In a game Michigan had to have by any means, it found a way. The Wolverines trailed for over 36 minutes at home on Tuesday night, gave up 50 points in the first half, and made just one of their final 15 3-point attempts. Somehow, Michigan won anyway, knocking off No. 5 Nebraska to keep its Big Ten title hopes healthy.
The Wolverines survived the barrage of early threes and outlasted the undermanned Huskers, recording stops on eight of the final nine possessions of the game to pull away with a game-winning 6-0 run down the stretch.
Writing this recap, I can’t help but feel like I’m on the other side of a script that I’ve written routinely on this site over the years. We’ve all seen this story before: a five-out team spreads out a bigger, more talented team and makes them look like they’ve never played basketball before with a barrage of threes and cutting layups.
In the end, the threes go cold, and the bigger team wins the game by overwhelming its opponent in areas that are impossible to outscheme: offensive rebounds, defense, and free throws.
When John Beilein’s teams lost, this is usually what it looked like. Tonight, Michigan wore the other shoe.
Nebraska played the better game, but Michigan was the bigger, deeper, and more talented team. The Wolverines went to the free-throw line 23 times, knocking down 14 of 17 in the second half, and scored 14 of their 27 second-half points on second-chance opportunities to escape with the crucial home win.
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