Nebraska basketball has been one of the best stories in college basketball this season, as Fred Hoiberg and the Cornhuskers have established themselves as not only a Big Ten contender, but a team that has the entire nation on notice.

On Tuesday night, Nebraska had a chance to make another big statement, as the No. 7-ranked Huskers welcomed No. 13 Purdue to Lincoln. Purdue came into the season as one of the favorites to win the national title, so a victory for Nebraska would further cement it as a powerhouse this season.

Unfortunately, Hoiberg's squad got off to a disastrous start and, despite fighting back admirably to force overtime despite a big deficit late in the game, fell to Purdue 80-77.

Despite the tough loss, Hoiberg is confident that the Huskers will bounce back and be just fine in the long run.

Article Continues Below

“It's gonna be a good learning opportunity for our team,” Hoiberg said. “Get a good film session in on Thursday when we get back in the gym, but we're gonna prepare like we have all year. We’re not gonna jump off the map. We’re gonna learn from this one like we have after every game that we've played this year.”

While this loss will sting for Nebraska, especially coming in front of its home fans, the Cornhuskers still have everything to play for coming out of this game. While this may very well knock it out of the top 10, Big Red is still 21-3 on the season and is just two games back of Michigan for the lead in the Big Ten. Nebraska should also be in a good position to stay in protected seed range for the NCAA Tournament, with no more ranked teams left on the regular season schedule.

Nebraska will have a few days to stew on this loss before taking on a beatable Northwestern team at home on Valentine's Day. After that, Hoiberg and company will get ready for a challenging road test against a bitter rival when they head to Iowa next Tuesday night.