No one likes the sound or feel of a losing streak. And when one of those reaches four games, like it has for Fred Hoiberg’s Nebraska Cornhuskers, those outside the program start thinking the worst.

Will the program make the 15-team Big Ten Tournament? Will the Huskers get back to the Big Dance for a second consecutive season? Is it time to hit the panic button with 13 regular-season games remaining?

Yes, the noise is awfully loud outside of Hoiberg’s program, which sits at 12-6 overall and 2-5 in Big Ten play after dropping four straight, three of which have come on the road.

Inside the Huskers’ walls, though, Hoiberg still believes his team will weather this storm it finds itself in. And while it doesn’t look or feel like it for some, those postseason goals set in the summer when this roster was finalized are still alive.

“It’s all out there right now,” Hoiberg said Tuesday during a press conference at Pinnacle Bank Arena ahead of Wednesday night’s 8 p.m. home game against USC (11-7, 3-4). “We went from being in a really good situation, in a really good position, to still having our goals right in front of us.”

While it was a loss and moral victories aren’t really his thing, it was hard for Hoiberg to ignore the positives he and his staff saw for stretches at Maryland. The defensive intensity wasn’t there for a full 40 minutes, but there was enough of it to nearly escape with a win against a team Nebraska hasn’t beat on the road since January 2017.

“One thing I really liked about the last game, I thought our defensive edge was back, and that’s got to be our constant,” Hoiberg said.

Keeping the players focused on the upcoming job and not on what a four-game losing streak could turn into is a top priority right now. So is ramping things up defensively. That’s where it starts.

In seven games against Big Ten competition, Nebraska is allowing 81.4 points per game, third-worst in the conference behind Iowa (88.6) and Minnesota (82.9). The Huskers’ perimeter defense has struggled mightily with too many slow or out-of-position rotations and soft close-outs. Nebraska’s last four opponents have have shot a combined 47% from 3 (58-of-122), with Maryland making 10 3s, Rutgers 12, Purdue 19 and Iowa 17.

Responding from adversity, not hitting the panic button and sticking together on the court when things go south is the name of the game right now. It’s a long season, and the road doesn’t get much easier with the Huskers’ next three opponents after USC being ranked in No. 18 Wisconsin, No. 17 Illinois and No. 15 Oregon.

“Body language in this business, man, it’s not good. Teams will pounce, they’ll smell blood in the water and they’ll jump all over you when that happens,” Hoiberg said. “We show examples of it when guys hang their heads or throw their arms up. When we stay together, we’re pretty good and we have a chance. And I thought for the most part, against Maryland, it was good. Against Rutgers, I didn’t see a lot of head hanging. We played hard that game, we just didn’t play with the toughness that we needed to. We got it back in this last one.

“So, just keep grinding, man. That’s the bottom line. We just got to keep fighting, keep swinging. And I’m confident this team will go on a run at some point.”

The team doesn’t want to always have to rely on a packed PBA to get a win, but having thousands in red backing you up on the court sure is nice. And for the first time since the Indiana win on Dec. 13, the student section will be full as classes at UNL have started again.

“Our students will be back tomorrow. Very important for us to get the crowd behind us early in this game, coming off the streak that we’re on right now,” Hoiberg said. “Got to do everything in our power to get out of it.”

On Tuesday Hoiberg mentioned the team is dealing with a bit of an injury situation one day out from the game. Understandably, the head coach declined to mention which players.

“We’ve got a couple guys who are nursing some injuries right now that have not practiced, who will hopefully be ready for the game tomorrow,” said Hoiberg.

USC comes to Lincoln averaging 77 points per game, which ranks 12th in the Big Ten, right in front of Nebraska’s 76.6.

The Trojans’ ability to take and make the 3 will obviously play a large factor in the game. As a team, USC is averaging the fewest 3-point attempts per game in the conference (18.2) but is shooting 35.2% from 3 (6th in Big Ten). Defensively, the Trojans are allowing 77.3 points per game against Big Ten opponents (T-7th).

USC has had an up and down season. In November, the Trojans lost by 35 points, 71-36, to a common non-conference opponent of Nebraska’s in St.Mary’s. That day USC shot a horrid 26% (13-of-50) from the field and missed all 12 3-point attempts.

But head coach Eric Musselman’s team also beat Washington on the road 85-61, trailed by just 4 points with 11 minutes left in the game at Michigan before losing 85-74 and beat No. 13 Illinois 82-72 in Champaign on Jan. 11.

USC’s leading scorer is Desmond Claude, a 6-foot-6, 201-pound guard and transfer from Xavier who’s averaging 16 points, 3.8 rebounds and 4.1 assists. Claude isn’t a dangerous 3-point shooter as he’s shooting 30% from deep this season (8-of-26), but he’s tough to defend when attacking the paint. He scored 31 points at Illinois and went 7-of-7 from the free-throw line.

Nebraska’s defensive rotations will obviously need to be crisper than they’ve been during this losing streak, especially when those skip passes opponents like to throw against Nebraska’s double-the-post defense finds Chibuzo Agbo, Wesley Yates III and Saint Thomas.

Agbo is a 6-7, 227-pound guard who’s shooting 38% from 3 (41-of-107) and has five games of four or more made 3s this season. Yates is a 6-4, 219-pound guard who’s shooting 37% from (20-of-54).

Hoiberg noted USC’s rotation players can all handle the ball well and are around the same size, in that 6-6 to 6-8 range.

“They’re extremely talented when you look top to bottom with their rotation guys, it’s got an unbelievable level of talent,” Hoiberg said. “And obviously Eric Musselman is one of the best in the business as far as getting his guys going once they get hot.”

As for Thomas, Husker fans should know all about the 6-7 product out of Millard North High School in Omaha. After spending the first two seasons of his college career at Loyola Chicago and last season at Northern Colorado, the 6-7, 235-pound Thomas has started all 18 games for USC and is averaging 11 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.4 steals per game.

Thomas, who is coming off a 24-point outing against Iowa and a 19-point effort against Wisconsin, is capable from behind the arc as he’s shooting 34.5% (19-of-55). In his last two games, Thomas has gone 5-of-7 from 3.

“He’s having a great year. He’s one of the more versatile players in this league. I’m happy for him, he’s a good kid,” Hoiberg said. “He’s playing really good basketball for them right now. …He can rebound the ball, he can push it and handle it. He’s doing a lot of really good things for USC. …He’s a load out there, especially playing in a front-court position. He’s strong, he’s thick and he’s got good athleticism.”

With Maryland using a full-court pressure against the Huskers on Sunday, fans saw both of Nebraska’s point guards on the court at the same time in Rollie Worster and Ahron Ulis.

Ulis came off the bench and gave Nebraska a jolt of life. He dished off a career-high 10 assists and only turned the ball over once. He didn’t get his shot to fall against the Terrapins — he scored 3 points and went 1-of-6 from the field and 0-of-1 from 3 — but he helped generate offense for others and did well defensively with four boards and two steals.

The 27 minutes Ulis played were his most since playing 29 for Iowa against Minnesota on February 12, 2023.

“I thought Ahron obviously had his best game in a Nebraska uniform,” Hoiberg said.

Nebraska’s head coach couldn’t say enough about how Ulis has handled everything since he’s been a Husker.

“I’ll say this about Ahron, I give him all the credit in the world. He played six minutes against Rutgers and played pretty well, and didn’t get in there in the second half,” Hoiberg said. “He was as good as anybody we had walking into the gym the next morning. As far as being a leader and using his voice, that stuff pays off. The basketball gods work in a weird way. When you respect the game, when you go out and do things right, it rewards you.”

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