Some Big Ten Conference men's basketball teams have had five, six, seven or as many as nine days between their two "early December" games that have dotted the league schedule for a third straight season.
Nebraska, meanwhile, had all of 44 hours.
Making matters more challenging, the Huskers opened the Big Ten gauntlet with a heartbreaking, overtime loss at Indiana the same day they learned they'd be without one of their starting players. Turning around with one day of preparation to face a Purdue team that had routed defending national champion Virginia by 29 points only 11 days earlier appeared daunting, to say the least.