3 thoughts on back-breaking Nebraska basketball loss to USC

They say you should never go to bed angry, but that was hard to do as a Nebraska basketball fan on Wednesday night.

For the second straight time, in a must-win game at home, the Huskers didn’t have as much energy, urgency, or toughness as their opponent. USC wanted it more. The Trojans were more physical and it showed in a 78-73 loss that could doom Nebraska’s once-promising season.

Of course, this one loss alone won’t doom the season, but the five-game losing streak certainly has. Nebraska basketball is 2-6 in the Big Ten. The Huskers are 12-7 overall and have lost two in a row at home.

If this isn’t rock bottom, I don’t want to know what is. Here are three thoughts.

The Huskers have a point guard problem

Fred Hoibeg made a change in the starting lineup Wednesday, going with Ahron Ulis over Rollie Worster but that move didn’t pay off. Ulis had zero points, three rebounds, and zero assists in 14 minutes. Rollie Worster wasn’t much better making 1-of-5 shots from the field. He did have six assists and six rebounds, but the duo combined for four turnovers.

For the season, neither has been that effective. Worster has been a solid scorer and distributor at times, but his defense has left much to be desired.

Nebraska basketball didn’t have a true point guard last season and that was a problem in its own right. But now, the Huskers still don’t have a reliable point guard. Worster has been up and down on both ends of the floor and just looks a step slow defensively.

Ulis can’t create any offense and just like last season, the Huskers have a point guard problem.

Forget about the NCAA tournament, the Big Ten tournament isn’t a guarantee

After the win over UCLA, it felt like Nebraska basketball was going to cruise into the NCAA tournament. Hell, I had the half-baked idea that the Huskers could contend for a top-4 spot in the Big Ten conference.

Everything was going swimmingly until the second-half collapse at Iowa. It feels like Nebraska never got off the mat. They were blown out in the next game at Purdue, and have followed that up with losses in three winnable games.

Maryland was ranked 24th in the Kenpom rankings. Nebraska didn’t even score a point-per-possession and could have stolen a win. That’s what makes this team so frustrating. It has the ability. Things have just fallen apart and now, Nebraska is tied for 16th in the Big Ten.

To make matters worse, the next three games are against ranked teams: Wisconsin (road), Illinois (home), and Oregon (road), as well as a road game at Washington. The Huskers still haven’t won a Big Ten road game which means this team could be staring at a 2-10 record in conference play.

That’s why these home games against Rutgers and USC were must-win games. The Huskers lost them both which sums up the current state of their season.

Williams and Gary aren’t enough

Juwan Gary was the one guy who did show up for Nebraska basketball with 27 points. However, he grabbed just three rebounds and missed all five of his 3-point attempts. Still, Gary battled and made 11-of-19 shots from the field.

Brice Williams went 5-of-12. He had some nice shots down the stretch but also threw the ball away when Nebraska basketball had a shot to tie. The execution in the last minute was disappointing, which is another reminder that this team doesn’t have a true point guard.

The effort on the boards wasn’t good enough and that includes Gary. USC was one of the worst offensive-rebounding teams in the Big Ten and grabbed 12 offensive boards.

Rebounding is about effort and USC simply played harder. Gary busted his tale and that was the Juwan Gary we haven’t really seen the past few games, but in the end, Nebraska needs more from the others on the team that aren’t Williams and Gary.

The other three starters for Nebraska combined for six points. Connor Essegian had 15 off the bench but the other six players who saw the floor combined for 10 points and if the season is going to turn around, it has to start with Essegian and the others being more consistent.

Gary and Williams can’t do it all and we are seeing the results of that.

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