Michigan Destroys Nebraska On Senior Night, 82-58
The Michigan Wolverines' basketball team took down Nebraska tonight at Crisler Center, 82-58, on a night where the program honored seniors Zavier Simpson and Jon Teske.
Here's how the entire contest unfolded:
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First Half
Teske got Michigan on the board first tonight, connecting on a short turnaround hook at 19:23 to put U-M up 2-0.
A triple from junior forward Isaiah Livers made it 5-2, and an easy layup from freshman guard Franz Wagner off an inbounds pass from Simpson made it 9-2 at the 17:17 mark.
A layup by Simpson in transition extended things to 11-2 at 16:36, and the Wolverines were a red hot 5-of-7 from the floor at that point.
Michigan's lead sat at 11-6 at the under-16 timeout, and Wagner was the club's leading scorer at that juncture with four points.
The Maize and Blue's hot offensive play continued when Livers drained a three from the top of the key at 14:40 to make it 14-7, and a Teske turnaround hook then made it 16-7 with 13:52 left in the half.
U-M's edge sat at 18-10 at the under-12 timeout, with both Livers and Teske already having poured in six points.
An enormous dunk from Wagner off a steal led to an and-1 at 10:21, and Michigan's lead was stretched to 21-12 as a result.
Nebraska then went on a run of its own, however, connecting on consecutive threes to trim U-M's advantage to 21-18, causing head coach Juwan Howard to call a timeout at 9:41.
The Wolverines held just a 23-22 lead at the under-8 timeout, and had missed six of their last seven shots.
Junior guard Eli Brooks finally gave Michigan some much-needed momentum when he connected on two consecutive corner threes from the exact same spot, stretching U-M's edge to 29-22 at the under-4 timeout.
A 4-0 Cornhusker run ensued before sophomore forward Brandon Johns drilled a crucial corner three-pointer with only 33 seconds remaining in the half, extending the Maize and Blue lead to 32-26.
Nebraska redshirt junior guard Dachon Burke drained two free throws with only five seconds left in the half to trim Michigan's margin to 32-28, and that's where the score stood at the break.
The Wolverines shot a dismal 34 percent through the first 20 minutes, while Nebraska connected on 37 percent of its shots.
Second Half
Livers opened the second half on a 5-0 run by himself, highlighted by an enormous one-handed dunk just 12 seconds out of the locker room with Teske assisting on the play.
Michigan's lead was then stretched to nine when Simpson drained a corner triple at 17:55, and an ensuing Teske and-1 made it 42-30, giving the Wolverines their biggest lead of the day up to that point.
Brooks showed some nifty dribbling and footwork at the 15:55 juncture, finishing with a high-flying layup to extend the margin to 46-32, and that's where things stood at the under-16 timeout.
The Maize and Blue offense was a red hot 6-of-8 (75 percent) at that point to start the second half.
The rout was officially on when Livers splashed home a triple from the right wing at 14:38 to balloon the margin to 50-32, and he then finished off an and-1 with 13:57 to go to make the score 53-32.
Redshirt junior center Austin Davis ignited the crowd when he slammed home an alley-oop dunk at 13:03, with Simpson assisting on the play to put Michigan up 57-39.
A 6-0 run by the Cornhuskers cut U-M's margin to 58-45 with 10:36 to go though, causing Howard to call a timeout.
The Wolverines proceeded to go on a 6-1 run of their own, however, highlighted by an impressive layup in transition by Livers with 8:32 left, a play in which he took it coast to coast himself.
Davis ignited the crowd yet again with his pure grit and hustle when he tipped in a putback off a missed triple from Livers, making the score 68-50 and causing Nebraska to call a timeout with 6:30 remaining.
Michigan held a comfortable 70-52 lead at the under-4 timeout, and were shooting a hot 54 percent for the second half at that point.
Johns went on a 5-0 run of his own as the game wound down, culminating with an impressive reverse layup with 2:28 left to give Michigan its biggest lead of the day up to that point at 78-52.
Simpson and Teske departed the Crisler Center court for the final time to a standing ovation from the Michigan faithful, as Howard emptied the bench and watched his club seal the 82-58 victory.
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