It wasn’t pretty, but it didn’t need to be. Michigan badly needed a win after dropping four straight games, and Nebraska was the perfect huckleberry. U-M’s 79-68 victory minus Zavier Simpson and Isaiah Livers helped U-M stay on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble for now …

And given how the season has unfolded, that’s the goal now … that, and perhaps a run in the Big Ten Tournament if the team is intact and healthy. It’s an important one, too, to maintain the culture that’s been established — a year-in, year-out tournament team — and though shorthanded, the Wolverines played hard.