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The Nebraska Cornhuskers hosted the No. 19 Michigan Wolverines for a Christmas evening matchup, but fell 80-69 to the evil mutants.
The Huskers kept this one close throughout the first half. Mostly that fell on Teddy Allen when he took higher-percentage shots, which was questionable on some of his 17 shot attempts. Allen scored 21 of the team’s 34 points in the first half, but he did so on 2-8 shooting from three-point range. Many times it seemed like those three’s were with lots of time left on the shot clock, a defender in close proximity or flying by if he’d have pump faked and used a dribble, and/or from an absurd distance behind the line.
Franz Wagner led the Wolverines in scoring in the first half with 11 points as Michigan finished the half with a narrow 36-34 lead. It was a back-and-forth affair throughout the first half, though. Neither team could manage much of a run without the other tying it back up.
Michigan surged out of the locker room with a quick scoring run. Nebraska managed to come back within two make it 43-41 with 16:41 to go of a three by McGowens. While they brought it back again to within four with 6:20 left at 64-60, that was all she wrote. Michigan pulled away again and Nebraska managed just nine more points over the final 6:20 of game play.
Five Wolverines finished the game with double-digit scoring, led by Wager’s 20. Just three Huskers did, led by Allen’s 25 (36.2 percent of the team’s total points). Michigan won the battle at the glass overwhelmingly 40-29. Despite 15 turnovers by the Wolverines, it didn’t matter enough.
The Huskers now move to 4-5 on the season and 0-2 in Big Ten play. As of right now, Nebraska is the only team in the Big Ten with an overall record below .500. Penn State sits at 3-3, and all other teams have a winning overall record at this point. Huskers will travel to Ohio State on Wednesday, Dec. 30 for a 5:30 p.m. CST tip-off.