Michigan holds off Nebraska, deals Cornhuskers first loss

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — It was a golden opportunity for the Minchigan Wolverines.

A chance to knock No. 5 Nebraska from the unbeaten ranks. A shot to pull into a tie for first place in the Big Ten standings. A prime time to add another signature victory to the postseason resume against a team that was without two of its top players.

It was all there for the taking. While No. 3 Michigan didn’t make it easy on itself in the Crisler Center showdown against short-handed Nebraska, it overcame a bunch of turnovers, a cold-shooting second half and an 11-point deficit to close a three-game homestand with a 75-72 victory Tuesday.

Morez Johnson Jr. had 17 points and 12 rebounds and Trey McKenney scored 11, including the go-ahead layup with 1:07 to go, for Michigan (19-1, 9-1 Big Ten), which improved to 4-0 against ranked teams despite making just six shots after halftime.

The Wolverines trailed, 50-48, at the end of a rollercoaster first half where they had no problem making shots but struggled to take care of the ball and get stops.

A brutal start to the second half didn’t help matters. Michigan missed its first seven shots out of the break and turned it over five times, including on four consecutive possessions at one point, before it made a basket.

Once Yaxel Lendeborg broke the field-goal drought by scoring a putback on his own missed layup at the 14:09 mark, the Wolverines only found themselves trailing 54-52.

That didn’t last. The Cornhuskers, after a slow start to the half themselves, pushed the margin back to nine. A live-ball turnover by L.J. Cason led to a fast-break layup that capped a string of six unanswered points. Pryce Sandfort canned a 3-pointer to make it 63-54 with 11:25 to go.

Even as the turnovers and missed shots continued to pile up, Michigan tightened up on defense and stayed within striking distance. McKenney was fouled on a 3-pointer. Will Tschetter was fouled following a steal by Elliot Cadeau. Five straight free throws pulled the Wolverines within 66-64 with 7:12 remaining.

Michigan kept inching closer. Tschetter snapped a four-minute field-goal drought with a bucket at the rim. Lendeborg was fouled battling for an offensive rebound and made two free throws to make it a one-point game. Cadeau split two free throws to tie it at 72 with 2:16 to go.

After Cadeau came away with a crucial steal to stop a fast break, the Wolverines got over the hump when McKenney scored on a baseline drive that gave Michigan its first lead since the first two minutes of the game, 74-72, with 1:07 to play.

The Wolverines held on from there. After getting another defensive stop, Aday Mara was fouled on an offensive rebound and split two free throws to cap a game-ending 10-2 spurt that made it 75-72 with 16.4 seconds left.

Nebraska had two chances to tie it on its final possession but came up empty, as Jamarques Lawrence and Sam Hoiberg both missed potential tying 3s.

Mara and Lendeborg finished with 10 points each for Michigan. The Wolverines shot 25% from the field in the second half, finished 6 for 26 from deep and turned it over 19 times, but went 19 for 23 from the free-throw line.

Lawrence and Sandfort scored 20 apiece and Hoiberg added 13 for Nebraska (20-1, 9-1), which shot 46% from the field and made 11 3-pointers but went scoreless over the final 3:21.

The Cornhuskers were without two of their top three scorers for their first top-five matchup in program history. Braden Frager was out with an ankle injury, while do-it-all big man Rienk Mast was questionable with an illness and went through some pregame warm-ups but was a late scratch.

Despite those absences, Nebraska threw the first punch, got off to a hot start from 3-point range and led for much of the first half. Lawrence and Berke Buyuktuncel hit the first of Nebraska’s 10 first-half deep balls in the opening three minutes for an early five-point lead.

Johnson provided much of the offense for Michigan in the early stages, scoring 10 of the team’s first 14 points. He hit Michigan’s first 3-pointer after a 0 for 5 start from deep to tie it at 10 with 14:08 left in the first half.

Lawrence topped that by scoring 18 in the first 10 minutes and spearheading a 16-6 run that put Michigan in a double-digit hole. Lawrence scored the last 11 points of the flurry and finished it with three 3-pointers in the span of a minute, capping a sizzling stretch where Nebraska made nine of 10 shots to build a 31-20 lead at the 10:19 mark.

The Wolverines, when they weren’t shooting themselves in the foot with eight first-half turnovers, made eight consecutive made shots to chip away at the deficit and make it a one-possession game. Elliot Cadeau and McKenney each hit two 3-pointers during the stretch to cut it to 42-39 with 4:19 left in the half.

The problem is the Wolverines couldn’t string together stops. On Nebraska’s ensuing possession, Michigan left Hoiberg all alone under the basket. Sandfort drained 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions. The Cornhuskers quickly pushed the lead back to eight.

A strong finish pulled the Wolverines right back in it. Michigan closed the entertaining half with three baskets at the rim that were all assisted by Cadeau, including a lob to Mara that beat the buzzer and trimmed Nebraska’s lead to 50-48 at the break.

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