As the Cornhuskers marched to their best start in program history with a 20-0 record, players told USA TODAY Sports in December ‘we’re not going to go undefeated.’ A loss would happen, it was just a matter of when.
It finally happened Tuesday, Jan. 27 with Nebraska, in the top five of the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll for the first time, falling on the road to No. 2 Michigan in a monster Big Ten clash.
We were going to learn a lot in the contest. Is Nebraska legit? Is Michigan still the Big Ten and national championship favorite?
Turns out, both are true.
It was an entertaining contest that showed Michigan is still on the path to the Final Four, and the Cornhuskers cannot be ignored anymore. The Wolverines are real. So is Nebrasketball − even in a loss.
“That just proved to everybody, most importantly to those guys in the locker room, that we can compete with anybody in this country,’ Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg said.
Michigan had to really work for this one. The team that started the season blowing every team out of the water was the one trying to swim out of a rip current. After Michigan took a 3-2 lead in the first two minutes, Nebraska took control and were comfortably holding the lead.
The Cornhuskers were on fire. Jamarques Lawrence was money from deep and the rest of the team seemingly drilled every shot that went in the air. Nebraska averages 10 made 3-pointers a game, and it achieved that in just 18 minutes. The Wolverines looked shell shocked. They couldn’t keep up, trailing by as much as 11 points in the first frame and down at halftime. Oh, and all of this came with Nebraska’s second and third leading scorers in Rienk Mast and Braden Frager out.
It was an ugly second half. However, that suited Michigan, and Nebraska’s inexperience showed.
The Cornhuskers couldn’t maintain their hot shooting, allowing the Wolverines to hang around. The game turned from a fast-paced shooting frenzy to a physical one that didn’t suit Nebraska. Michigan got to the foul line while ratcheting up the defensive intensity.
Despite Michigan shooting just 6-for-24 (25%) in the second half with 11 turnovers, it went 14-for-17 from the free throw line. Nebraska shot just four free throws all game, and the magic wore off with a 1-for-13 mark from deep in the second half. Michigan only made one shot in the final five minutes, but the Cornhuskers didn’t score in the final three minutes.
It wasn’t pretty, but that can happen. The great teams find ways to win even when everything is going wrong. You need wins like this to prepare you for March, when it will inevitably happen as the competition gets stiffer each round.
As January nears an end, Michigan still remains the class of the Big Ten. It’s the best candidate to be the first from the conference to win a national championship since 2000. It has had some not-so-incredible performances in the first month of Big Ten play and it only has one loss. If the Wolverines are firing on all cylinders, there’s little hope for opponents.
At the same time, Nebraska proved its legitimacy. People have been cautious to believe the Cornhuskers are for real, and wanted to see how they measured up against a top-tier foe. The Cornhuskers nearly beat Michigan without two of their top three scorers.
“That team is projected by a lot of people to win a national championship,’ Hoiberg said. ‘You fight them all the way to the finish, you lose by a basket. That shows the character of our team and it also shows we can compete with anybody in the country.’
Michigan has to admit it was outplayed most of the game. The Cornhuskers just couldn’t close the deal late, as they ran out of steam. There is such a thing as finding a win in a loss, and Nebraska still is poised to contend in the Big Ten and make some program history in the NCAA Tournament.
‘We’re going to compete for the Final Four, and I think we just put ourselves in that conversation,’ said Nebraska guard Sam Hoiberg.
It was a great battle, and you could only imagine what this game would be like in Lincoln with the Cornhuskers at full strength. Or even better, in a postseason contest.
‘Hopefully we’ll see them in March, April,’ Michigan coach Dusty May said postgame on the Peacock broadcast.
Let’s hope so, because both of these teams are capable of some magical things.