Nebraska Men’s Basketball Plays a Game Husker Fans Didn’t Want to See

There it was, in crystal-clear 4K. Right there on your high-def television Tuesday night was the Nebraska men’s basketball game you dreaded, the performance you hoped would never happen.

It was a 40-minute showcase for what can go wrong for the Huskers in this hard-to-believe, history-making 25-5 (14-5 Big Ten) season. It was UCLA 72, Nebraska 52, at Pauley Pavilion, where the Bruins now are 17-1.

Ironic that this kind of devastating loss happened in March, college basketball’s cruelest month, when most hoops dreams go to die. On the eve of March Madness, Nebraska played what might be its worst game of the season.

“We just did not respond to anything that UCLA did to us tonight, really for the first time all year,” Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg said in a postgame news conference.

“Our team’s been unbelievable with their approach with the way they’ve gone out there and handled adversity, but we did not do that well today. But again, the credit goes to UCLA for that.”

If engineers were drawing up a way to beat Nebraska — as March Madness begins in two weeks — Tuesday night’s game tape was pretty compelling.

What happened to the Huskers?

Nebraska had a season’s worth of issues jammed into one game. For example:

Nebraska forward Rienk Mast (51) and UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau fight for a rebound during the second half. — Nebraska forward Rienk Mast and UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau fight for a rebound during the second half at Pauley Pavilion. | Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

* The Huskers have played excellent defense this season. But UCLA shot 46.7 percent from the field, 34.5 percent from distance. The Bruins, who seemed quicker to the ball, had too many open looks. Nebraska has thrived on its defense all season.

“Well, I mean, listen, we’re fifth in the nation in defensive efficiency,” Hoiberg said. “So, we’ve been really good on that end all season long.

“We just weren’t crisp on our closeouts. We missed a couple of rotations. Our communication wasn’t where it needed to be. Things that we have done exceptionally well all season long.

“But, again, give the credit to UCLA. They played a lot harder than we did not tonight and we got what we deserved.”

* The Huskers shot an abysmal 5-of-24 from distance, a ridiculous 20.8 percent. Distance shooting has been a reliable and winning aspect of Nebraska basketball this season. From distance, Pryce Sandfort was 2-of-7; Braden Frager was 0-5; Jamarques Lawrence was 0-for-3.

Overall, Nebraska shot 38.8 percent (19-of-48). Lawrence was 1-of-8. Frager was 1-of-7.

* Nebraska hurt itself from the foul line, making only 9-of-18. In the second half, as the Huskers were trying to mount a run, they clanked foul shots.

“We missed two front ends [of one-and-ones],” Hoiberg said. “Sam [Hoiberg] missed two. We left six points on the board and had a uncontested layup in transition. And you just can’t get those back, especially when you’re trailing like we were.”

* The Huskers were outscored, 26-18, in the paint. Nebraska has been outscored in the paint in three of its five losses.

Nebraska forward Braden Frager tries to score on UCLA guard Donovan Dent during the second half at Pauley Pavilion. | Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

* Nebraska has been outrebounded in all five losses. The margin was negligible against UCLA, 36-34, but it wasn’t in the other four games. In the other losses, Nebraska was outrebounded by double digits — 35-23 at Michigan; 40-27 vs. Illinois; 54-37 vs. Purdue; 37-24 at Iowa.

* The loss at UCLA was the Huskers’ largest margin of defeat all season, the first time they lost by double digits.

In the one-and-done, pressure-filled nature of the NCAA Tournament, errors must be minimized. Each possession, each basket, each rebound, each foul shot are magnified. All of a team’s dreams and aspirations can be wiped out in 40 quick minutes.

UCLA is a quality team

The Bruins were projected to be a 10-seed in the latest ESPN Bracketology, which was released Tuesday. The next projections are Friday, and expect UCLA to improve and Nebraska, a 3-seed on Tuesday, to maybe tumble down to a 4-seed after such a one-sided loss.

UCLA (20-10, 12-7) is the kind of quality team that makes it to the second round, the kind of team Nebraska will have to play that first weekend. And when the Bruins are playing well, they can keep going.

UCLA has defeated three top-10 teams this season — No. 9 Nebraska, No. 4 Purdue and No. 10 Illinois — the first time this legendary program accomplished such a feat in a single season.

“We’ve generally been the team that I feel has been the most connected, harder-playing team,” Hoiberg said. “But tonight UCLA won in both those categories.

“The biggest thing is how we’re going to respond. That’s the only thing that matters right now. We’ll get back and get to work right way, which probably is a good thing. Get in there and watch film and then we can move on to Iowa [Sunday’s opponent in regular-season finale].

“They’ve responded all year, so I’m confident that they’ll do that. That’s one thing when I look at our guys, they’ve been unbelievable in their preparation and the way that they’ve moved past emotional wins, the way they’ve moved past a couple tough losses, and I’m confident that we’ll do that again.”

As an anxious Husker basketball nation holds its collective breath.

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