Historic run snapped in tight road loss
Major college basketball’s longest winning streak in more than a decade came to an end Tuesday night as No. 5 Nebraska fell 75-72 at No. 3 Michigan. The Cornhuskers saw their 24-game run snapped after going scoreless over the final 3:20, missing their last five shots in a game they led for long stretches.
“To beat Michigan, you have to play almost perfect, and we had a lapse at the end,” guard Sam Hoiberg said after the loss at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor.
Short-handed Huskers still prove their ceiling
Nebraska played without two key contributors. Rienk Mast missed the game due to illness, while double-digit scorer Braden Frager sat out for a second straight contest with an ankle injury. Despite the absences, the Huskers stayed in control for much of the night and pushed Michigan to the final possession.
Coach Fred Hoiberg emphasized the bigger picture after the loss. “That just proved, hopefully to everybody, most importantly to the guys in the locker room, that we can compete with anybody,” he said, while praising his team’s effort from start to finish.
A streak that redefined Nebraska basketball
The 24-game winning streak was the longest in Division I since Kentucky’s 38-0 start in the 2014-15 season. It began last April when Nebraska swept four games to win the inaugural College Basketball Crown tournament in Las Vegas and carried through a dominant start to the current campaign.
Nebraska’s previous loss came nearly a year ago, an 83-68 defeat to Iowa in the final regular-season game last March. The Huskers’ 20-1 start remains the best in program history, and their No. 5 ranking in this week’s AP Top 25 is the highest the school has ever achieved.
From long-shot program to national contender
The run captivated fans precisely because of Nebraska’s modest basketball history. The Huskers are the only power-conference program without an NCAA tournament win, holding an 0-8 all-time record in March Madness. Their last regular-season conference title dates back to 1950.
Under Fred Hoiberg, however, the trajectory has changed dramatically. After a difficult start that saw Nebraska go 24-67 overall in his first three seasons, the program is now 80-41 since, with consistent success in Big Ten play.
What comes next
Nebraska now has time to regroup before hosting No. 9 Illinois on Sunday. One loss does little to diminish a season that already includes an unbeaten nonconference run, a strong conference start, and legitimate hopes of contending for a Big Ten title.
More importantly, the Huskers remain well-positioned to end their long NCAA tournament drought. As Hoiberg has noted repeatedly, this team still has a chance to do something no Nebraska squad has ever done before.
