The vibes surrounding the Nebraska men’s basketball program were good following the win over a then-No. 15-ranked UCLA Bruins team inside Pinnacle Bank Arena two weeks ago.

Things have shifted in a negative way since that afternoon.

Three straight conference losses have followed, and poor defense has played a large role in all of them. The Huskers lost a 15-point second-half lead at Iowa before being outscored 21-11 in overtime. Big Red was in big trouble as soon as the opening tip at No. 20 Purdue and lost by 36 points while giving up 19 3-pointers, which set a new record for most treys made by an opponent in NU history.

And of course, the most recent setback, an 85-82 loss at home Thursday night to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, who got a combined 45 points from their future NBA talent, Ace Bailey (24 points) and Dylan Harper (21).

The loss inside PBA snapped a 20-game win streak and was the first since Creighton left with a victory on Dec. 3, 2023. It's the first loss to a Big Ten team since Michigan State on Feb. 28, 2023.

Nebraska’s defense was the backbone to its hot start this season. But during this three-game losing streak, the opponents have scored 97, 104 and 85 points. The perimeter defense has come under fire. Iowa drilled 17 3s, Purdue 19 and Rutgers 12, including seven in the second half.

One of Nebraska’s leaders, sixth-year senior Juwan Gary, spoke after the Rutgers game. The 6-foot-6, 227-pound forward scored 20 points with seven rebounds and two steals against the Scarlet Knights.

“This stings, I would definitely say that. I would never sugarcoat nothing,” Gary said. “This is three (losses) in a row, it’s been I think, like, 687 days since we lost in PBA, and then to lose to a team (Rutgers) that I feel like we are better than, we’re better than them for sure all around the board. But they came in with a will that they were going to be more physical than us, and they definitely did.”

Toughness was a key talking point for Fred Hoiberg following the game. The Husker head coach said teams that did what Nebraska did against Rutgers should usually come out of it with a win. The Huskers dished off 17 assists against just seven turnovers. They won the offensive-rebound battle (19-17) and the second-chance points (25-19).

But Hoiberg knew his team needed to finish off more possessions than it did. Like they did against Iowa, the Huskers struggled in the paint against Rutgers, going 9-of-18 on layups. Thursday’s performance drew out a strong comment from Hoiberg.

"To me, it was toughness. Wasn't an effort thing," Hoiberg said. "We played hard. But just because you play hard doesn't mean you're tough. You got to find a way to finish off those possessions."

Now comes the next test on a short turnaround. Nebraska (12-5 overall, 2-4 B1G) travels to College Park, Maryland, to play the Maryland Terrapins (13-5, 3-4) on Sunday at 11 a.m. inside the XFINITY Center, a building Maryland is 11-1 in this season. The game will be televised on BTN with Jason Horowitz and Robbie Hummel on the call.

After back-to-back home wins against UCLA and Minnesota, Maryland lost 76-74 in overtime at Northwestern on Thursday.

The way Gary sees it, the Maryland game will be about pride. The team understands that for it to achieve its goals this season — make the NCAA Tournament and become the first Husker team to win a game in the Big Dance — the defense must improve and be the identity.

“I feel like we gotta find within ourselves as a team, as a whole, how much do we want it? That's all I kept hearing Ace Bailey saying — ‘We want it more, we want it more,’” Gary said. “And that hurts as a player. That hurts as an opponent, hearing a person say that we wanted it more. God knows no team wants it more than my guys, but just hearing that, and they proved it today that they wanted it more.”

Maryland will come into the game with the fifth-best offense in the Big Ten statistically at 84 points per game. The Terrapins are shooting 48.9% from the field as a team (4th in B1G) and 35.9% from 3 (5th). Maryland’s defense is holding opponents to 64.4 points each outing, second-best in the conference. Against Big Ten teams, the Terrapins defense is allowing 72.6 points per game (5th).

The Huskers will play another freshman with NBA talent in Derik Queen, a 6-10, 246-pound forward who’s averaging 15.8 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists. In an 83-78 loss at Purdue in early December, Queen had a double-double of 26 points, 12 rebounds and two 3s.

Four other Maryland players are averaging double figures, including Ja'Kobi Gillespie (13.9), Julian Reese (13.2), Rodney Rice (12.2) and Selton Miguel (11.1).

When talking about the search for answers, and mostly toughness like Hoiberg said, Gary showed his leadership in front of the media.

“At the end of the day, I don't care if we shoot 60 percent or even 13 percent, we can win a game with just defense,” Gary said. “And I feel like we could do that all around the whole season. But we just have to find within ourselves to come in and just realize who we are. We gotta look ourselves in the mirror and be like, are we willing to go out there every game, home or away, and have a great defensive performance, no matter if it looks pretty or not.

"End of the day, that's Nebraska basketball. That's who I am. That's who I feel like my guys are. I feel like that's the whole team. That's who Nebraska is. We are a grit, grinding team, and today wasn't that, and last three games wasn't that for sure.”

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