postseason at all.
