Michigan and Nebraska combined to play one of the worst basketball games of the season on Monday night in Lincoln. The Wolverines and Cornhuskers combined to shoot 11-of-55 from 3-point range in one of the ugliest college basketball games this year.

Despite the shooting woes, Michigan escaped with the victory and leaves Lincoln with a 21-6 overall record and a 13-3 mark in Big Ten play. Here are three takeaways from the defensive battle.

Michigan entered Monday night's contest against Nebraska shooting poorly as of late. The Wolverines shot no better than 33 percent from 3-point range in any of their previous five games, and the shooting certainly did not get any better against the Cornhuskers.

The 3-point shooting performance put forth by the Wolverines in Lincoln on Monday night was one of the worst displays of shooting by any college basketball team this season. Michigan finished the night making just five of their 27 3-point attempts, which resulted in an 18.5 3-point shooting percentage.

If Michigan has any hopes of winning the Big Ten regular-season title or putting together a respectable performance in either the conference tournament or the NCAA Tournament, it will need to get out of this 3-point shooting slump — and fast — because the schedule does not get any easier.

Early on in the season, Michigan looked to have one of the best offenses in the Big Ten. The 3-point shots were falling, and the pace at which Michigan played was faster than many teams could handle.

But as the season waned on, the bench grew increasingly thin and fatigue set in. Players who were supposed to be critical pieces offensively like Sam Walters, Roddy Gayle Jr. and Rubin Jones experienced some shooting struggles as the season went on, which set Michigan's offense back.

With a shorter bench, it became harder for Michigan to run a fast-paced offense. Combine that with poor shooting, and you arrive at where Michigan is offensively right now.

Of course, Monday night's game was an anomaly, but the Wolverines are undoubtedly struggling on the offensive end of the floor right now. Danny Wolf seemed to make the clutch baskets when it mattered most, but the Wolverines will need more consistent scoring from just about everyone going forward.

Somehow, someway, Michigan leaves Lincoln with its 13th Big Ten victory of the season. It was one of the ugliest games of basketball the Wolverines have ever played in their program's 109-year history, but they still managed to get the job done, making it better than any loss the team has suffered.

Michigan will never and should never apologize for a loss, and it won't tonight. The Wolverines improve to 13-3 in Big Ten play, tying Michigan State atop the league standings. MSU holds the head-to-head tiebreaker, but the Wolverines keep their hopes of winning the Big Ten title alive.

A loss to Nebraska would have been detrimental to the team's aspirations of winning the conference, and now it's up to MSU to hold serve when it visits Maryland on Wednesday, As for Michigan, it will stick around Ann Arbor for a while, hosting its next three games against Rutgers, Illinois and Maryland.

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