That is the best way to describe Wisconsin’s 13th loss of the season, including its seventh in Big Ten play.
UW led by as many as nine points in the first half, by 11 with 10 minutes left but collapsed down the stretch and saw Nebraska rally for a 74-63 victory Monday night at the Kohl Center.
The Badgers held a 55-44 lead with 10 minutes left after a dunk by Khalil Iverson but Nebraska closed the game with a 30-8 run, thanks in part to a suffocating 1-3-1 zone and double-teams on Ethan Happ.
UW had two baskets – both by Iverson – in the final 9 minutes 59 seconds.
"I thought we were too tentative at times," UW coach Greg Gard said. "And I felt from the sideline that we let what wasn’t going well for us offensively affect our defense.
"We were pretty good (defensively) the first 30 minutes…That was the biggest thing. The inability to score, or missing free throws, affected what we were doing defensively...
"For us to be so good and then to have our offense, or lack thereof, impact how we were tuned in defensively is disappointing.
BOX SCORE: Nebraska 74, Wisconsin 63
Consider these numbers:
UW made just 2 of 13 field-goal attempts,4 of 10 free-throw attempts and committed 5 of its 13 turnovers in the final 9:13 as Nebraska roared back.
Brutal.
Meanwhile, Nebraska hit 6 of 10 field-goal attempts and 18 of 21 free-throw attempts over the final 9:45.
"We got out of our sets offensively and decided to go spread-motion and see if we could get the guys playing off each other," Nebraska coach Tim Miles said. "We got the ball into the lane and got to the foul line.
"And at the same time, we went 1-3-1 and decided to be more aggressive, trap a little bit just to try and change the momentum of the game.
"I thought those things worked hand in hand and you could see our guys growing in confidence."
UW (10-13, 3-7 Big Ten) suffered its third consecutive loss and sixth in seven games to fall into a tie for 10th place with Minnesota (14-9, 3-7).
The Badgers host Northwestern (13-10, 4-6) at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. The Wildcats suffered a 58-47 loss Monday at Michigan.
UW entered the season 8-2 against Nebraska since the Cornhuskers joined the Big Ten but dropped both games this season.
Nebraska (17-8, 8-4) completed a difficult stretch of four games in eight days, with three of those games on the road. They have won five of their last six games.
Forwards James Palmer Jr. and Isaac Copeland combined to score 30 points and hit 10 of 21 shots in Nebraska’s 63-59 victory earlier this month.
They killed UW again Monday.
Palmer Jr. scored 21 of his 28 points after halftime, including 16 in the final 9:45. Copeland scored 10 of his 17 points after the break. They combined to hit 14 of 28 shots and Palmer Jr. hit 11 of 12 free-throws and Nebraska finished 24 of 28 from the line (85.7%).
