Michigan (16-5) lost to Nebraska (14-7) on the road by a score of 52-72.
The Cornhuskers picked up this victory on an extremely hot Michigan team. This was a rather deflating game to watch.
All the Wolverines had to do was pick up two wins against Nebraska and Rutgers to get the chance to cement themselves in the top 25 with a win against Purdue.
Michigan simply couldn’t match the energy of Nebraska with their packed home court.
Moe Wagner…?
Michigan big man and offensive leader Moe Wagner was nowhere to be found this game.
After only attempting 1 field goal in the first half, Wagner finally picked up his first, and last, points in the second half:
Easy shots were hard to come by for Wagner.
He was constantly put pressure on and struggled when defenders switched on screens, which is somewhere he normally succeeds.
Cornhusker Defense
Some of the turnovers that the Wolverines had this game were due to this Nebraska defense, others weren’t.
Either way, Michigan seemed to always hold the ball late into the shot clock, which forced them into bad shots.
One thing that the defense did for sure was shut down Moe Wagner and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman. The two Michigan leaders were held to only 11 points on 4 of 16 shooting.
Player of the Game – Charles Matthews
Looking for a bright spot in this game? Matthews was about the only one.
The junior had 15 points (6-10), 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and a block.
5 of Matthews’ rebounds were offensive.
This was the monster block:
We have seen flashes from Charles Matthews all year. Here is to hoping he can put it together down the stretch.
What now for Michigan?
Losing to Nebraska is not a good look.
From here, the Wolverines have 2 days rest until they face off against Rutgers, then 3 days rest until they play Purdue for the second time.
Hopefully the guys can get some rest and come out with some energy next game.
Here is the link to the full boxscore.
The next time the Wolverines play is home game against Rutgers on Sunday the 21st at noon.