It was just another night at the office for Michigan Wolverines basketball freshman center Hunter Dickinson in U-M’s 80-69 win at Nebraska, scoring 13 points and pulling down 15 rebounds.
Sophomore guard Franz Wagner finished as the team’s leading scorer, however, racking up a season-high 20 points on 9-of-16 shooting. Wagner talked publicly this past week about how he’d like to start being more aggressive this season, seeing as how he was only averaging 9.5 points per game entering tonight’s showdown.
“I’m just glad we won,” Wagner said, deflecting credit after being asked about his big offensive night and his increased aggressiveness. “I took good shots trying to get into the paint and take open threes. If that leads to a win, then I’m very happy with it.”
Wagner did a little bit of everything this evening, knocking down two three-pointers, pulling down nine boards and handing out two assists en route to U-M’s win.
“Franz did a good job,” Dickinson exclaimed. “He was more aggressive this game and he does a great job letting the game come to him and not forcing things. It’s hard to guard a 6-9 wing who can put the ball on the floor because he can shoot over guys.
“He had mismatches out there and took advantage of them today.”
The Cornhuskers double-teamed Dickinson down low for much of the game, and the 7-1 big man made them pay as a result. He has shown excellent passing abilities for a center all season long, and did so once again on several occasions this evening when the double-teams came his way.
Kicking the ball out helped lead to nine three-pointers from the Wolverines, with senior forward Isaiah Livers registering a team-best three.
“That’s a perk of having a good post player like him,” Wagner laughed. “Teams double him and he did a good job finding the open guy and making easy passes that led to open shots.
“We knew that coming in and we’ve practiced it enough, so we did a good job of exploiting the way they doubled Hunter. We have good balance and a mix of inside play and shooters outside.
“We have unselfish shooters who are willing to pass.”
“Some teams double-teamed me when I was at DeMatha [High School in Hyattsville, Md.], so I’ve had past experience with it,” Dickinson explained. “Coach Juwan [Howard] has done a good job setting us up with double teams from the scout team to get us prepared.
“He let us know doubling the post was a big emphasis for Nebraska on defense, so we made it an emphasis in practice.”
Tonight’s victory was Michigan’s first game since a Dec. 13 triumph over Penn State, marking the Maize and Blue’s longest break of the season. It was also U-M’s first road game of the year, so it was fair to expect some rust and sloppiness at times.
“No, I don’t think so,” Wagner revealed when asked if the team had a mental hurdle it had to overcome due to the extended layoff. “We were well-rested coming off the long break, both physically and mentally.
“Maybe a little bit of our rhythm and stuff like that [was impacted], but I thought we handled it pretty well.”
Road atmospheres have been all but nonexistent this season, with every contest basically serving as a neutral site game. Opposing venues are oftentimes quite intimidating for freshmen and young players (or any player for that matter), but Dickinson handled his first career road contest like a pro tonight.
“It feels good getting back on the plane with a win and then having three days off,” he said. “We’ve shown we can win not only at home but also at other Big Ten arenas. I wish there would have been fans here just to get that real road experience, though it was still fun going to another arena and getting the win.”
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