Texas-San Antonio @ Nebraska preview

While Nebraska's 1-3 record during its most challenging four-game stretch of the season was about the best most fans would have expected, the way the Cornhuskers competed throughout most of the run has some believing a top-half finish in the Big Ten could be in the works. Coming off consecutive hard-fought losses to ranked opponents, the Cornhuskers look to rebound Wednesday when they host UT San Antonio.

Nebraska began the month with a 29-point defeat at second-ranked Michigan State on Dec. 3 before upsetting then-No. 15 Minnesota two days later. Four days after that, the Cornhuskers trailed by three at No. 24 Creighton with just over a minute remaining before succumbing late, and followed up that close call by pushing 12th-ranked Kansas to the limit in a 73-72 setback on Saturday. "This is what hurts. It means something to these guys. … We'll get better. I love my guys. I thought they played a heck of a game," Nebraska coach Tim Miles said after the game. The Roadrunners have yet to beat the Cornhuskers in five all-time meetings - the last coming in 2002 - but have proven to be a handful against the major-conference teams they have faced so far, losing by four at Tulsa on Nov. 28 and by 12 at No. 17 Oklahoma on Dec. 4.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network

ABOUT UT SAN ANTONIO (7-5): Guards Jhivvan Jackson (team-high 16.3 points) and Keaton Wallace (15) have combined to win Conference USA Freshman of the Week honors four times in 2017-18, matching the number the Roadrunners produced in their first four seasons in the league. Jackson, who exploded for a career-high 31 points to outduel the nation's leading scorer in Trae Young (28) in their loss to Oklahoma, rebounded from a scoreless effort five days later against Houston Baptist to pour in a game-high 19 in Saturday's win against NAIA foe Bethany College (Kan.). Despite coming off his lowest scoring effort of the month, Wallace is averaging 18.5 points in December and has drained multiple 3-pointers in all four outings (13-for-35).

ABOUT NEBRASKA (7-5): Reserve freshman point guard Thomas Allen (3.7 points) was instrumental in the near-upset of the Jayhawks, more than doubling his previous career-high point total with 13 points in 14 minutes, including a 3-for-4 effort beyond the arc after entering the game with a total of four 3-pointers. "I'm so proud of him. He came in and lit them up and then kind of got overzealous and made some mistakes, but he was really good. … I met with him this week and said, 'I see your role getting bigger as the year goes on, not smaller.' I think his potential is really good," Miles said. Georgetown transfer Isaac Copeland (12.7 points, 6.8 rebounds) is averaging 16 points and 10 boards over his last two outings.

TIP-INS

1. Despite averaging only 18.7 minutes, Nebraska 6-8 sophomore F Isaiah Roby ranks sixth in the Big Ten with 1.7 blocks and has rejected at least four shots twice this season.

2. UTSA has knocked down 129 3-pointers through 12 games in 2017-18 after making 172 triples in 31 games last season.

3. The Cornhuskers held the Jayhawks, who entered Saturday ranked eighth in the country in field-goal percentage, to 44.6 percent shooting - Kansas' second-worst performance of the season.

PREDICTION: Nebraska 86, UT San Antonio 76