Michigan 80, Nebraska 69
Four plays stand out in my mind from a hard-fought road win over Nebraska. You may note they all occurred in the second half.
- With Nebraska bringing a hard double team every time Hunter Dickinson touched the ball, Dickinson flips the floor with a skip pass to Isaiah Livers, whose instant touch pass beats the recovering defender and gets Franz Wagner an open layup.
- The Huskers went on a 7-0 run to cut Michigan's lead to six with under eight minutes to play, helped in part by a change to zone that initially flustered Eli Brooks into a turnover. Mike Smith calmly worked his way into the heart of the zone and sank a floater to snap the run.
- When NU followed that with buckets on consecutive trips to slice the lead to four, Isaiah Livers drew the attention of the defense before kicking the ball to Smith, who drilled a corner three.
- Still lingering within six points late, the Huskers went back to the 2-3 and got aggressive on defense, sending center Yvan Ouedraogo on a hard hedge when Smith took a high screen from Dickinson. Smith drew two defenders out to the midcourt logo, waited for Ouedraogo to turn his back and attempt to get back to the paint, and whipped a pass to an uncovered Wagner under the hoop for another easy two. NU scored one more basket and never got within eight from that point forward.
You may also note the last three critical plays all featured Mike Smith, who paced the team with six assists in addition to scoring ten points on only seven shooting possessions. Smith's second half was the best he's had in a Michigan uniform; his late-game heroics lend hope to the idea he and Brooks can handle the point guard position for an elite team.
That wasn't the feeling in the opening stanza as Nebraska went big with their opening lineup and picked on the M guard unfortunate enough to get stuck on a red-hot Teddy Allen, who had at least a five-inch and 35-pound advantage. Allen dropped 21 points in the first half, seemingly unable to miss whether bullying his way for a layup or stepping out for a 28-footer.
Meanwhile, Wagner was the only Wolverine who consistently had it going on offense as the aggressive doubling kept the ball from staying in Dickinson's hands for long. Michigan went 4/17 on threes in the first half, missing a number of good looks after Dickinson drew an extra defender. While a late-half run gave the Wolverines a 36-34 halftime lead, nobody was really feeling the holiday cheer.
But Michigan adjusted and Allen's performance proved unsustainable. Before the four plays highlighted at the beginning of this post, the Wolverines added to their lead with plays that were encouraging in both the short- and long-term view. Wagner took a Dickinson screen and drove hard for a layup. Livers drained his first three-pointer in five attempts after giving it up and getting a quick return pass from Smith to keep a defender in no-man's land. Dickinson spun away from Nebraska's help and put down a lefty hook.
Wagner scored a team-high 20 points, hitting 7/9 twos to easily make up for a 2/7 mark on threes, and pulled down nine rebounds. Livers tallied 11 of his 17 points in the second half, Dickinson went 5/7 from the field on his way to scoring 13 while dominating the paint with 15 rebounds and two blocks, Chaundee Brown needed only 16 minutes to score 13 points, and Brooks chipped in seven with four assists.
Allen's only second-half field goal came on a banked-in stepback three, which felt appropriate. He missed his other four shots from the field, and while Trey McGowans picked up the mantle of ridiculous shot-maker, it wasn't enough to overcome the rest of the team shooting 7/24 in the second half.
Michigan is now 7-0 overall and tied atop the Big Ten standings at 2-0 with Wisconsin and Northwestern for the moment. Iowa can join them if they come back from a five-point halftime deficit at Minnesota. Otherwise, every team in the conference already holds at least one L in Big Ten play. With Wagner and Smith coming on, the Wolverines should make a hard charge for a top-four seed in the conference tournament and maybe much more.
[Hit THE JUMP for the box score.]
December 25th, 2020 at 9:11 PM ^
Solid win.
BTN showed the '92 team prior to the game and it was interesting to watch the Fab Five basically toy with ISU. I think Juwan will have that same energy with the '22 team.
December 25th, 2020 at 9:15 PM ^
Is that a 7 trillion I see? Kind of impressive in its way. I couldn’t last 30 seconds on a court without picking up a bad stat.
It’s so much more fun to follow this team than the other big one.
December 26th, 2020 at 2:07 AM ^
Strange too, as it's coming from Johns, who usually has just the opposite (as has been mentioned on the podcast at least twice); he's someone who often has stat lines like 5 points, 2 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 steal. 2 fouls and 2 turnovers.
I found it a little worrisome how many minutes the starters played. Hope that changes as Johns gets used to being a 5. It's a big ask to play a 7'1" freshman 32 minutes per game.
December 26th, 2020 at 2:48 AM ^
I was just about to say the same thing!
December 26th, 2020 at 7:13 AM ^
FUN FACT: Look at that +/- column on the far right. Brandon Johns was +3; Mike Smith was +2. So, at least Brandon Johns can say:
December 25th, 2020 at 9:16 PM ^
Great call switching Wagner to guard teddy allen in the second half. That length is so so valuable when you can throw him on a hot shooter.
December 26th, 2020 at 8:59 AM ^
In the post game interview, Juwan said Chaundee Brown came to him in the 2nd half and asked to cover Allen. Juwan credited Brown's defense for shutting him down.
December 26th, 2020 at 9:08 AM ^
I taped the game and have not watched the whole second half yet, but at least the first few minutes of the second half, I noticed Wagner guarding Allen.
December 26th, 2020 at 10:10 AM ^
That was definitely true. Wagner switched on to Allen to start the 2nd half. Brown came off the bench. When he came in, Allen was his assignment.
December 26th, 2020 at 10:14 AM ^
Brown was talking so much shit to Allen that you would think Jalen Rose was his coach. It was really reminiscent of some of Ron Artest’s defensive performances, where the opponent is just tired of dealing with him by the second half. I think it was the high energy Brown displayed when the ball wasn’t in Allen’s hands that made the difference—a key part of defense is what you do when your man doesn’t have the ball.
As for the Wagner comment, at first I thought it was weird because I don’t remember him on Allen as much. I think Wagner is falling short of expectations. He needs to be a better 3-point shooter and passer. Now it seems he has missed so many 3s he’s hesitant to pull the trigger, which allows defenders to play off of him a bit and prevent him from penetrating.
December 27th, 2020 at 11:06 PM ^
I wonder if switching between Wagner and Brown on hot scorers might be a good idea in general. Both excellent defenders but with very different styles. Requires the guy defended to keep adjusting his game and shot.
December 25th, 2020 at 9:18 PM ^
Loved the intensity that Chaundee Brown brought in, including the double tech. It seemed like he mostly shut off Allen while he was in during the first half and really swung the momentum in Michigan’s favor.
December 25th, 2020 at 9:20 PM ^
Man, a 7 trillion for Brandon Johns is pretty disheartening. I thought this was a game that would've fit his skill set.
December 25th, 2020 at 9:22 PM ^
Let’s update those tiers Ace!
December 25th, 2020 at 10:25 PM ^
With Iowa losing at Minnesota tonight, I would make the tiers:
TIER 1: Wisconsin
TIER 2: not Wisconsin or Nebraska
TIER 3: Nebraska
This conference is absolutely bonkers.
December 25th, 2020 at 9:26 PM ^
It's nice to see that Michigan has options they can switch on a guy who gets hot; Allen wasn't nearly as effective in the second half and credit should go to Wagner for that (as well as others).
They've got a couple of winnable games coming up with Maryland and NW, and while Minny is looking good against Iowa that feels like a game Michigan should be favored in. Wisconsin honestly looks like the class of the conference right now, in part because they are a bunch of 24-year-olds, but this team feels like one of the top 4 in the conference.
December 25th, 2020 at 10:57 PM ^
Honestly, I don’t know who the best teams are or how much separation there is between teams. I’ll take the 2-0 start and be happy for now.
Smith was a wizard tonight with the ball. The bounce pass to Dickinson deep in the lane was a thing of beauty.
December 26th, 2020 at 1:02 AM ^
Mikey, yes Mikey, had his best game in Maize and Blue this evening. If he can continue to improve, we could be working with an Elite 8 level tournament team this season!
December 25th, 2020 at 9:28 PM ^
I’m surprised Chaundee only got 16 minutes. With Nebraska’s size, we were hurting ourselves defensively by not playing Chaundee more. Eli was really abused in the first half. Fortunately for us, Nebraska is really bad (6 assists the whole game.)
We’re going to need at least a couple more road wins to get into the top 4 of the conference. We need more Chaundee, and Johns has to step up or Davis needs to get healthy. But a road win in this conference is not something to take for granted, even in Lincoln.
December 25th, 2020 at 9:40 PM ^
Yeah, I'm not sure why Brooks got more minutes that Brown. Brooks was missing open shots and wasn't great on defense while Brown was playing lockdown D and hitting his shots
December 26th, 2020 at 10:20 AM ^
He did get a technical foul in the first half soon after going in. I think most of his minutes came in the second.
December 25th, 2020 at 9:30 PM ^
A lot of positives from this one. Mike Smith looking like a legit Big Ten starter, Franz finally showing some aggression on the offensive end, Dickinson continuing his game changing play on both ends of the floor. All that coming off a 13 day layoff. I know Nebraska is the worst team in the conference and it's a pandemic year but no road win is ever easy in the Big Ten. Really like this team's potential.
December 26th, 2020 at 1:18 PM ^
What does a "pandemic" have to do with getting a win? Everyone is dealing with the same thing.
December 25th, 2020 at 9:35 PM ^
Takeaways:
- Franz had his best game of the season. Some of his shots weren't great and he missed some open 3s, but overall had a great game on both ends.
- Despite the 5 turnovers, that was a great game from Dickinson. He was dominant rebounding, pretty solid defensively, came around offensively in the second half, and was making some solid passes. Some of those passes were a little too ambitious and ended up turnovers but I think that will end up being a good learning experience for him
- Great performance by Livers. Was missing some open shots in the first half, but really recovered in the second half
- Smith was great at breaking the zone, driving and kicking.
- Chaundee had a quietly efficient nice game off the bench
- I also think the defense was pretty solid overall, but Nebraska was just straight up making difficult shots. Teddy Allen was legit
December 25th, 2020 at 9:44 PM ^
This offense looks really good. They generate good looks pretty much ever position. If we can hit a little more consistent on wide open 3 pointers then look out. Beilein was a great offensive coach but I feel like our half court offense looks more dangerous under Juwan. Yeah an All B1G post threat and the ability to play inside out helps.
Im also very impressed with how much the defense has improved over just 7 games. A lot more intensity. Guys communicating better and getting lost less. Nebraska made a lot of tough contested shots tonight.
There will be bumps along the road with the strength of the B1G but this team has a chance to be special. Smith getting more comfortable in the offense and becoming a legit playmaker like he showed in the 2nd half would be a big positive as well.
December 25th, 2020 at 9:56 PM ^
Smith at +2. Safe to say that doesn’t tell the whole story
December 25th, 2020 at 10:00 PM ^
A satisfying win.
December 25th, 2020 at 10:52 PM ^
We played very well in the 2nd half. And we found something Dickinson needs to work on -- passing out of a double team. 0 assists and 5 turnovers -- ouch. I'm sure he got doubled a lot in high school, but probably by 6'-3" guys. I'm confident that Juwan will help Hunter figure it out.
December 26th, 2020 at 9:36 AM ^
Dicksinson had a better passing game than the stats show. Had multiple hockey assists
December 25th, 2020 at 11:11 PM ^
Not surprisingly, Michigan is still trying to get all the parts working together at a high level. Nonetheless, they are playing well. We could see something special when they start hitting their stride. We have a lot of talent and different ways to hurt other teams. Fun group to watch.
December 25th, 2020 at 11:49 PM ^
Finally Livers and Franz show how good this team can be if they are both on their game at the same time. The inside out scoring with HD was a thing of beauty in the second half.
December 25th, 2020 at 11:58 PM ^
My favorite play was when the Nebraska guy driving into the lane got stripped clean and play suddenly broke to the other end. I had to rewind to see it was Brooks who did the deed.
December 26th, 2020 at 12:09 AM ^
Depth depth depth. God bless M basketball
Hail
December 26th, 2020 at 7:29 AM ^
Hard charge for a top 4 seed in the conference?! How about a hard charge for a top 4 seed in the NCAA! Really. They have the playres, but they haven't played enough together to always look smooth. Despite too many TOs, Mike Smith can play point guard. Same with Dickinson at center. Wagner is starting to play offensive ball again. We need to adjust our expectations, although the league is tough.
December 26th, 2020 at 8:39 AM ^
I really enjoy watching this team, but it looks like a happy (as in, good chemistry and coaching) collection of role players surrounding an emerging star (Dickinson). I don't see a top ten team. You could still sell me on the idea that Wagner has upside that will be realized this season.
December 26th, 2020 at 9:18 AM ^
I saw a tweet saying that Juwan said at half-time Brown asked to cover Ayers - and then shut him down.
December 26th, 2020 at 10:39 AM ^
This team will go as far as their shooting will take them. I don't remember a single terrible chuck from 3 in the first half, pretty much all wide open shots generated from moving on offense (and Nebraska being kinda bad at defense), but they still managed to go 4-17.
December 26th, 2020 at 11:43 AM ^
A good take here. More and more, teams will follow the Nebraska blueprint and force someone besides Dickinson to make shots. If we can get better 3-point shooting to go with the inside play by Dickinson and our defense, this could be an Elite Eight or Final Four team. Right now though, we are limited by our outside shooting. An alternative could be feed inside, kick out, and then drive or drive/dish, but defenders will sag off the shooters unless they start to make a larger percentage of their shots.
In sum, we have to make enough shots to keep defenses honest.
December 26th, 2020 at 1:47 PM ^
I think there might be some bias here, since the we expected better 3 point shooting from Wagner. We have two players shooting over 40% from three in Livers and Brown. And Brookes and Smith shooting 37% and 33% respectively. Those numbers don't suggest to me that you can just play off of these guys. I do wonder if we will see Chaundee start getting more minutes down the road.
December 26th, 2020 at 11:40 AM ^
Nebraska has some talent, and a very good coach. Give them more time together, and they will become another problem in the B1G. This road win will look even better later in the season.
December 26th, 2020 at 1:53 PM ^
I have been impressed by the respect that opposing players and coaches have shown Juwan, and he them, after the games. He seems to know everyone and be universally well-liked.
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