For the first time this season, the Nebraska locker room was quiet following a game. In Ann Arbor Tuesday night, it was the kind of quiet that only comes after a game players believe they should have won.
Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg stood in front of his team and acknowledged the feeling.
“It’s been almost a year since we had that dejected feeling in a locker room,” Hoiberg said during his postgame press conference following Nebraska’s 75-72 loss to No. 3 Michigan. “They were hurt. They were hurt by it.”
For a program that had grown accustomed to winning, late-game celebrations and emotional highs, this was unfamiliar territory. However, even in the sting of the three-point loss, Hoiberg saw something more important taking shape.
Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg didn’t know he’d be without Rienk Mast until 15 minutes before the opening tip against Michigan. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
What Nebraska showed Tuesday night wasn’t just competitiveness – it was identity.
Shorthanded on short rest and facing one of the nation’s best teams in one of the toughest road environments in college basketball, Nebraska went toe-to-toe for 40 minutes and had a chance to win late.
The Huskers forced 19 turnovers, shot with a whole world of confidence early and matched Michigan’s physicality possession after possession. They did all of that without two of their major pieces, as Braden Frager didn’t travel with the team, and Rienk Mast was so sick he couldn’t play – a decision that was made just minutes before the opening tip.
Nebraska’s scrappy defense led to 19 Michigan turnovers Tuesday night in Ann Arbor. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
“You got no Braden, you got no Rienk, and you fight them all the way to the finish and you lose by a basket,” Hoiberg said. “That shows the character of our team. It also shows that we can compete with anybody in the country.”
The circumstances made the performance even more telling. Nebraska entered the game with little recovery time and even less preparation. It was their third-straight game with only two days to prep, and as you can imagine, they prepped for Mast to be on the court early and often.
After hearing the news, what followed was a first half that looked nothing like a team scrambling to survive. Nebraska pushed the pace, moved the ball and played freely. They hit shots, attacked mismatches and built confidence with every possession.
“I thought in the first half our pace was great, our movement,” Hoiberg said. “If we make our lay-ups, I think we win this game.”
Like he’s done for much of the season, Nebraska senior Sam Hoiberg led his team in steals with four Tuesday night. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
On the other end, Nebraska disrupted nearly everything Michigan tried to run. The Huskers turned defense into momentum, forcing turnovers and turning stops into transition opportunities.
“They were all over us, and we turned it over 11 times, (but) we forced that team into 19 turnovers,” Hoiberg said. “That’s unbelievable on the road to go out and play that way.”
“We knew it was going to be a battle,” senior guard Sam Hoiberg echoed during his postgame press conference. “We were going to have to fight, and we were going to have to have guys step up. I thought everyone that stepped on the court made an impact.”
For Nebraska, the challenge was not just Michigan’s talent. It was their size, depth and physicality. Thanks to the late scratch from Mast and Frager being in Lincoln, Cale Jacobsen spent long stretches battling in the paint against a front line that outweighed and outmatched him physically.
With Mast and Frager out, key Huskers like Cale Jacobsen stepped into big roles. Jacobsen added eight points along with four steals. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Yet Hoiberg saw his team lean into the challenge instead of shying away from it.
“You’ve got Cale Jacobsen out there guarding a guy at 6-10 built like a Greek God, and Cale battled him every step of the way,” Hoiberg said.
What made Tuesday night’s game seem more and more improbable was how the team played when you knew nothing was left in the tank. Even when fatigue set in during the second half. Nebraska’s rotation tightened, but they maintained a lead against one of the best teams in the country.
The Huskers pushed No. 3 Michigan to the brink Tuesday night, but they will not call it a moral victory. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
It’s obviously a lead that slipped away late, but it’s a game where you could almost consider the performance a moral victory. The key word for the Husker players, though, is almost.
“We’re not an excuse team,” Sam Hoiberg said. “We’re not going to say we ran out of gas. We played a lot of minutes, more than usual probably, but you’re juiced up at the end of the game. I can’t blame it on not having legs.”
Across the court, Michigan head coach Dusty May recognized what Nebraska brought to the floor, especially knowing they were down two of their key contributors.
“I want to congratulate Nebraska on a great game, being short-handed and playing as hard and as physical as they do,” May said. “They gave us everything.”
Michigan coach Dusty May praised Nebraska’s effort Tuesday night, saying, ‘they gave us everything.’ | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Even as Michigan adjusted defensively late, May acknowledged the challenge Nebraska presented without its full lineup. Rienk Mast being ruled out late wasn’t just a surprise in the Nebraska locker room. It caught the Wolverines off guard as well.
“They’re very difficult to guard with him, and they’re extremely difficult to guard without him,” May said. “Obviously, they’re not near as good of a basketball team, but I do think they’re probably more challenging to guard with Lawrence playing the way he did, Hoiberg, Sandfort and then Jacobsen came in and played really, really good basketball.”
Inside Nebraska’s locker room, the message was clear. There would be no celebration of effort, and there are no plans to frame the loss as something positive. However, pride in the fight was allowed.
“No moral victories,” Fred Hoiberg reiterated. “You’re not happy about it, but at the same time, you just proved you can compete with the best.”
Nebraska senior Sam Hoiberg said there are ‘no moral victories in this program’ following Nebraska’s 75-72 loss to Michigan. | Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images
“We don’t have moral victories in this program,” Sam Hoiberg echoed. “(Fred) was proud of how we battled, and I think all of us are proud of that. But there’s no moral victory in this situation.”
Still, there was something valuable to carry forward. A shorthanded Nebraska tested itself against the highest standard in the league and possibly the country and didn’t blink. That realization matters, especially for a team now learning how to respond when things don’t go perfectly.
Coach Hoiberg framed the next challenge not in terms of tactics but in mentality.
“We’ve responded great when we’ve had a big emotional win,” he said. “Now we’re going to find out what we’re made of and how we’re going to respond to a tough loss like that. We’re going to get in the film room. We’re going to win the recovery day tomorrow. We’re going to learn from a lot of things. We’re going to approach it the exact same way than if we would have won this game.”
The road isn’t getting any easier for Nebraska as they return home, so focus is on not letting the Michigan loss beat them twice. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
That mindset resonated with the players. Sam Hoiberg pointed to the maturity of the group and the importance of not letting one loss snowball into something bigger.
“We can’t let this get to two,” he said. “You’ve got to hold your heads high and get back to work, win our recovery day and just keep battling.”
For Nebraska, Tuesday night in Ann Arbor will likely not be remembered for the final score alone. It will be remembered as the moment when the Huskers proved to themselves they belong in the national conversation.
“That just proved to everybody, most importantly to those guys in the locker room, that we can compete with anybody in the country,” Fred Hoiberg said.
The loss hurts. It’s supposed to, but what Nebraska is taking back home with them is something deeper. They now understand there isn’t a team in the country they can’t play with, as long as they continue to play connected basketball – regardless of who’s on the floor.
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