While there are plenty of reasons to worry about the direction the Nebraska basketball program is headed just days before the NCAA Tournament starts, an ugly Friday night loss to Purdue isn't the end of the world. Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo made it clear to several Husker players what their thought process should be as they sit and wait for Thursday or Friday.
Izzo was outside the Husker locker room after NU's 74-58 loss to the Boilermakers, waiting for the Spartans to take the court against UCLA. When Pryce Sandfort and Rienk Mast passed him, he offered up the words of encouragement that should encapsulate their approach.
"Go get after them next weekend," Izzo told the Nebraska basketball players as they passed, wondering what had just happened. The veteran coach knows what he's talking about. He's been in this situation before. It would be nice to have beaten the Boilermakers, but the loss, no matter how bad it was, didn't derail the Huskers' season.
Tom Izzo's postgame message to Nebraska basketball players is the only thing that matters now
A few hours later, Izzo absolutely learned that lesson himself. Michigan State was the third of four Big Ten triple-bye teams to lose on Friday. Only Michigan won, and they nearly made it 4-for-4 against Ohio State.
Still, players like Jamarques Lawrence know there are things they need to fix. "We came out flat to start – 13-3 I think that's what it was to start," Lawrence said. "That can't happen."
It's a story that Nebraska has told quite often over the last month. They're starting out flat far too often. The good news, as analysts have pointed out, is that a team like Purdue has had plenty of time to prepare for what the Huskers do on offense and defense.
Starting next week, it's a whole new season, and Nebraska will face off against a team that won't have nearly as much time to prepare. Especially if they win their first round game. It's a new season, and as Tom Izzo said, the Huskers just need to "get after them next weekend" and let the nasty taste of the last month be forgotten.