Michigan 52, Nebraska 72
STOP! You can choose to read a recap of Michigan’s 72-52 loss to Nebraska, OR you can do literally anything else. I’ll give you 30 seconds of a drone flying over a Nebraska cornfield to decide.
there is corn in it
Okay, now that all the people who make good life decisions are gone I can tell you that after 53 years Nebraska finally beat Michigan in basketball that one time.
What happened? The main thing was the Huskers’ constantly switching, handsy defense stymied every iteration of Michigan’s offense and led to an uncharacteristic boatload of turnovers—twelve overall, nine(!!!) in the first half. At one point UMHoops tweeted Michigan was coughing it up on 40 percent of their possessions.
Against an opponent that relies on transition and getting fouled at the rim to run an efficient offense, that alone should have been a death sentence, but some tip-back offensive rebounding kept the margin to just eleven at the break. That kind of first half after a 9:12 p.m. tip would make a reasonable person put the bag labeled “Dead Dove Do Not Eat” back in the fridge and go to bed. But Michigan came back from ten just a few nights ago, and from four a couple nights before that, and down seven a few nights before that, and…and…and man we’ve had a lot of basketball.
You can try to find a reason MAAR went 3/11 from the field, why the team went 4/18 from three despite nearly all of them being good looks, why Nebraska’s normally crummy shooters were getting makes off bad shots, why Livers let Isaiah Roby walk away with a 93 eFG%, or why Nebraska fans chose to chant “Wagner” of all things. Or you can chalk it up to a road game near the end of a compact, vicious part of the schedule when nothing could go right (except doubling up on them in the OREB battle) and move on.
Michigan’s coming off a ten-point win in Breslin, a big comeback victory versus Maryland, and a classic versus Purdue. Their tourney bid is secure barring a collapse. They get Rutgers on Sunday, and every opponent on the rest of the schedule will be practicing a ton of switching this week. They’ll probably be alright.
[After THE JUMP box score also WARNING THERE’S A DEAD DOVE DO NOT CLICK]
January 19th, 2018 at 9:15 AM ^
But I wanted our wordsmiths to know that "collapse" is reserved for the drek that happened out there, to see what else they can come up with.
January 19th, 2018 at 10:46 AM ^
That wasn't a collapse, it was a schedule loss. UM didn't have their legs because they played 3 games in 6 days (with two of them on the road) which is basically unheard of in college basketball.
January 19th, 2018 at 6:57 AM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 7:48 AM ^
I just spent the past 45 minutes watching a bunch of farming and tractor videos. It kind of snowballed after watching the corn drone thing. Then I came back and read the recap. I recommend the videos and skipping the recap.
January 19th, 2018 at 8:12 AM ^
Seems like when we're playing that sloppy, a timeout should've been called after the second turnover in a row. Or the third...
I get that as a coach you want to save them for the end of the game if possible to be able to draw up a play, but if you don't use them to wake your team up when they're playing like that you'll never get to that situation.
January 19th, 2018 at 8:35 AM ^
Calling timeouts is a mixed bag. Personally, I prefer to have my kids play through a bad stretch-figure it out on their own...they usually do...that's why you practice :) Here, it's the personnel I am unhappy about.
January 19th, 2018 at 9:39 AM ^
If you're just not making shots, I agree with you. You might need to just play through it.
If you're playing that sloppy and constantly turning the ball over, losing track of guys on D, etc. I think you need to call a timeout just to calm your team down. Things clearly weren't heading in the right direction, maybe decide you're gonna switch over to a zone?
Also, it's hard for a crowd to keep up their excitement during a timeout, and it seemed like Nebraska was feeding off of that.
January 19th, 2018 at 9:13 AM ^
It's not like the players needed to be told what the situation was. Sometimes, you don't put a traffic cone in the path of a landslide.
January 19th, 2018 at 9:23 AM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 10:01 AM ^
But what does it sound like when doves cry?
January 19th, 2018 at 9:58 AM ^
was only 28 seconds, not 30.
Somebody owes me 2 seconds....
January 19th, 2018 at 10:05 AM ^
January 19th, 2018 at 10:55 AM ^
It's exhausting trying to watch that many games in such a short time frame. Probably moreso for the players who actually play them. This loss is not concerning at all. They looked gassed from the start.
January 19th, 2018 at 11:12 AM ^
Can't win em all!! Especially when is seems like Nebraska never missed! Not worried about this team moving forward, Go Blue!!
January 19th, 2018 at 11:18 AM ^
The team reverted back to early season form when we were desperately searching for a PG. The team had a 6:12 assist to turnover ratio. That's usually reversed.
Z had a bad game. As he gets more experience, these occasions will become more and more rare. But for now, he's still just a sophomore that's been getting major minutes for only about a month, and he's learning how to deal with hostile big 10 venues. BTW, the children of the corn put Breslin and the Izzone to shame. I barely noticed the Izzone but the cornhuskers were loud the whole game. Sure, the scoreboard had a lot to do with it, but still.
January 19th, 2018 at 2:31 PM ^
of his baskets.
Wagner was on him most of the game and this is how he got his buckets:
1 - 1st play of the game hit a fairly long three, somewhat contested by Wagner (who was giving him about 8 feet but closed to at least get a hand near him). That's fine. That'll happen.
2 - Wagner just got burned on a baseline drive iso.
3 - Miscommunication (or blown assignment if they were switching everything) between Simmons and Robinson (guarding Roby) in which Robinson thought they were switching, Simmons didn't so they both stayed with the guard and left Roby wide open for a dunk. Livers wasn't even on the floor.
4 - With Wagner guarding him, Roby sets the ball screen, Wagner sort of stays in no man's land despite Matthews easily getting through the screen, and Roby is wide open for the dunk. Livers was arguably late coming over on the help but he was responsible for two guys under the basket, so it would have required a herculean effort to make a stop given his situation. This was Wagner staying way too long on a hedge that was never really made and wasn't even needed. Livers did at least factor into this play.
5 - The steal on Matthews terrible outlet in which Roby then Euro-stepped Matthews for the layup.
6 - tip-in OREB over Teske with two minutes to go.
I read that comment blaming Livers and wondered how Ace could get something so wrong. Oh, Seth. Right. Hope Ace's visit to Alabama went well.
Btw, upon rewatching of the highlights, Wagner was back to being Horrible Defense Wagner this game. Completely lethargic, not playing well on-ball or off-ball. I was really encouraged by the previous two games. He was dominant and I think that was the first time Wagner had ever put two really good games in a row together.
Thought maybe he turned the corner with his consistency issues. I realize the whole team played poorly and they have to be exhausted and his ankle probably isn't 100 percent but if he's healthy enough to do what he did the last two games, some of last night had to be effort and concentration.
January 19th, 2018 at 11:30 PM ^
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