Michigan Wolverines basketball notched its first road win over the season, taking down Nebraska, 80-69, in Lincoln on Christmas Day.
Here is a recap of how the game unfolded:
First Half
Michigan senior forward Isaiah Livers broke the scoring seal at the 19:02 mark, with a one-handed jumper in the lane giving the Wolverines a 2-0 lead.
Seven early points from junior guard Teddy Allen and two from sophomore guard Dalano Banton gave Nebraska a 8-5 lead at the 15:35 mark. Michigan was cold to start, making only 2 of 6 attempts from the field, while Nebraska was 3-of-7.
In fact, Allen heated up even more after that, scoring 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting and helping Nebraska to a 19-15 lead with 12 minutes to play in the half. Nebraska led, 19-17, at the 10:25 mark, behind 54 percent shooting to that point. At the same point, Michigan was connecting on 50 percent of its shots, with sophomore wing Franz Wagner leading the way with seven points. Freshman center Hunter Dickinson had six rebounds already halfway through the first stanza.
Michigan senior guard Chaundee Brown and Nebraska's Allen were both called for technical fouls while getting into it during a dead ball at the 8:13 mark.
At the under-eight media timeout, Nebraska led 25-23, after back and forth scoring much of the prior few minutes. Brown had four points off the bench to that point, going 2-of-4 from the field.
Just after the timeout, Brown got loose and was found by Livers on a fast break, laying it in to tie the game at 25-25. A Dickinson dunk with the assist coming to fifth-year senior guard Mike Smith gave Michigan a 27-25 lead with 5:25 to play until the break. A layup with just over 4:30 to play gave Michigan its largest lead to that point, 29-25.
Two straight buckets, capped off by an Allen layup, tied the game back up at 29-29. Two possessions later, Allen nailed a top-side three to give himself 21 points on the night and the Huskers a three-point lead, 32-29, with 2:40 until halftime.
Brown nailed a corner three with 1:30 left to give Michigan a 34-32 lead, but Banton came right back and laid it in at the rim to tie the game at 34:34.
After a long possession in which Michigan missed two shots but got two offensive rebounds, Wagner made a put-back layup and drew a foul, but missed the free throw. Michigan had a 36-34 edge with 30 seconds remaining. Nebraska's Banton missed a shot at the buzzer, and Michigan carried its two-point lead into the locker room.
The Wolverines shot 45 percent in the first half to Nebraska's 44. Allen led all scorers with 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting, while Wagner led Michigan with 11 points on 5-of-9 from the field.
Second Half
Michigan got off to a hot start to the second half, with Wagner making a baseline runner and Livers hitting a three to give the Wolverines their largest lead of the game, 41-34, early on.
Nebraska junior guard Trey McGowens hit two threes to cut the deficit to 43-41 with 16:41 to play. But Michigan battled back, with Livers nailing a three and Wagner converting on a layup to extend Michigan's edge back out to seven, 48-41, at the under-16 media timeout.
At the 14:36 mark, Michigan got out to a 53-41 lead — its largest to that point — after Wagner nailed a three-pointer from the wing. He had 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting and 2-of-5 from deep, leading all Wolverines in scoring.
Michigan was on a 10-0 spurt in under two minutes, until Allen ended the Nebraska drought, draining a step-back three off the glass.
Michigan led, 60-47, at the under-12 timeout, with Dickinson scoring on a nifty baseline spin and layup to notch his 10th point. He already had 11 rebounds at that point, giving him his second career double-double.
At the 8:05 mark, Michigan hadn't scored in just over three minutes, and Nebraska took advantage, cutting it to 62-54, Michigan behind a senior forward Trevor Lakes three-pointer that caused U-M head coach Juwan Howard to call timeout.
Senior guard Eli Brooks was stripped by McGowens, who subsequently dunked it on the fast break. A short jumper by Smith on the ensuing possession gave Michigan back an eight-point lead after the exciting sequence with seven minutes to play.
After a back-and-forth, fast-paced stretch, Michigan held a 71-64 edge at the under-four media timeout, with Nebraska heading to the line for two free throws.
Michigan closed things out late, fending off Nebraska and winning, 80-69. Wagner led the Wolverines with 20 points and nine boards, while Dickinson added 13 points and 15 rebounds.
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