Michigan 85, Nebraska 79
It was a weekday night at 9 pm, the day prior to a pending large snowstorm, against the worst team in the conference, and on a day where all the news in the University of Michigan sports sphere was not related to basketball. Put simply, there's a lot of reason why the crowd at Crisler Center Tuesday night was late arriving, and why the energy around and interest in the game that went down between Michigan and Nebraska was so low. But even if you didn't watch it, the game had meaning. Michigan's 85-79 victory was lackluster and uninspiring, but for now, it continues to give them a chance to make the NCAA Tournament in March. They will just need to play a whole lot better.
The first half was all about Hunter Dickinson- not so much about his play, but about his absence. After picking up two quick fouls, Dickinson and his six points exited the game with 14:38 remaining in the first half and the game tied at 13. He would not return for the remainder of the opening stanza, with the Huskers winning the final 14.5 minutes of the half 31-24 to take a seven point lead into halftime.
Without the star center on the floor, the Wolverines were a complete mess. The Huskers posted an eFG% of 61% in the first half, turned it over on a smaller share of possessions than Michigan, and reeled in more offensive rebounds. More pressingly, Nebraska was 7/8 on dunks/layups in the first half and were able to pound it inside with ease when Dickinson was off the floor, outscoring Michigan in points in the paint. A total inability to stay in front of the ballhandler on the perimeter, and a lack of a rim protecting big in the middle of the defense led to Michigan's defense more closely resembling a turnstile than a wall in the first two minutes.
Eli Brooks was huge for Michigan tonight [Marc-Gregor Campredon]
Offensively, Michigan put up 37 points in the first half, a fine showing that included seventeen free throw attempts. DeVante' Jones led the way with 10 points on 4/7 from the field and 2/3 from the line. Though Michigan was 1/6 from three, the problem in this one was not the offense, but the defense without Dickinson on the floor. As Michigan headed to the locker room trailing by 7, it was hard not to feel like the season was on the line. A loss to the Huskers, who entered this one 0-10 in B1G play, would be the nail in the coffin for Michigan's bubble hopes.
Perhaps it was the team's knowledge of that reality that served as a motivating factor, because the Maize & Blue came out of halftime playing with their hair on fire. Dickinson re-entered the game and the Wolverines began the half on a 20-4 run, with more than half of those twenty points coming from the big man. The effect he had on Michigan's offense and defense was night and day. The Wolverines led 57-47 with 13:57 remaining and it began to seem as if the (on paper) better team had awoken and decided to stop playing around.
That prognostication proved to be wrong. In the course of only five minutes, the Huskers turned a ten point deficit into a six point lead by embarking on a 19-3 run of their own. Every part of the UNL lineup got involved, with Kobe Webster, Keisei Tominaga, and Bryce McGowens each contributing mini-spurts of their own that cumulatively combined to be that long run. Michigan finally got a couple scores from Eli Brooks, but a response from the Huskers left the visitors ahead 73-66 with just 6:08 remaining. After it seemed as if the crisis had been averted, Michigan was stunningly right back on the brink.
DeVante' gave Michigan a late offensive push [Campredon]
A strange sequence followed, as Tominaga was called for a shooting foul that appeared to be a clean block on replay. His anger over the perceived missed call led to a technical foul call and Michigan got four free throws, two for Eli Brooks (off the technical) and two for Dickinson (off the shooting foul). Michigan made it a four point game and on the next trip down the floor, they cut the lead down to just one point on two more Dickinson points. Those two veteran leaders were a theme for Michigan in the second half, as they'd score the points to propel Michigan back into the lead with under four minutes remaining. Together, they combined for 34 of Michigan's 48 points in the latter twenty minutes.
A DeVante' Jones layup put Michigan ahead 79-75 with 2:05 left and again it felt as if the home team was set to close it out, before the Huskers promptly answered. Bryce McGowens made a jumper, snatched a defensive rebound, and then CJ Wilcher got to the line, and swished both free throws. Tie game, 1:20 to go.
Jones drove to the lane and scored on a layup to put Michigan back ahead, before seizing the ball from Nebraska's Kobe Webster. Jones got a three point attempt on the ensuing Michigan offensive possession to try and end it, but it rocketed off the heel right to Kobe Bufkin. The freshman passed to Brooks, who was intentionally fouled by the Huskers with fifteen ticks left. From there it was a free throw contest, with Michigan going 4/4 at the line, Nebraska missing their lone FG attempt in between, and that 6-0 run ended it. The Wolverines had survived 85-79.
Hey @Juwan: WHY U AUTOBENCH HUNTER? [Campredon]
There's not much good to discuss in this game, if we're being honest. Sure, there were valiant efforts from the two senior guards and the center Dickinson, with the three combining for 64 of 85 points. But the rest of the team played poorly and the defense as a whole was terrible. Nebraska shot 50.9% from the field, and 38.9% from three point range on 18 attempts, in addition to 80% at the line. Their 79 points represented a sizzling 1.11 PPP clip for what is the KenPom 196th ranked offense. Just not good enough. Michigan shot a dismal 13.3% from three and survived mostly because Dickinson was +18 in his 23 minutes. The big man finished with just two fouls, and the decision to auto-bench him for so long, even as Michigan was getting caved in during the late first half, will certainly be discussed ad nauseam in the coming days.
Michigan now heads to West Lafayette to take on Purdue on Saturday, in search of a marquee win. That game is at 2:30 PM and will be televised on FOX. The box score is after the jump.
[Click the JUMP for the box score]
February 2nd, 2022 at 12:07 AM ^
I feel like a need to take a shower after this game. A little too "gritty".
February 2nd, 2022 at 12:15 AM ^
If we're being really honest then; if we don't play aggressive defense like what we showed starting @ Illinois, then the rest of the season is going to be a shit show.
Our remaining schedule is brutal. It's time to bring Houstan off the bench.
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:49 AM ^
Who starts in place of Houstan? What player has demonstrated that they deserve those minutes? Bufkin is not ready. Zeb is no longer around. Do you try Jace at the 3?
I'm disappointed in Houstan's level of play, but I just don't think there is a better option. I think it comes down to hoping that you get more 4-6 3pt shooting performances than 0-5 ones the rest of the way and you live with the results.
This is not a very good team. They are not competing for a B1G title and it is highly unlikely they make a deep tourney run. But, I'm still optimistic that the team as currently constructed can win enough games to squeeze into the tourney.
February 2nd, 2022 at 1:49 PM ^
They could play Williams more. He's shooting a higher percent on threes and is a better defender (albeit not by as much as one might think - Williams makes a lot of mistakes still as well - see the MSU defensive UFR in the diaries).
That said, I'd like to see Williams (and Johns) play more at the four. That was the lineup when Michigan made the run to start the second half. Diabate being in foul trouble was the blessing that won Michigan the game.
Michigan just can't play Diabate and Hunter at the same time. Two paint bound bigs that aren't three point shooters allows the opposition to pack the paint and makes driving lanes impossible so then all they have is post ups. Plus Diabate is still pretty clueless on defense. Love his energy but he's a mess.
Diabate needs to exclusively be the backup center. 10-15 energy minutes off the bench and that's it.
Johns and Williams at the four. If Michigan wants to make a run that's how it has to happen.
February 2nd, 2022 at 12:24 AM ^
We need Caleb. We are asking a lot. But he needs to give us Livers and Chaundee and it’s not going to come from Johns.
2-15 from three? MAC schools can do that.
February 2nd, 2022 at 4:38 AM ^
We're not asking for a lot really. He just needs to be decent hitting 3s and not a total sieve on defense, though I'm not very good at judging that. Outside of like 3 games he's been terrible from outside.
February 2nd, 2022 at 11:31 AM ^
Is Johns just not who we thought (or hoped) he was? What's going on with him this season?
February 2nd, 2022 at 12:20 PM ^
He is who we thought he was - inconsistent at best. He's not who we hoped he was - a legit Big Ten starter who could hold off Diabate and contribute on both ends.
Having said that, he closed for (a still somewhat out of control and foul-plagued) Diabate down the stretch last night and I thought he played solid defense on a couple important possessions.
February 2nd, 2022 at 1:55 PM ^
Johns is the teams best front court defender by far. He's inconsistent on offense but that's fine because he's low usage. Let Hunter get the touches, be a three point threat (he hit one last night), get the occasional oreb, and play his usual great defense and that's exactly what we need.
Moussa does not know what he's doing yet. Love his eagerness and energy, but it was a major blessing that he was in foul trouble in the second half.
Johns was the starting PF that was good enough to get Michigan a shot away from the final four last year. He's been great on defense the last two games. Johns needs to be starting over Moussa again.
February 2nd, 2022 at 12:25 AM ^
It's hard for me to even really imagine how this current roster improves much in-season. Players are just being asked to do too many things that they are uncomfortable with, are outside of their skillset, or they aren't prepared for yet. Any previous "corners turned" seem more like mirages at this point.
February 2nd, 2022 at 6:19 AM ^
I'm not sure why anyone would want this team in the tournament. I'd rather them play in the NIT and get a few more games together, than get blown out by a 1-2 seed in the first round.
It's not like we're trying to continue a record streak of appearances.
February 2nd, 2022 at 6:29 AM ^
They wouldn’t play a 1 or 2 seed.
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:56 AM ^
The NIT is far from assured. Do they still require a .500 or better winning percentage?
February 2nd, 2022 at 2:04 PM ^
Good lord, this post is terrible. The usual "I'd rather be in the NIT" is such a losers mentality that's been argued enough, but dude, Michigan isn't getting a 15 or 16 seed. They can't play a 1-2 seed in the first round.
If they're a bubble team (which they are) they're likely a play-in team which means they play another bubble team, and then have a winnable game in the second round against a 5 or 6 seed. That's barely more difficult than what they'd face in the NIT and it's far better to experience the process of the NCAA tourney, the neutral court atmosphere, the stage, etc. than to play home court scrimmages that barely anyone cares about which is what the NIT is.
February 2nd, 2022 at 7:49 AM ^
Agree and at this point, it's hard to see next year being better. Assuming they lose Dickinson, Jones, Johns and Brooks at least they should be worse next year. Reed looks good, but will be a downgrade from second year Dickinson. McDaniel is another sub 6 foot pg. I don't really know what to make of Glenn. Seems like Jett and some serious leaps by Collins, Bufkin, Houstan,and Diabate are there only hopes.
February 2nd, 2022 at 12:30 AM ^
The 2 foul auto bench continues to astound me. I'm scared of my star being unavailable because of fouls.... So I'm going to take him out voluntarily and make him unavailable because of fouls.
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:02 AM ^
The first half auto bench didn't bother me nearly as much as the rotational benching in the second half. Dickinson was on fire, being primarily responsible for our building a 10 point lead. Then Juwan benches him and we fall apart again and go down by 6.
Sometimes you just have to play the heater, as we say in poker, and move away from standard play. Rotations are fine, but as a coach you can't get totally locked in to them. Circumstances should dictate, not dogma.
February 2nd, 2022 at 11:01 AM ^
Exactly, never understood that. Also makes me long for the days an Austin Davis could come in and hold down the fort.
February 2nd, 2022 at 11:59 AM ^
Could be a fitness issue, as the Breslin meltdown hinted at.
February 2nd, 2022 at 12:58 AM ^
I assume that Juwan is not lacking in brainpower, since he attended Michigan...but there is only one word to describe his auto-benching of Dickinson--STUPID!
Juwan ensured that his team would be without its best player for nearly 15 minutes of the first half, and as a result M entered the half trailing by 7 points. Dickinson finished the game with...2 fouls!
This, in a must win game. If you are already on the bubble and lose at home to winlesss-in-the-Big-Ten Nebraska, you can kiss any tournament dreams goodbye.
You GUARANTEE that you will be without your best player for 15 minutes just to insure against the slight chance that he might foul out. Stupid!!
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:53 AM ^
This game was frustrating to watch. I turned it off at half time after all the Nebraska runs with Hunter on the bench. After a while, I turned the TV back on -- just after we finished a Hunter lead 21-6 run in the second half. As I watched, Hunter was back on the bench and Nebraska dominated. Once they took the lead, the TV went off. Checked again later and we had a small margin, but Hunter was on the bench and the lead evaporated. Turned off the TV before I got too angry to sleep.
Thankfully, Hunter got off the bench and saved the day. Very ugly six point win against an 0-10 B1G team.
February 2nd, 2022 at 1:03 AM ^
If Houstan is going to be in there, they need to run plays to get him open shots. Because otherwise having him play 35 minutes and take 7 shots is a waste because of how much of a liability he is on defense. And he can’t drive to the hoop. So either run plays to try to shake him free for jumpers or play him a lot less.
February 2nd, 2022 at 7:50 AM ^
They do run plays for him. The problem is the only shot he can make is a standstill 3 pointer. Kind of limits the ways in which they can get him involved.
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:59 AM ^
I can't remember a Michigan player taking longer to get his shot off since Evan Smotricxz (Whiffed on the spelling I know).
February 2nd, 2022 at 10:34 AM ^
Agreed. His release is so slow, and I don't know if that can be fixed. I don't follow recruiting much, was that something that was a concern coming out of HS?
February 2nd, 2022 at 11:05 AM ^
I don't know if he called out the release specifically, but Matt EM was notably cooler on Houstan than most evaluators.
February 2nd, 2022 at 12:12 PM ^
So was Craig Ross, after evaluating his performance for team Canada at World Juniors.
February 2nd, 2022 at 2:07 PM ^
Read the Matt EM post about how bad he is when Michigan runs plays for him. He's not good shooting off screens when he has to get it off quickly.
He's a corner gunner that should only shoot when set up by other guys (post kick outs or drive and kicks).
But agree that at that point, you might as well play Williams more because he's not as much of a liability on defense.
February 2nd, 2022 at 1:20 AM ^
We have 3 freshman former McDonalds All Americans on the roster but Bryce McGowens was the best freshman on the floor tonight, by far, with 24 points. Diabate may be better eventually, but 6 points and 2 turnovers. Houstan...1 for 7 from the floor. Bufkin, 0 for 3 from the floor, and an astounding +/- of -16 in 13 minutes on the floor. I mean, young or not, if you are a McDonalds All American, you should be able to at least hold your own at home, against the worst team in the Big Ten.
February 2nd, 2022 at 6:34 AM ^
This has to be, by far, the most overrated #1 recruiting class, in any sport, since ranking recruiting classes started.
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:15 AM ^
Michigan’s 1995 class could give it a run for its money.
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:25 AM ^
Except that Memphis had the #1 recruiting class and looks worse.
February 2nd, 2022 at 7:51 AM ^
No kidding. Bryce McGowens looks the part of a 5 star player. All of our freshmen look like 4 year projects.
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:00 AM ^
What happened to the "by Feb they aren't really freshmen anymore" mantra?
February 2nd, 2022 at 2:16 PM ^
It was a rough night for the freshmen for sure. McGowens was also a five star though, it's not like he came out of nowhere. Someone has to be the best five star on the court, and it was obviously him (and also it's obvious why he's a projected lottery pick).
But agree that Houstan and Diabate are the worst kind of five stars. Houstan because he was clearly ranked very wrong and Diabate because he's the kind of guy that is ranked entirely on his vast potential, which he'll probably reach, but won't at Michigan.
If Bufkin works hard, he'll have a great 2-3 year career at Michigan. He was probably never going to be an immediate impact guy given how small he is
February 2nd, 2022 at 1:26 AM ^
If Juwan were a baseball manager, he would only pitch his best relief pitcher in the 9th inning...and even then only if his team had a lead.
If Juwan were a football coach, he would punt on fourth down every time, even in opponents territory, unless a near-certain field goal attempt was available.
Facts, logic, statistical probability, reason? Nope, gotta follow "the book"...
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:16 AM ^
He hasn’t been doing this very long. He will certainly learn some more tricks of the trade.
February 2nd, 2022 at 1:51 AM ^
We really miss Austin Davis, as we always suspected we would. I wish he was still with this team.
February 2nd, 2022 at 6:57 AM ^
The dumb thing is he is with the team!!! He has some sort of assistant role. You can see him on the bench when the cameras show the Michigan sideline
February 2nd, 2022 at 3:54 AM ^
I had a very long day and went to bed at halftime. Awake in the wee hours, I checked the score and thought, "crap, I missed a great second half!" Then I read the game summary here and realize sleep was the better choice.
February 2nd, 2022 at 2:21 PM ^
From an entertainment perspective, it was a great second half. Forget that it was a 0-10 (now 11) B1G team and you wouldn't have the depressed feeling about possibly losing to that team.
These game summaries by Alex are brutal. I love his football stuff, and he's such a workhorse, but this blog probably needs someone that knows something about basketball writing about basketball.
February 2nd, 2022 at 3:58 AM ^
So the bench Jones for Frankie meme is dead now?
February 2nd, 2022 at 4:43 AM ^
I always thought it was pretty dumb, and I think Frankie can be very good in the future. He's a freshman PG. He's out of control too often and not a threat from outside.
February 2nd, 2022 at 1:35 PM ^
And to be clear, I am not dogging on Frankie. He has a lot of talent, and I expect him to take a big step forward next year. Just saying everything runs much better with Jones running things these days.
February 2nd, 2022 at 2:23 PM ^
It will get revived again. He's had pretty horrendous numbers and +/- but as soon as he does something spectacular again (which he's good at doing!) people will be like oooooo ahhhhhh and ask for him again while forgetting about all the things he's still working on / learning.
February 2nd, 2022 at 4:42 AM ^
I don't think Matt D said a single positive thing about Eli on twitter, though he did criticize his defense again, even though he was the 2nd best player for Michigan this game. It's weird how much he has it out for him. Eli has some clear deficiencies but still.
February 2nd, 2022 at 8:48 AM ^
I love Matt's analysis of recruiting and he's been a very good addition to the site. I will also make it clear that he sneezes more basketball knowledge than I'll ever have. With that being said, he has a few quirks with certain players that he hangs on to pretty strongly - especially if they aren't NBA athletes. His most famous one is Duncan Robinson, who I am pretty sure he still criticizes to this day despite his NBA success. Eli is another one. On the flip side, he loves guys like Diabate that are full of raw athleticism and potential. None of his opinions are wrong, just oddly strong in a single direction.
The problem with Eli is that he's being asked to do too much. Eli is a fantastic 3rd or 4th option as the glue guy who makes everything else work. Without him last night we lose. Picture a backcourt without him and Collins or Bufkin playing instead. Eli's best moment in his career were guarding the opposing PG or small SG, hitting an open three off other action, coming in for a surprise dunk, etc. He's not a guy to create shots for himself or others and he's not meant to guard 6'6" athletic wings. There were things to criticize last night for Eli and I did so myself....but this team has basically three playable guys you can count on right now - Hunter, Eli, and Devante. Sometimes Diabate joins the mix - at least if he's able to match-up against a big at the 4. Otherwise most of the other players are a mess.
February 2nd, 2022 at 2:27 PM ^
Eli can't guard a talented 6'7 player like McGowens so if he was dogging on him for that, it's valid.
That said, the fact that Eli has to guard him, is a testament to how bad Michigan's defenders are and how much we miss Wagner, Brown and Livers.
Last year Wagner would have been on him. This year we can't put our 6'8 wing on him because he's a bad defender. So we have to put a 6'1 guard on him. Not really Eli's fault.
February 2nd, 2022 at 6:06 PM ^
Eli is a role player that has nights he puts up 20 pts. Once you have 2 seasons under you you are who you are. Its not his fault we have our best class in 20 years but they cant hit a jumper. Shoulve kept Davis and let the 4 players we have at the 4 fight for minutes.
February 2nd, 2022 at 5:58 AM ^
That 15 year run of having a 6'5" guy who was going to the league to be a 3 & D piece off the bench sure was nice.
I'm no expert, but we should definitely get back to that.
Comments