No. 5 Nebraska loses for first time as upset bid of No. 3 Michigan falls short
And then there were two. Arizona and Miami (Ohio) are the last two undefeated teams in college basketball after No. 3 Michigan rallied late to survive a surprise attempt by No. 5 Nebraska with a 75-72 victory Tuesday in Ann Arbor. Michigan erased a seven-point deficit with eight minutes remaining in regulation to improve to 19-1 and, at 9-1 in the Big Ten, join Michigan State and the Cornhuskers atop the conference standings.
The Huskers (20-1, 9-1) lost their perfect record but earned plenty of respect, showing championship-level grit in their toughest test of the season without star big man Rienk Mast (illness) and sixth stud Braden Frager (ankle injury). Even with two of its top four players sidelined, Nebraska gave Michigan all it could handle and then some with a barrage of threes in the first half. The Huskers dropped 50 points on Michigan’s vaunted defense in just the first 20 minutes, but they ran out of gas down the stretch. Nebraska didn’t score a single point in the final 3:21 minutes of the game.
Michigan and Nebraska entered the game as projected No. 1 seeds in the CBS Sports Bracketology model and are both expected to remain on the top seed after their only regular-season meeting when the NCAA Tournament bracket projection is updated on Wednesday.
After Nebraska’s loss, No. 24 Miami beat UMass 86-84 to match No. 1 Arizona’s mark of 21-0 this season. The Wildcats held on to defeat No. 13 BYU 86-83 on Monday.
Arizona is 21-0. The scary part? It can still get better
Matt Norlander
Home losses are deadly for Big Ten Championship hopes, and Michigan was on life support until it received a spark from unlikely sources. Senior forward Will Tschetter changed the tenor of the game with his attention to defensive detail and constant energy. Tschetter finished with seven points, didn’t miss a shot and Michigan outscored Nebraska by eight points in his 15 minutes of play. Freshman Trey McKenney came off the bench and was terrific, scoring 11 points, including a big boy bucket in the final minute.
Without the key contributions of McKenney and Tschetter, Nebraska could very well have pulled off one of the most impressive road wins of the season.
In the end, Michigan used its patented muscle to finally put the Huskers away for good. Michigan pulled down a huge six offensive rebounds in the second half to stem the tide and stay alive. Morez Johnson Jr. erupted for 17 points and 12 rebounds. His frontcourt teammate, Aday Mara, scored 10 points and seven rebounds.
Pryce Sandfort was once again outstanding for the Huskers, scoring 20 points. Jamarques Lawrence hit a couple of important triples in the first half en route to 20 points. Former backup Sam Hoiberg (13 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals) continued his brilliant season.
