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Nebraska met Michigan in the Cornhusker’s first game in the Big Ten tourney today. Michigan’s Moe Wagner scored 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds on the Wolverines’ way to smashing Nebraska from beginning to end.
It was not pretty. Nor was it fun.
In the first half, Nebraska couldn’t hit a bucket to save their lives, at one point going over seven minutes without a field goal. The Huskers went on a 9-1 run just before half to pull within ten, 34-24. The Wolverines lead by as much as 18 in the first half.
The second half started well for the Huskers, with Isaiah Roby starting right away with a nice jam to cut the lead to eight, but Michigan answered immediately with a bucket of their own as Wagner made a layup.
Then the Wolverines answered some more, and more, and some more after that.
Every time they answered, Michigan big man Wagner removed his mouthguard to jaw at a Husker player. It was that kind of day.
Michigan’s Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman lead all scorers with 21, followed by Wagner with 20. Nebraska’s Isaiah Roby and James Palmer Jr each scored 16, as did Michigan’s Duncan Robinson.
The Wolverines shot 44% from the field, going 27-for-61. They were 41% from three, going 11-for-23, which seems low if you watched the game because it seemed like Michigan was making all the shots all of the time, and compared to Nebraska, they were. Nebraska shot 30%, 16-for-53, while going 4-for-16 from three-point range. This was just after they barely beat Iowa while going 3-for-19 from three.
Free throws kept Nebraska in the game (hyuk, hyuk) as they were 81%, 22-for-27, compared to Michigan’s 80%, 12-for-15. Despite what looked like Michigan favoring the Wolverines, Nebraska shot nearly twice as many from the charity stripe.
It was an incredibly disappointing showing. I can’t understate this understatement enough. Nebraska will now wait to see if they can maybe, maybe, maybe get selected for the NCAA tourney, or if they are NIT bound.