That was…something. Michigan basketball picked up a huge road win at Nebraska despite a horrific shooting performance. Here’s how it all went down:
The Michigan Wolverines , somehow, some way, defeated the Nebraska Cornhuskers, 49-46, in a game of clunks, bricks and strong rim defense.
Monday night’s game has massive implications for both teams, as the Wolverines were looking to avenge their heartbreaking loss to Michigan State on Friday night to keep pace for the Big Ten title.
At the same time, Nebraska had won five of its last seven games and continued to contend for an NCAA Tournament bid as a projected 10-seed. It needed to continue to stack win against the top of the conference to ease any concerns of making it in.
With no Sam Walters or Rubin Jones, Michigan played with a short seven-man bench, starting Roddy Gayle Jr. and giving key minutes to Will Tschetter, Justin Pippen and LJ Cason. Still, it appeared as if both baskets had a thick top blocking from anything going in, and Cornhusker guard Brice Williams could not fend off the Wolverines by himself.
Neither team shot better than 30 percent from the floor, and neither shot better than 25 percent from behind the arc. But Michigan made one less mistake and snuck out of Lincoln with a late victory.
FIRST HALF
In a physical first half of basketball, it was Michigan’s starting five lineup against one man — Nebraska senior Brice Williams.
As the Wolverines slowly eased into rhythm against the Cornhuskers, Williams was hot from the start, making his first three triples of the game. He also flushed two dunks to score 13 of Nebraska’s first 15 points.
In order to match the pace of the game, Michigan quickly went down low to its bigs, and center Vlad Goldin scored six in the paint to stay pat with the Cornhuskers.
Twelve minutes into the contest, Nebraska had a slim one-point lead thanks to Michigan’s ice-cold 0-of-8 shooting from three. That is, until Danny Wolf drained the team’s first triple to take the lead.
For the next seven minutes, Nebraska was the one ice-cold from the floor, not making a field goal as Williams cooled down immensely. But it did not take long for him to get going again, ending the scoring drought with his career-high fourth three-pointer of the evening, and then forcing a Wolf turnover to get the crowd rocking with a slam dunk that tied the game at 21.
The Wolverines would have the last laugh of the half with four straight points by Gayle, however, the score felt as if it should have been more than 25-21 going into halftime. Michigan went 1-for-14 from three in the first half and Cornhuskers not named Williams converted just one shot on 18 attempts.
SECOND HALF
Following up a combined 29.2 percent from the field and 16.1 percent from three in the first half, both teams shot 0-for-4 to start the second — continuing the poor shooting for both teams.
Smartly, Nebraska drew Wolf’s third foul two minutes into the half, sending him to the bench. As a result, the Huskers finally started to stack some buckets together, two from Williams and one from Rollie Worster — Nebraska’s first made shot in 20 minutes from someone not named Williams.
Both teams proceeded to shoot the ball poorly for the next eight minutes, as Nebraska went 2-for-10 with just one three-pointer from Sam Hoiberg and a layup by Juwan Gary. Meanwhile, Michigan went on a four-minute scoring drought, converting two of its next 14 shots, but relying on five points from Tre Donaldson to stay tied, 37-37, with less than seven minutes left.
With urgency starting to rise, both teams started to attack the offensive glass with a different type of juice, and Nebraska’s Worster broke both team’s scoring droughts with a second-chance layup. Nonetheless, it didn’t take long for Michigan to find favorable matchups, and Wolf scored five straight points, followed by a Cason three-pointer (28 percent on the year), to take a six-point lead as Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg furiously called a timeout with 4:24 left in regulation.
With momentum building, time ticking away, and Michigan leading by four points, Goldin was hooked and held by Gary, upgrading a common foul to a flagrant one. However, he could not make either of his free throws, and Michigan proceeded to turn the ball over on the free possession, keeping everyone in Pinnacle Bank Arena on edge.
If things could not get more tense, with less than two minutes remaining, Donaldson drove inside the paint to draw a foul. Instead of getting a whistle, it was reviewed that the basketball went off the Wolverine guard out of bounds. On the following possession, Hoiberg took advantage of the call, draining a three and bringing the game within one point, 45-44.
As time drained away, however, Nebraska could not hit another big shot, Gayle made his free throws and the Huskers could not convert on wide-open Connor Essegian and Berke Buyuktuncel go-ahead threes, leading to a 49-46 Michigan win.
While many hoped the Wolverines would fix the shooting woes that have plagued them over the last eight games, Michigan shot just 18.5 percent from three and 29.5 percent from the field. Not to mention, the Wolverines committed another 14 turnovers and made just 8-of-13 free throws.
The Huskers may have led Michigan in most statistical categories, but they only received 20 points from the entirety of their team outside of Williams. That recipe was not enough to get the upset win, and now, Nebraska sits on the outside looking in for the NCAA Tournament.
Williams finished with 26 points, surpassing 1,000 career college points, and Gayle led the Wolverines with 12 points.
UP NEXT
Michigan returns to Crisler Center on Thursday night (9 p.m., Peacock) to take on two of the best freshmen in the country — Ace Bailey, Dylan Harper, and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights .