Michigan survived an ugly game in Lincoln on Monday night to return to the top of the Big Ten table. The Wolverines prevailed 49-46 in a game that was as impressive defensively as it was concerning offensively.
In the post-game, Dusty May reminisced about old low-scoring battles with North Texas and was happy to survive and advance.
“We’ve played a lot of games like this, where you just, you got to figure out a way to get a few in the hole and figure out a way to get to the line, and when you do, you’ve got to capitalize enough to win,” he said. “It’s hard-fought; it’s tooth and nail.”
Neither team could hit jumpers, and Michigan manufactured just enough scores down the stretch to escape with the win. Here are five takeaways from yet another road victory in league play.
1. Defensive adjustment works on Brice Williams
Nebraska wing Brice Williams is one of the best scorers in the conference, and the 6-foot-7 guard had it going early. He scored Nebraska’s first 11 points, including three triples before the first media timeout. He finished with 18 of Nebraska’s 21 points in the opening half, and Michigan had to adjust.
“We tried to deny his catches and push him off his spots more,” May said of the adjustment on Williams. “And then, because we weren’t in foul trouble until late, we were able to do that. And that and not risk. He does a good job of getting tangled up and getting those foul calls.
“I thought our bigs were higher than they typically are on the screens, and we put two on the ball and risked those other guys banging in shots.”
The adjustment worked. Williams was just 2-of-8 from the floor in the second half, and his teammates could not make Michigan pay. Sam Hoiberg banged in two threes, but the rest of the Nebraska roster made five shots in the game.
“A guy that experienced, that talented like, you can’t really stop him,” Roddy Gayle Jr. admitted. “You can’t hold him to zero points, but what you can do is make it difficult for him. I feel like the second half we we were able to show him bodies he can think about, make him get him out of his rhythm a little bit. Make him think about his next place, his next action. So I feel like he did a great job adjusting to that and then making him kind of think about where his points is going to be, showing bodies a different type of contest.”
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