EVANSTON-Northwestern squandered a 20-point lead in the second half of a deflating 68-64 loss to Nebraska on Sunday at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

It was the undermanned Wildcats’ third straight loss, and sixth setback in their last seven of a season that appears to be in free fall.

"Super disappointing loss today," head coach Chris Collins said. "Devastating, considering our effort. We had a great first 28 minutes...but we can say what we want, we gave up 47 in the second half.”

Ty Berry came out shooting the logo off the ball, with 23 points and six made 3s. But his output slowed considerably and he didn't take another shot after a fast-break dunk with 15:31 left in the second half to go up 18.

Nick Martinelli tied Berry with a game-high 23, mimicking his USC stats with an 11-for-25 performance from the floor, but just two assists.

Brice Williams and Juwan Gary led the charge for Nebraska with 20 and 17 points, respectively. They scored 28 of their 37 combined in the second half.

"I could sit here for a long time and talk about that," Collins said about the second-half struggles. "We get a little fatigued. We have to play so hard and our margin for error is so slim, but that's where you have to be able to mentally, physically push through those things."

Here are our takeaways from a loss that dropped Northwestern's record to 13-13 overall and 4-11 in Big Ten play.

Northwestern can't find consistent guard play: It's hard to critically assess the guard position when the Wildcats are down Brooks Barnhizer and Jalen Leach and their 200+ combined games of experience in the backcourt. The Wildcats have had to rely on a fresh-faced backcourt of Jordan Clayton, KJ Windham and Angelo Ciaravino to fill in the gaps.

But Collins put it best: the Wildcats can't dwell on what they’ve lost.

"Brooks isn't coming back, Jalen isn't coming back," he said. "These are the guys that are going to be in the game. Hopefully, as hard as it is, we learn some of these lessons."

The trio of two freshmen and one sophomore (Clayton) combined for six points and five assists in 53 minutes. Berry wiped out any concerns in the first 25 minutes of play, scoring at nearly a point per minute, but then he fell off as Nebraska threw the kitchen sink at him down the stretch.

Windham, who scored 20 points at Oregon in what appeared to be a breakthrough, fouled out without scoring in this game.

The Wildcats don't have enough diversity in their scoring anymore, and teams can focus their defense on the Wildcats’ top players.

Martinelli has struggled to distribute since becoming the team's No. 1 option, and Collins bluntly addressed his low assist numbers.

"To get assists, the guy he passes to has to make the shot," he said.

Each player has shown flashes. Ciaravino with his springy athleticism, Windham with his fearless shooting and Clayton as a reliable ball handler. But all three also have serious flaws. Ciaravino and Windham still haven't got their spots down cold in Chris Lowery's defensive scheme, and Clayton hasn't been able to provide a scoring punch.

Collins documented a few different errors down the stretch.

"Our defense wasn't ready in the second half; we had critical breakdowns," Collins said. "We had ball screen actions we didn't switch correctly... When we scored with 33 seconds left, we tried to get them to trap and get the ball out of Williams' hands, and instead we fouled him.

"Part of that is having guys who have never played in these kinds of games, and it's hard. But that's on me and this staff to coach these guys up to perform under pressure because that's who we have right now."

With five games left, the jury is still very much out on what all three players can offer, and that shows on the court.

Loss to Nebraska means the rebuild is on: The brutal evaporation of the halftime lead against Nebraska all but ended Northwestern's postseason aspirations. Certainly for the NCAA Torunament, but likely for the Big Ten’s postseason tourney, too.

Only the Top 15 teams in the conference will get an invite to Indianapolis, and the Wildcats sit in 17th, with next-to-no tiebreakers in their favor. Collins confirmed that the program's focus is now on player development in the remaining games.

"It's going to be great for the young guys to get key minutes in clutch time, on offense, defense and learn what it takes to win," he said. "I've had to go through it twice, and we're back here because of injuries, playing a bunch of young guys who haven't done it.

"There can be a lot of heartache there, but then you get to the other side. We've done it twice...they get better from it, that's all we can do with these guys."

The rebuild may be on, but all hope should not be lost. A talented, five-player Class of 2025 is inbound and Northwestern has proven they can identify and acquire key additions in the portal. As Collins said, he's done it before.

Most importantly, he has a landmark player to build around. Martinelli has managed to still score effectively since Leach and Barnhizer went down, averaging 22.3 points per game over the last four games. This home stretch isn't how he wanted to wrap up his junior year, but it gives him a taste of what it's like to carry a team in this league.

"He's forced to score 25+, to be a distributor, to rebound, play defense. In the long run, it'll be good for his development but right now he's going through it," Collins said. "But there's a process...he's got to make better decision and I'd like for him to be more efficient, but it's hard."

Patience will be a virtue this five-game stretch, and while Northwestern's chances for a run in either tournament is likely dashed, they have the opportunity to build for the future.

Northwestern should retire Buie's jersey sooner rather than later: In a promotional run that would have made Jerry Reinsdorf proud, Northwestern basketball consistently advertised their Alumni Day with a series of posts highlighting the return of star guard Boo Buie. The program legend signed autographs on South Campus and mingled with students and fans pregame. All that built up to a 20-second spot on the video board in the second half.

The Wildcats have moved at glacial pace to add industry-standard recognition in the rafters at Welsh-Ryan. Program pioneer Billy McKinney, the all-time leader in field goals and current radio broadcaster across from Dave Eanet, just went into the rafters last season. Recognition for conference titles and NCAA Tournaments for basketball, wrestling and volleyball went up this year.

Illinois honored former star Terrence Shannon Jr. on Saturday, not even a calendar year after the close of his career for the Illini. Admittedly, it prompted one of the biggest gaffes in the sport this season when they raised his jersey into the rafters upside down, but it's the speed of recognition that a definitive player deserves. It took Purdue less than a year to honor Zach Edey, too.

Northwestern should follow suit and lift Buie’s No. 0 into the rafters at Welsh-Ryan as soon as possible.