It’s not a surprise that the Nebraska basketball team’s loss to Minnesota on Saturday was a bad one. After all, the Golden Gophers have long been considered to be a favorite to miss the Big Ten tournament.
But it’s not just that the Huskers played a bad game against a bad team. It’s the totality of just how bad the game was. And it’s not just the comments after the game that displayed a Cornhuskers head coach who seems utterly devoid of answers on how to get his squad to play better.
First, there’s the numbers that show how bad the Nebraska basketball loss was for their NCAA Tournament chances.
Nothing like a ShotQuality Scores Thread from Saturday dropping on Sunday night. 🧵
— ShotQualityBets (@ShotQualityBets) March 3, 2025
We start with the upset of the weekend. Nebraska's 2H comeback falls short against Minny in a game that Neb. was projected to win by 20. 🤢
Brennan Rigsby with 20 points on an expected 8 (37%… pic.twitter.com/UgWQCxGQcQ
Nebraska basketball loss to Minnesota was worse than it first looked
The Cornhuskers lost by just two points, thanks to a huge comeback in the second half that was reminiscent of their game against Northwestern. However, they couldn’t close the deal after being down by 18 at one point in the second half.
According to ShotQuality, the Huskers were expected to win their game against the Golden Gophers by 20 points. Not based on betting action but by metrics that show who was supposed to score how much.
The site credits the Huskers’ inability to shut down Brennan Rigsby as the big reason why they lost. He was expected to score 8 points. He ended up with 20, including the game winning three point shot that won the game.
And then there were the comments by head coach Fred Hoiberg.
Fred Hoiberg devoid of answers after latest loss
"The thing about our group that is disappointing in that game, when you go out there and get slapped around a little bit and get punched in the mouth, is the body language, the head-hanging," Hoiberg said after the game. "It makes you sick as a coach to see that lack of fight and urgency to get out of that thing until it's too late."
The problem is that the lack of urgency and the lack of fight, especially in the first hafl is something we’ve seen plenty of times. They did it against the Wildcats. They did it against Penn State. In all, they’ve trailed at the half in seven straight games. Even in wins, they aren’t starting well.
Nebraska basketball has two more chances to make the NCAA Tournament and Hoiberg needs to figure out why his team cannot get off to a competent start, quite fast.