Michigan dominates Nebraska 77-58 in Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals

After yesterday’s overtime victory against Iowa in the Big Ten Tournament, the Michigan Wolverines had some issues to correct, after missing an abundance of three pointers and getting into foul trouble versus the Hawkeyes.

Today was a different story. Michigan came out swinging against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, syncing shot after shot.

“I thought we were really loose.” John Beilein said after the win. And that’s how the team looked, loose and effective. When all things were said and done, Michigan beat Nebraska 77-58 to set up a semi-finals showdown versus Michigan State.

The first half ended with Michigan leading 34-24, but it could have been a much larger deficit for the Cornhuskers. At one point, Nebraska didn’t make a shot from the field for over ten minutes, going 1-20 during that span. On the flip side, Michigan was 6-15 from beyond the arc in the and dominated on both sides of the court. The only reason the game was moderately close in the first half is because Nebraska was 9-11 from the charity stripe.

The same pattern repeated itself in the second half, with Michigan appearing to be the far superior team yet retaking the lead remained within striking distance for Nebraska midway through. The Huskers cut the lead to 7 with 13 minutes left, but then Michigan ended up adding to their lead and never looked back.

Defensively, Nebraska just didn’t have it today, their 1-3-1 zone defense was picked up apart by Michigan, who continued to find the wide open man and repeatedly drained their three point looks. On the day, U-M went 11-22 from three.

“We played really good defense against a very talented offensive team,” Beilein said. Michigan’s defense was already ranked in the top 10 in defensive efficiency heading into this game, a ranking that will likely rise after this impressive showing.

Now Michigan will be facing their stiffest test yet versus one of their biggest rivals, the Michigan State Spartans.

Game Notes

- Mo Wagner went 9-16 from the field, finishing with 20 points and 13 rebounds

- Duncan Robinson scored 16 points and was 4-7 from three

- Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman was a perfect 5-5 from beyond the arc and had 21 points on the day.