This five-game losing streak Nebraska men's basketball finds itself on has been a rough stretch for those inside the program. Outside of it, too.

That much was clear following the latest setback, a 78-73 defeat at home to USC on Wednesday. It was a prime opportunity for the Huskers (12-7 overall, 2-6 in Big Ten) to snap the streak inside the friendly confines of Pinnacle Bank Arena, with thousands wearing red right there behind them.

After the game, Nebraska's leaders, Brice Williams and Juwan Gary, were the ones to take the postgame podium in what turned out to be a somber media session filled with hard truths.

"Toughness. Staying together. Sticking to our roots," Williams said of the biggest issues facing Nebraska right now. "We've done a poor job of that, and it showed tonight. It showed in my leadership."

Williams was especially disappointed with how he treated the moments following the loss. Nebraska's top scorer chose not to shake the hands of USC's players after the final buzzer. Williams, who scored 17 points but had three turnovers, including the final one which was the loss-sealer in the final seconds, said his teammates let him hear about that.

"It starts with leadership. I sucked at leading tonight," Williams said.

Fred Hoiberg, who on Saturday spoke to the media before his team flew to Madison for Sunday's noon tip at No. 18 Wisconsin (15-4, 5-3), said he liked how some members of the team approached Williams about the no handshake.

"We talked about. It's not how we want to represent our program. He was frustrated. I get it — believe me," Hoiberg said. "I think I played this game with a lot of passion. And when something didn't go well at the end, yeah, I was upset. But you got to go through it. You got to win with grace, you got to lose with grace. I was pleased with a couple of the guys, they addressed it before I even got in there after the game, and they talked about it."

The way Hoiberg sees it, the coach is glad Williams showed the emotion he did with his postgame comments. That told him the best player on the team is brought-in and that the accountability and care factor are high.

"Sometimes when you lose you feel like that spotlight is just right in your face, and you got to find a way to battle through that. But these are great kids. They're great students. They're out there competing, they're trying," Hoiberg said. "I just want for them to get a win and get this thing off our back so we can go on a little bit of a run. But I'm telling you man, nobody takes it harder than our staff and our players when things are going like they are right now, even though we're competing and playing hard."

Hoiberg knows better than anyone that this is a results-based business, though. At the end of the day, it's pretty simple. Wins and losses are what matter.

"Who cares if you compete hard or if you're great kids," Hoiberg said. "All that, for a lot of people, doesn't matter. It's are you winning? Are you losing? And right now, we're not finding a way to win games, and it hurts."

Whether shaking hands is a big deal or not, the frustration from this losing streak can't start seeping into the confidence level of the team, which may already be happening. Mentally, the team must stay strong and together.

That was the message from Gary, who passionately defended what he thinks this team is capable of after the USC loss. Like Williams, Gary only has this season left in his Husker career. He doesn't want to leave on a bad note after such a successful 2023-24 campaign.

"I believe in these guys. I believe in us," Gary said. "There's never a doubt that I will go through war and Hell with these guys, any day, all day. So, definitely frustrated. But we'll get this right, we're going to be good for sure."

Are the preseason goals of making a second consecutive Big Dance and winning a game in it out of reach on Jan. 25? No, not technically. But change needs to happen now, or else Nebraska could be one of the three teams left at home when the 15-team Big Ten Tournament kicks off in Indianapolis March 12-16.

If a season turnaround is in the Huskers' future, it needs to start on the road Sunday at No. 18 Wisconsin, a team that saw a seven-game winning streak snapped at UCLA on Tuesday with an 85-83 loss.

And considering the upcoming schedule — after Wisconsin, Nebraska is at home Thursday against No. 17 Illinois, at No. 15 Oregon Feb. 2 and at Washington Feb. 5 — the game in Madison is, obviously, huge.

Wisconsin will come into Sunday averaging 81.5 points per game against Big Ten competition, which ranks fifth in the conference. Nebraska's defense against Big Ten opponents has struggled — it's allowing 81 points each outing, second-most in the conference behind Iowa's 86.5.

And while the 3-point shot didn't hurt the Huskers until it did in the second half against USC, Nebraska's perimeter defense needs to be on point because Wisconsin is shooting 38.7% from deep as a team against league opponents, best in the Big Ten.

Unlike previous seasons, Wisconsin is playing at a quicker pace and shooting more 3s — its 26.9 average attempts from deep is the second-most in the conference and its 9.6 made 3s each outing ranks third.

"The speed that they're playing with, it's the fastest I think Wisconsin has played in a long time. I don't know if it's ever, but they're playing really fast," Hoiberg said.

Omaha native and Omaha Central product John Tonje leads the Badgers offensively with 17.5 points per game. The 6-5, 218-pound guard is shooting 38.6% from 3 and has a 41-point outing against Arizona and a 33-point outing against Pittsburgh on his resume this season. He's coming off a 24-point effort at UCLA.

Tonje is one of five Badgers who are averaging double-figure scoring, including guard John Blackwell (16.4), forwards Steven Crowl (10.4) and Nolan Winter (10.4) and guard Max Klesmit (10.4). Both of Wisconsin's starting bigs, the 7-foot Crowl and the 6-11 Winter, are capable from 3 — both are shooting over 34%.

Transition defense will need to be crisp.

"They've always been a good execution team. They're running a lot of continuity, ball-screen-motion type of action with a bunch of different wrinkles out of it, and they can all shoot. All five guys on the floor can make a shot," Hoiberg said. "They've done a really good job recruiting to that system. And anybody on any given night can go off for five threes, including their bigs. So that's a challenge, when you got big guys, front-court players who can knock down shots."

Bigs who can shoot is a luxury Wisconsin has now, and one Hoiberg enjoyed last season with Rienk Mast, the 6-11 facilitator who also made an impact on the perimeter, dragging his defender out of the paint while knocking down 34.4% of his 3s. With Mast out for the season due to knee surgery rehab, the Huskers lost that consistent threat from 3 with its bigs, and in turn, the space it creates for cutters.

Berke Buyuktuncel is capable from behind the arc and has shown Hoiberg he has the ability to make 3s, but the longball hasn't fallen consistently enough in games yet for the UCLA transfer. Buyuktuncel is shooting 32.6% from 3 (14-of-43) and was 0-of-3 against USC after a 2-of-2 outing against Maryland. Andrew Morgan, more of a true post player, has only taken 11 3s and made three of them.

An upset win in a road game very few on the outside think is possible could be the spark needed to restore confidence and change the trajectory of the season. But to do it, the Huskers can't afford to play anything but their best. The margin for error is razor thin.

Sunday will mark Connor Essegian's first return to Madison, Wisconsin — his home for the first two seasons of his college basketball career.

Essegian played in 68 games with 19 starts during his stint at Wisconsin. As a true freshman with the Badgers in 2022-23, the Fort Wayne, Indiana, product played in 35 games with 19 starts and averaged 11.7 points and 3.7 rebounds while shooting 35.9% on an average of 5.5 3-point attempts.

As a freshman, Essegian made 69 3s that season, which is a Wisconsin freshman record. That’s more than Keisei Tominaga’s 66 3s from that same season. Other than Tominaga’s 76 made 3s from 2023-24, the next Huskers who made more 3s than Essegian as a freshman are Glynn Watson Jr. from 2018-19 (82) and Andrew White III from 2015-16 (87).

A back injury early in the 2023-24 campaign slowed Essegian, however, and he was never able to overcome it and get consistent minutes. He played in 33 games as a sophomore but didn’t start any of them while seeing his points average dip to 3.2 and his minutes average to just 7.3. He shot 30% from 3 (20-of-66) and just wasn't himself.

A change was needed, and landing at a place like Nebraska, a program that was looking to replace 3-point shooters in Tominaga and CJ Wilcher, has helped Essegian grow on and off the court, he said before the USC game.

"I learned a lot of lessons. I learned there's a lot of highs and lows for me and for our team there. I learned a lot of about myself," Essegian said of his time at Wisconsin. "When I came here, I was able to find Christ, which is a big part of my life. And just throughout the highs and lows, learning a lot about life and just being able to find ways to carry myself through thick and thin."

In a way, Essegian thought the difference between his freshman and sophomore seasons was good for him. It helped him see things differently, in a better way than he was before.

"Between my freshman year and sophomore year, the minute change was big for me, and I had never been put in a situation like that before my entire life," Essegian said. "And it was something that I had to take and carry myself with pride and know that I'm not playing for myself, I'm playing for something bigger than me — the team, a program, a state, just like we're doing this year here. Just being able to put myself aside and being able to focus on something else, and things will fall in the right place."

On Saturday before the Huskers flew to Madison, Hoiberg, who's mined the transfer portal hard for much of his career as a college basketball head coach, said transfer stories are usually filled with learning lessons for everyone involved.

"When you look at anybody that's been in a situation, whether it went good or bad in their mind, or in their people's minds, now it's a learning opportunity for them," Hoiberg said. "How are they going to grow from maybe some of the things that they need to do better and build on the things that they maybe did well in their first stint?"

And while some players find greener pastures while others don't in the transfer process, Hoiberg thinks Essegian has found a new home where he can continue growing in his role and being a key part of the team now, and hopefully in the future.

Essegian has turned into one of the top sixth men in the Big Ten and is averaging 11.5 points per game off the bench while shooting 41.5% from 3 (49-of-118). In the last three games, Essegian has connected on 53% from deep (9-of-17).

"It's where our game is, unfortunately or fortunately maybe for the players, and every new situation is a learning opportunity. For some people, it's better. For some people, it's worse," Hoiberg said. "And Connor, I think, has found a good situation here. We hope to have Connor here for a couple years. If the fifth year kicks in, we got an extra year with him. We love him, and he's had some really good moments so far in a Husker uniform, and he had some great moments for them."

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