Nebraska and Iowa both woke up Sunday morning knowing their situation.

Win today's basketball game inside Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln and the goal of earning a spot in the NCAA Tournament stays alive while you also solidify a spot in the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis.

Lose, and those same Big Dance dreams are officially ended while you also become one of three conference teams that stay home while 15 of your league counterparts duke it out on a big stage in Indy.

But with all those stakes on the table, in the biggest game of the season, Nebraska fell flat.

The Hawkeyes left PBA with an 83-68 win, which seals Nebraska's fate, which won't include a return trip to the NCAA Tournament — or an appearance in the conference tournament.

"It's a crusher. It kills me to know that we're not going to be able to go to Indy and extend this thing," Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg said after the loss. "...That being said, I think we will play in the postseason. We got to regroup. We get to continue on with our journey, and that's important."

That journey could include the National Invitation Tournament, more commonly referred to as the NIT, or the College Basketball Crown (CBC) Tournament, a first-year event in Las Vegas that runs from March 31 to April 6 and includes 16 teams from the Big Ten, Big East and Big 12 that don't make the NCAA Tournament.

According to its website, the CBC selection process will take place following Selection Sunday for March Madness, scheduled for Sunday, March 16. Once the NCAA tournament bracket is announced, the Crown will unveil its own 16-team bracket.

Nebraska, which was without backup center Braxton Meah for the game as he was dealing with back spasms, started well and was the team to throw the first punch. The Huskers made three of their first four 3-point shots and took an 18-10 lead in the first half.

Iowa, however, started making shots and the Huskers' defensive rotations were too slow to close out, or not quick enough to stay in front of drives to the hoop. The Hawkeyes shot 49% for the game and went 11-of-28 from 3-point range while NU shot 35% from the field and 22% from 3 (6-of-27).

"When shots fall, I'm a lot better coach and things are a lot prettier when it's going in, when your offense is clicking like it was last game against Ohio State," Hoiberg said. "So once the ball stopped falling, is it effort, or is it just the ball wasn't going in tonight? Give Iowa credit. They did a good job mixing defenses. When a team goes zone, you got to make some shots."

For Nebraska to win the game, Brice Williams needed to be his usual Brice Williams self. But the Huskers' 6-foot-7 guard and top scorer was held in check by an Iowa defense that focused on limiting him, and it worked.

Williams, who entered the game as the Big Ten's top scorer in conference action at 21.4 points per game, finished with 7 points on 3-of-12 shooting from the field. He was held scoreless in the second half and made his final bucket of the game at the 26-second mark of the first half.

With Williams blanketed, not enough of his teammates stepped up and hit shots. One of the players brought in to do that through the transfer portal, Connor Essegian, didn't have it Sunday. The former Wisconsin Badgers who has made over 39% of his 3s this season went scoreless and missed all 11 of his shots, eight of which came from behind the arc.

"I didn't think we did a good enough job getting to the pocket," Hoiberg said. "We got in the pocket early, we hit a couple threes off it. And when they blitzed Brice, you got to make them pay by playing numbers — four on three. You got hit some shots when you have those opportunities."

Iowa's perimeter shooting — the Hawkeyes went 6-of-15 from 3 in the first 20 minutes — helped it take a 40-35 lead at halftime. The Hawkeyes finished the half strong while the Huskers didn't — they missed their last 10 3-point attempts in the first half.

Iowa's lead grew to seven points after the break, 47-40 at the 17:31-mark, but an above-the-break 3 from Sam Hoiberg plus an offensive rebound and putback from Juwan Gary cut the deficit to four points.

That was as close as Nebraska would get, though. The Hawkeyes were full of answers and held the Huskers at arm's length the rest of the way.

Gary finished with a team-high 24 points, which was his eighth 20-point outing and third in a row. Gary averaged 23 points and 6.3 rebounds over his final three contests.

What will stick with Hoiberg for a while is how his team didn't protect its home court this season. The Huskers were 4-6 at PBA against Big Ten opponents. Last season, Nebraska was 10-0 against league opponents in PBA.

"We did not do a good enough job protecting this place this year," Hoiberg said. "... In this league, man, you got to find a way to protect your home court. We did not do a good enough job of that this year, especially with the support that we get."

Not the Big Ten Tournament.

Maybe the NIT. Maybe the College Basketball Crown Tournament, which is played March 31 through April 6 and is comprised of teams from the Big Ten, Big 12 and Big East that don't make the Big Dance.

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