Published Mar 5, 2020
Michigan - Nebraska Preview: A Close Look At The Cornhuskers
Clayton Sayfie  •  Maize&BlueReview
Staff Writer
Twitter
@CSayf23

No. 25 Michigan Wolverines basketball (18-11, 9-9 Big Ten) hosts Nebraska (7-22, 2-16 Big Ten) on senior night in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines have lost two straight, and the Cornhuskers are losers of 14 in a row. U-M won 79-68 in the first meeting between the two clubs.

We caught up with Robin Washut of Husker Online to get more insight on Nebraska.

The Basics

Date: Thursday, March 5

Time: 6:30 PM ET

Venue: Crisler Center (Ann Arbor, Mich.)

TV: Fox Sports 1

Commentators: Brandon Gaudin and Donny Marshall

Spread: Michigan -17

RELATED: Michigan Wolverines Basketball: Where Are The Scholarships Coming From?

RELATED: Videos: Juwan Howard, Zavier Simpson And Jon Teske Talk Pre-Senior Night

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Nebraska (7-22, 2-16 Big Ten) — Results

vs. UC Riverside (L, 66-47)

vs. Southern Utah (L, 79-78 in 2OT)

vs. South Dakota State (W, 90-73)

vs. Southern (W, 93-86 in OT)

vs. Washington State (W, 82-71)

vs. George Mason (L, 85-66)

vs. South Florida (W, 74-67)

at Georgia Tech (L, 73-56)

at Creighton (L, 95-76)

at Indiana (L, 96-90 in OT)

vs. Purdue (W, 70-56)

vs. North Dakota (L, 75-74)

vs. Texas A&M Corpus Christi (W, 73-52)

vs. Rutgers (L, 79-62)

vs. Iowa (W, 76-70)

at Northwestern (L, 62-57)

at Ohio State (L, 80-68)

vs. Indiana (L, 92-74)

at Wisconsin (L, 82-68)

at Rutgers (L, 75-72)

vs. Michigan (L, 79-68)

vs. Penn State (L, 76-64)

at Iowa (L, 96-72)

at Maryland (L, 72-70)

vs. Wisconsin (L, 81-64)

vs. Michigan State (L, 86-65)

at Illinois (L, 71-59)

vs. Ohio State (L, 75-54)

vs. Northwestern (L, 81-76 in OT)

Nebraska — Projected Starters

#3 - Sophomore guard Cam Mack (6-2, 175) — Mack averages 6.4 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game. He shoots 38.6 percent from the field and 33.9 percent from three. Mack's 6.4 assists per game average is third in the Big Ten and 14th in the country.

#11 - Junior guard Dachon Burke Jr. (6-4, 180) — He averages 12.1 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game, while shooting 40.3 percent from the field and 29.6 percent from long range.

#22 - Senior guard Haanif Cheatham (6-5, 195) — Cheatham is the Huskers' leading scorer, averaging 12.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. The graduate transfer from Marquette shoots 48.0 percent from the field and 35.0 percent from three.

#34 - Thorir Thorbjarnarson (6-6, 206) — He averages 8.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game, while shooting 46.1 percent from the field and hitting on 39.3 percent of his three-point attempts.

#24 - Freshman forward Yvan Ouedraogo (6-9, 260) — He averages 5.9 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 43.3 percent.

Off The Bench

#23 - Junior guard Jervay Green (6-3, 210) — He averages 7.9 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 24.2 minutes per game, while shooting 40.8 percent from the field and 30.5 percent from three.

#1 - Freshman forward Kevin Cross (6-8, 240) — He averages 6.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 17.8 minutes per game. He shoots 34.5 percent from the field and 26.3 percent on three-point attempts.

#25 - Senior guard Matej Kavas (6-8, 200) — Kavas averages 5.3 points and 1.2 rebounds per game in 14.5 minutes. He shoots 38.4 percent from the field and 33.8 percent from three.

Michigan — Projected Starters

#3 - Senior guard Zavier Simpson (6-0, 190) — Simpson averages 13.0 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. He leads the country in assists per game, with 7.9. He shoots 47.6 percent from the field and 35.0 percent from three.

#55 - Junior guard Eli Brooks (6-1, 185) — Brooks averages 10.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. He shoots 40.8 percent from the field and 36.5 percent from three.

#21 - Freshman guard Franz Wagner (6-9, 205) — He averages 11.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game. Wagner shoots 44.8 percent from the field and 31.7 percent on three-pointers. He is the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week.

#2 - Junior forward Isaiah Livers (6-9, 235) — Livers averages 13.0 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists per contest, while shooting 46.2 percent from the field and 42.7 percent from three.

#15 - Senior center Jon Teske (7-1, 265) — Teske averages 11.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists per contest. He shoots 48.0 percent from the field and 25.4 percent from three.

Off The Bench

#0 - Sophomore guard David DeJulius (6-0, 190) — He averages 6.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game in 21.0 minutes. He shoots 41.3 percent from the field and 35.5 percent on three-pointers.

#23 - Sophomore forward Brandon Johns (6-8, 235) — Johns averages 6.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. He shoots 48.8 percent from the field and 35.3 percent from three.

#51 - Redshirt junior forward Austin Davis (6-10, 250) — Davis averages 4.9 points and 2.6 rebounds per game in 10.7 minutes. He shoots 69.6 percent from the field.

#11 - Sophomore forward Colin Castleton (6-11, 235) — Castleton averages 3.3 points and 2.5 rebounds per game in 8.1 minutes, while shooting 54.0 percent from the field.

Matchup To Watch: Zavier Simpson vs. Cam Mack

Mack led Nebraska in scoring last time against U-M, scoring 19 points on 5-for-7 from long range. But, Simpson did not play due to a suspension. It will be interesting to see how he performs on the road against one of the best defensive back court tandems in Simpson and Brooks, especially on senior night for the former.

Kenpom Prediction

Kenpom has predicted Michigan to win 82-65, and gives the Wolverines a 94 percent chance to win.

Team Statistics

Team Statistics
StatMichiganNebraska

Points Per Game

75.0

69.5

Opp. Points Per Game

68.1

76.3

FG Percentage

.462

.407

Opp. FG Percentage

.421

.444

3PT Percentage

.342

.315

Opp. 3PT Percentage

.321

.324

Assist / Turnover Ratio

1.4

1.2

Rebounding Margin

+1.2

-9.5

Blocks Per Game

4.6

2.4

Kenpom Ratings

Kenpom Ratings — Adjusted Efficiency Ranks
CategoryMichiganNebraska

Overall

14th

146th

Offensive Efficiency

20th

177th

Defensive Efficiency

28th

145th

Tempo

165th

29th

Strength Of Schedule

2nd

18th

Q&A With Robin Washut Of Husker Online

Q: Despite losing the game, several Cornhuskers had success against Michigan last time around. What do you think allowed Cam Mack, Thorir Thorbjarnarson and Kevin Cross to put up big numbers?

RW: Mack is a guy who's always going to fill the stat sheet, but his shooting percentages have plummeted the past couple of weeks. He needs other guys around him to do the majority of the scoring for him to be at his best, because his game is as a facilitator who gets his points when they come easily. Thorbjarnarson is the team's best 3-point shooting threat, but he just went 1-of-7 from behind the arc in the loss to Northwestern. Cross has really been struggling and only played four minutes vs. the Wildcats. Basically the difference between the team Michigan faced the first time and the one they'll see now is that Nebraska was still playing with some fire back then. Now it seems like everyone just wants the season to be over.

Q: What do you think has to happen for Nebraska to pull off the upset?

RW: Literally everything has to go their way. They have to shoot close to 50 percent from the field, make at least 10 3-pointers, and hope for an awful perimeter shooting night from Michigan to even have a chance. Odds are the Wolverines hit everything and the Huskers can't buy a bucket. Honestly, this would be an extremely bad loss for Michigan considering where Nebraska is as a team right now.

Q: On the flip side, what are a couple things that Michigan has to do to win?

RW: Make your threes, take care of the basketball, and jump on Nebraska early. Michigan just needs to not be terrible and they should win this one comfortably. However, if they let NU hang around there's a chance the Huskers could finally get some mojo back and keep it competitive. Even then, one big run has usually been enough to take any wind left in Nebraska's sails the past few games.

Q: Prediction and why?

RW: Like I said, Nebraska has totally checked out and is just going through the motions right now. Pair that against a Michigan team playing for postseason positioning on Senior Night, and this one shouldn't even be close.

Michigan 83, Nebraska 62

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