RALEIGH, N.C. - The feeling inside Nebraska's locker room following Wednesday night's 104-100 quadruple-overtime loss at North Carolina State was nothing short of dejection and frustration.
At the same time, head coach Fred Hoiberg and his players couldn't help but think that the Huskers took a significant step forward in their growth as a team.
On the one hand, NU missed numerous opportunities to close out what would have been a significant victory in its first true road game of the season.
On the other, it also banded together through lopsided foul and free-throw discrepancies, three player ejections from a second-half skirmish, and four guys playing at least 43 minutes.
It was still a loss that dropped Nebraska to 5-3 to start the season and a spoiled opportunity to bolster its postseason resume. But Hoiberg and his players also left PNC Arena prouder than ever of the progress they'd made in terms of resilience and grit.
"We know we've got to work on a lot of things, but at the end of the day, I'm proud of how hard we fought as a team," said freshman guard Bryce McGowens, who played a whopping 58 minutes in the loss.
"We knew it wasn't going to be perfect. It was a game of runs, but we stayed together, and we never fell apart. That's what I'm most happy about. We can definitely build off of this. I'm just so proud of the way we fought."
For McGowens and several other of NU's first or second-year players, Wednesday night was the first time they had played a college road game with fans in the stands.
It wasn't the largest crowd at PNC Arena, but it was still loud, and the fans did their best to get into the Huskers' heads as the game went on.
The game wasn't just a physical test either, as frustration hit a peak in the second half after NC State used a 14-0 run to tie the game, and a scuffle at mid-court immediately ensued.
Junior forward Lat Mayen was at the center of the situation, and both benches quickly cleared amid a brief series of shoving and shouting. Mayen and Wolfpack guard Cam Hayes were ejected, as were NU backups Eduardo Andre and Oleg Kojenets.
Hoiberg said it was a matter of emotions getting the best of the players in the heat of the moment. But he was also proud of how his guys fought for each other.
"This game is very emotional," Hoiberg said. "You don't like to see it happen, but it does. It happens at every level. But at the end of the day, our guys have each other's back."
The key now for the Huskers is to take as many positives away from the loss and carry them over to an even more daunting challenge on Saturday with the start of early Big Ten Conference play at Indiana.
Because of how physically and emotionally draining Wednesday night was, Hoiberg said NU would likely have to have two days of "mental prep" on Thursday and Friday to keep the players as fresh as possible.
"We can't go out and grind them and take away their legs," Hoiberg said. "We're going to have to have two mental days, especially with the afternoon game. If we played at night, we might be able to get after it a little bit on Friday. But with the early game on Saturday and having to travel, we're going to have to get really creative with our guys.
"I guess last year with COVID may have helped having one-day preps for about 13 straight games. But that's what it's going to be about, is mental preparation, getting our guys back together, trying to get them confident, and go out and play well."
