Fred Hoiberg thought the pregame shoot-around was maybe the best of the season prior to the tip against Penn State on Wednesday night.

"We were flyin' around, we were energetic, we were talking," Hoiberg said on the Huskers Radio Network after the game. "Obviously, it didn't translate."

No. No it did not.

Disaster found the Huskers immediately in State College, just like it did Sunday at Northwestern. The difference between those two games was Nebraska had an answer for the Wildcats and overcame a 20-point deficit in the second half.

Against Penn State, though? Nothing was left in the tank. There was no epic come-from-behind performance this time around.

Instead, it was a disappointing and embarrassing effort on the road that resulted in a 89-72 blowout defeat for the Huskers.

For a team fighting and clawing to make a return trip to the NCAA Tournament, this loss will stick out like a sore thumb on the résumé considering the Nittany Lions entered the day at the very bottom of the Big Ten standings with three conference wins and losers of their last seven games.

No juice. No energy. No nothing at the tip in this one. Some soul searching is headed the Huskers' way.

"I said that everybody's gotta look in the mirror, and it starts with me," Hoiberg said. "I gotta figure out a group that's going to go out there and lay it on the line."

Nebraska's record drops to 17-10 overall and 7-9 in the Big Ten while Penn State improves to 14-13, 4-12.

Nebraska never led in the game and trailed by 23 points at halftime, 50-27. The Huskers had major issues taking care of the ball and had 16 turnovers, 11 of which came in the first half.

The Nittany Lions to shot 66.7% from the field in the first half — 61% for the game — and held a 16-6 edge in points off turnovers. Penn State punked Nebraska on the boards, too, 27-22, and grabbed seven offensive boards.

The Nittany Lions, seeing a Berke Büyüktuncel-less defense, was in attack mode. They went 13-of-14 at the free-throw line and had six players score in double figures, including 7-footer Yanic Konan Niederhauser and the 6-8 Zach Hicks, who each finished with 19 points.

Connor Essegian came off the bench to score 20 points for Nebraska while Andrew Morgan had 18 and Brice Williams 17. Williams saw his streak of at least 20 points end at six games.

"Obviously this is two games in a row where we've gotten off to a start like this, and it is very disappointing with what's at stake for our basketball team right now, with what's in front of us with the opportunities we have," Hoiberg said. "We played 15 minutes of good basketball on this trip. It's not good enough. We have to find a way to get off to a start to get ourselves a chance, you just can't continue to try to dig yourself out of 20-point holes and expect to have any chance to win in this league. We're lucky to have gotten a split on this trip."

Hoiberg wants more fight from his team, especially when things go poorly on the court. Good teams find a way to stay competitive. That's not what the Huskers were on Wednesday.

"If you don't compete, you don't play with energy, I don't care what the game plan is — you're not going to have a chance," Hoiberg said. "You can go through every play in their playbook, but if you don't play with energy, you don't play with an edge, it doesn't matter."

Nebraska will host one of the best teams in the Big Ten Conference and country on Monday night at 7 p.m. — No. 12 Michigan (20-5, 12-2).

Dusty May's Wolverines have won six in a row and will have a huge game Friday night at home against Tom Izzo's No. 14-ranked Michigan State. It'll be a quick turnaround for the Wolverines, who will only get Saturday and Sunday off before playing in Lincoln.

Monday night will be a Quad 1 opportunity at home for the Huskers. Michigan had a NET rating of 17 on Wednesday.

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