“There are some positives in there somewhere, with our toughness and our grit,” Kansas coach Brandon Schneider said after the loss. “We didn’t play our best, but I thought we made ourselves really hard to beat and there’s a ton of things that are beneficial from a game like this.”

Both teams came out the gate slow in the first quarter, struggling to take care of the ball. KU and Nebraksa combined for seven turnovers in just the opening 1:40 of the first quarter, along with some cold shooting numbers below 34%.

However, senior center Taiyanna Jackson found personal success in the first quarter, shooting 3-for-4 with a near double-double in just eight minutes of play, racking up six points and six rebounds along with a steal.

Kansas trailed 15-13 heading into the second quarter after turning the ball over five times in the opening quarter.

The slow start continued for KU in the second quarter and the Jayhawks turned the ball over another eight times in the second quarter, allowing Nebraska (9-3) to go on a 13-2 scoring run to extend its lead to seven points before KU guard Holly Kersgieter nailed a 3-pointer to stop the scoring run.

Another 9-0 scoring run near the end of the second quarter pushed Nebraska’s lead to 13 points, the Jayhawks were able to cut the deficit to eight points at the half.

Nebraska’s scoring runs in the second quarter came from multiple Jayhawk turnovers, as the Cornhuskers made the most of Kansas’ 13 first-half turnovers and converted those into 17 points.

Kansas (10-1) came out red hot in the third quarter, shooting 5-for-6 from the floor to cut the deficit to five points before Nebraska called a timeout with 5:53 remaining in the quarter. The Jayhawks shot better than 50% for the quarter and turned the ball over just three times to cut the deficit to just four points as they outscored the Cornhuskers 18-14 in the third quarter.

KU took better care of the ball in the second half which helped the Jayhawks cut into the lead and eventually tie the game at 55-55 with 6:56 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Both teams went cold from the floor to end the fourth quarter, with Nebraska going scoreless for the final two minutes. As a result, Kansas managed to tie the game at 60 apiece and the two teams headed to overtime.

Neither team could find its rhythm in the first overtime, with each team scoring just two points in those five minutes as they headed to a second overtime period.

Senior guard Zakiyah Franklin stepped up for the Jayhawks in the overtime periods, scoring 13 of their 19 points during that span, but it wasn’t enough to take down Nebraska.

Franklin led the way for the Jayhawks with 27 points, with Jackson adding a huge double-double of 18 points and 21 rebounds before fouling out.

Junior guard Jaz Shelley led Nebraska with 24 points and sophomore forward Alexis Markowski added 18.

Next up, Kansas will jump into Big 12 play with a 4 p.m. tipoff at Oklahoma State on Dec. 31 in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

“Now the non-conference portion of our season is over,” Schneider said. “We’re 0-0 and we have a chance to go compete for a Big 12 title.”