Sometimes, when it rains, it pours. This was more or less the summation of Michigan's offensive performance tonight as the Wolverines' Men's Basketball team drowned visiting Nebraska in threes en route to a comfortable 21 point win. The Huskers managed to shoot 48% from the floor and crack 70 points, yet still spent nearly the entirety of the final 30 minutes trailing by double digits, because Michigan's offense was a machine that couldn't be stopped for long. The Wolverines nailed 14 threes on 26 attempts, shot 58% from the floor as a team, and added 11 points at the line, with every starter in double digits. A pretty good winning formula. 

The two teams got out to scorching starts, trading scores in the opening four minutes as barely a shred of defense was being played on either end. Each team had scored in double digits 5.5 minutes into the game and the score sat at a competitive 12-11 in favor of the visiting Huskers. The light switched stayed on for the Wolverines after that, while it was flipped off for Nebraska, as Michigan stitched together a rapid fire 12-0 run, pouring in points from all over. Terrance Williams II scored five quick points on a three and a layup, followed by an and-one for Kobe Bufkin, a three for Joey Baker, and one driving layup each from Tarris Reed Jr. and Bufkin. In between, the Huskers committed four consecutive turnovers and suddenly found themselves down 25-12. 

A CJ Wilcher three ended the unanswered run, but it was merely a small impediment in what was ultimately a larger Michigan avalanche of points. Jace Howard hit a three and all the sudden, the Maize & Blue were in a groove again. They put together an 8-0 run to stretch the lead all the way up to 18, and a few minutes later, it was 24, following eight straight points from Baker, with two makes from three. Michigan could not miss, and they were doing it without any contributions from Hunter Dickinson, perhaps the most impressive component of all.

[Marc-Gregor Campredon]

But good things don't last forever and the beaten down Huskers had an answer in the final 6.5 minutes of the half. Nebraska's defense started to force some misses and turnovers and it gave their offense an opportunity to claw back. They would proceed to finish the first half on a 17-5 run, capped off by a disastrous final 30 seconds for the Michigan offense, which included two turnovers despite the team having the ability to hold for the final shot on the initial possession. The Huskers went into halftime with momentum, down just 12 points. They'd given up 46 but scored 34 of their own and had reason for hope if they could slow down the Michigan offense. 

Spoiler alert, they wouldn't be able to. The first few minutes of the second half were alright for the visitors, Michigan scoring just one bucket in the opening two minutes of the second half as Nebraska trimmed the lead down to nine. Unfortunately for Fred Hoiberg's squad, that's when Hunter Dickinson got going. Despite Michigan's offensive onslaught in the first half, Dickinson was not part of that equation. He had just two points on one attempted FG, logging 12 minutes. Everyone knew that Dickinson wouldn't be quiet forever, and he wasn't. Hunter made a layup with 17:42 remaining in the second half to push the Michigan lead back up over double digits and he was beginning to enter a groove. 

It helped that Jett Howard was also catching fire and those two, #1 and #13, would power Juwan Howard's crew in the back half of the game. After Nebraska's Derrick Walker made it 48-39, Michigan went on a 10-2 run, entirely the doing of Dickinson and Howard, two threes for the latter. Just like that, the score was back to a comfortable Michigan margin, 58-41. From that point, Michigan just kept hammering away. Jett Howard led the way, the defensive compete was good enough, and then complementary players like Dug McDaniel and Reed got involved. With 11:41 remaining in the game, the lead was stretched all the way back up to 21, 68-47 Wolverines. 

[Marc-Gregor Campredon]

Nebraska wasn't totally done. Sam Griesel embarked on his own 7-0 run immediately after, followed by four points from CJ Wilcher and in the span of only a few minutes, the lead was back to 10. This was the inflection point of the game. Just over eight minutes remaining and a moment set to determine whether the contest would be competitive down to the wire or whether Michigan would snatch firm control back. Dickinson's and-one started things off strong for Michigan, but the Husker offense didn't go away. Neither team got too many stops over the next few minutes, with the lead sitting at 11 with five minutes to play. 

That was the point when Michigan slammed the door. Nebraska did not score again for three minutes and every Michigan starter but McDaniel got involved on the offensive end. Howard made a three, Terrance Williams II connected on a jumper, Dickinson stepped out for a three, and Kobe Bufkin slammed down a dunk that made it an 88-67 Michigan advantage, ending the game for all intents and purposes. The final minutes played out and Juwan Howard inserted his benchwarmers in the last 56 seconds before the ultimate horn sounded. 93-72 Michigan. 

[Marc-Gregor Campredon]

On a night where shots are going in from everywhere, the final box score is a sight to see. Dug McDaniel battled turnovers (four, compared to four assists), but was an efficient 5/7 from the floor and 2/2 from three for 14 points. Dickinson turned it on in the second half to finish with 16 points on the night, a hyper efficient 6/7 from the field. Kobe Bufkin battled turnovers as well but did score 13, while Williams chipped in 10 and Jett Howard was a star: 22 points on 7/17 from the field, including 6/14 from three. Jett kept shooting, and shooting, and shooting some more and tonight it was a good decision. Off the bench, Joey Baker hit three triples on the way to 11 points, Jace Howard hit a three, and Tarris Reed Jr. scored four points, two of which off a perfect night from the charity stripe(!). 

For Nebraska, the work of Keisei Tominaga deserves a shoutout. The Japanese guard was 10/16 from the field and 4/8 from three and logged 36 minutes, by far the Huskers' best piece. Derrick Walker scored 15 on 7/14 from the floor as well, but the Huskers didn't have enough firepower in totality to hang with the Wolverines tonight. 

Michigan has now won three straight games, up to 14-10 on the season and 8-5 in the B1G, and has one more game on the present homestand. That would be Indiana on Saturday night, a 6:00 tip at Crisler Center and a big opportunity for a quality win. That game is set to be broadcast on ESPN. 

[Click the JUMP for the box score]