The feeling Nebraska had walking off the floor following its inexplicable home loss to Gardner-Webb just two weeks ago suddenly now seems like an old, distant memory.
After losing six of seven games at one point and barely coming out of non-conference play with their heads above water at 6-6, the Huskers have flipped a switch hardly anyone could have expected.
With back-to-back road upsets over Indiana and Maryland, NU is in unfamiliar territory at the top of the Big Ten standings at 2-0. In those two victories Nebraska has looked like a completely different team, particularly in its poise during game-defining moments.
The Huskers trailed Indiana by seven early in the second half after blowing a 12-point lead, yet they were able to battle back and hold off several Hoosier rallies to snap IU’s 26-game home winning streak.
On Sunday they trailed by as many as 13 points to the Maryland, only to end the game on a 14-0 run to pull out their biggest comeback victory since 2014 and become only the second Big Ten team to beat the Terrapins at home since they joined the conference in 2014.
Last week's performance also bumped NU up to No. 49 in the latest college basketball RPI, marking a 20-spot jump from its previous ranking.
So what changed? According to senior guard Tai Webster - who was just named the Co-Big Ten Player of the Week on Monday - it was all about the Huskers believing in themselves.
“I think just having belief in ourselves and our team,” Webster said. “We wanted to play better in moments like this obviously after not having the start of the season we wanted. So to be in this position now is big to have our guys come through and step up and make plays.”
Nebraska had certainly come close to pulling off some similar wins earlier in the season - the loss at Clemson stands out as big as any - but it could never make enough plays down the stretch to seal the deal.
So to finally see some rewards for hard-fought efforts could be the turning point the Huskers’ needed to realize just how bright their potential could be.
“You have a belief in yourself now,” sophomore forward Michael Jacobson told the Husker Sports Network after the Maryland win. “We obviously had a lot of adversity being down 13… It just adds confidence when you get through adversity, and I think it strengthens the bond of the team when you have to fight through things like that together.
“I think this is something we always knew we could do. I think we knew we have the talent, we have the pieces, we just need to find a way to put it together and find a way to start getting those wins and see some of the rewards from it.”
As good as Nebraska feels at the moment, the reality is that nothing lasts long in the grind of the Big Ten schedule.
The Huskers have two straight home games starting on Thursday night vs. Iowa and then Sunday vs. Northwestern, and they are well aware that all of the momentum they built up last week could quickly be erased if they don’t keep it up.
“There’s no guarantees on anything,” head coach Tim Miles told HSN. “We really want to do well at home, I can tell you that. That has been a commitment of our guys, to be a better home team than we were the last two seasons. That’s important to us. We want to make Pinnacle Bank Arena ‘The Vault’ again.”
