Nebraska basketball lost to the Illinois Fighting Illini 78-69 in a packed house at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Sunday morning.
This was a game where Nebraska actually led at halftime, 39-33. However, Illinois stormed back and took control of the game in the second half, outscoring the Huskers 45-30, as the home team lost its second game in a row.
If there was a bright spot for Nebraska, it was the play of Braden Frager. He scored 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting and made both free throws. Sam Hoiberg led the game in rebounds with six and assists with six.
The Huskers fall to 20-2 overall and 9-2 in the Big Ten. Illinois improves to 19-3 for the season and 10-1 in conference.
Nebraska returns to the road for its next game, traveling east to face Rutgers on Saturday morning. Tipoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. CT on the Big Ten Network.
Nebraska fans everywhere were polarized by the loss, and we picked out some of the best reactions.
Getting the losses out of the way
Another Nebraska men’s basketball loss. Maybe they’re getting these out of the way before March.
— Adam Johnson (@Mr_GCU) February 1, 2026
It has been a rough week indeed
Rough week for Nebraska basketball
— jason (@PacmanJonez) February 1, 2026
Fans still respect the Huskers
The Nebraska basketball storyline arc was always likely to come back to Earth, but I still would not want to see them near my bracket region in March.
— Dennis K Jr (@denniskjr) February 1, 2026
The officiating was in question again
Back to back horrendous officiating for Nebraska basketball this week. Tough breaks but lot of ball left this year.
— Trey (@sVIxman) February 1, 2026
The second half has left a lot to be desired
Nebraska 2nd half basketball been bad past 2 games
— buster / worm (@EazyyBuster) February 1, 2026
The Big Ten is tough
Michigan basketball tough week vs #5 Nebraska and #7 MSU = 2 W's.
Nebraska basketball tough week vs #3 Michigan and #9 Illinois = 2 L's.
This conference is tough and shows you how fast things can change— RJ Rider (@RJRider5) February 1, 2026
The fans were impressive
Illinois gets revenge on Nebraska in one of the craziest basketball environments i’ve been in a while!
Hats off, these guys are a basketball school now.— The–Crypt0keeper (@keepNcrypt0) February 1, 2026
TV broadcast
There needs to be more TV flexing for college basketball like we see in football. There’s no reason why Purdue-Maryland should be the CBS game over Illinois-Nebraska.
— Sean Callahan (@Sean_Callahan) February 1, 2026
Incredible
Nebraska being good is incredible for college basketball
Pinnacle Bank sounds like the loudest arena I’ve heard all season
— Cole Adams (@coleadamss) February 1, 2026
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This article originally appeared on Cornhuskers Wire: Social media reacts to Nebraska's loss to Illinois