3 things we learned from Michigan basketball win over Nebraska

Michigan basketball won one of the ugliest games you’ll ever see on Monday night. The Wolverines shot 30 percent from the field and 19 percent from 3-point range, and still won.

The Wolverines were stellar on defense and limited Nebraska to 21 percent shooting. The players outside of Brice Williams and Sam Hoiberg, shot just 12 percent from the field. That’s not a typo.

It was that kind of game. Nebraska flustered Michigan with its pressure. The Wolverines also took too many quick 3-pointers and at times, the ball didn’t move as much as it needed to.

Still, defense and rebounding won the day. It was a Big Ten win if there ever was one and here are three things we learned about the Wolverines.

This Michigan basketball team is gritty

Michigan’s shooting is a real concern. We’ll get to that in a minute, but this was another gritty win for the Wolverines.

For the first time in 15 years, Michigan won a basketball game without scoring 50 points. It was also the seventh road win for U-M during conference play.

It’s not easy to win any game in the Big Ten, but winning seven times on the road, is impressive. It’s even more impressive when you realize that nearly every road win was over a team in contention to make the NCAA tournament, including Nebraska.

Danny Wolf and Tre Donaldson struggled mightily, but in the second half, each player managed a mini 5-0 scoring run at a critical juncture. Wolf answered a Juwan Gary bucket that put Nebraska in front with a 3-pointer and sparked the 7-0 run that gave Michigan a 45-39 lead.

It was a do-or-die game for Nebraska, just like it was for Michigan in the Big Ten standings. It didn’t go perfectly. It went about as badly as it could have after Friday night, but the Wolverines didn’t worry about their shooting percentage, they defended, made some key adjustments on Brice Williams, and won the game.

That’s what gritty teams do. It’s also what championship teams do and Michigan is now tied with Michigan State for first place with four games to go in the Big Ten race.

Dusty May’s defensive adjustment won the game

We mentioned the adjustment on Brice Williams, it was needed because in the first half, the Nebraska standout looked unstoppable. Williams connected on four 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes of the game and scored 20 of Nebraska first 24 points.

It felt like he might score 50 himself. Then, the Wolverines adjusted. May talked about in his press conference that Michgan wanted to make someone else beat them so they started doubling Williams when he got the ball and it worked perfectly.

Williams only scored six points in the last 30 minutes of the game. Juwan Gary, the other top player for Nebraska, connected on just two field goals. Williams made more field goals than the rest of the team combined, so it was a smart decision by May and it paid off with a win.

Michigan’s shooting woes are real

A win is a win. An ugly win is better than a pretty loss. All the sayings apply to Michigan basketball’s win on Monday night.

But there’s a reason the Wolverines haven’t won when scoring fewer than 50 points in 17 years. It’s not sustainable and winning games won’t be sustainable if Michigan keeps shooting that poorly.

Nebraska played good defense. They are pesky, but Michigan missed a ton of open shots. Danny Wolf was way too indecisive and so was Vlad Goldin.

Few teams double down as hard as Nebraska does. The way to try and limit that is by hitting 3-pointers and spacing out the floor. It just never happened. Nimari Burnett and Will Tschetter — Michigan’s best 3-point shooters were stone cold.

Wolf, Donaldson, and LJ Cason made treys in the second half, but it’s hard to believe Michgian actually shot worse from deep than on Friday and still won.

It’s a fluky thing though and it won’t continue. The next three games are at home and you just have to hope Michigan starts shooting the ball well again. We have seen the Wolverines do it. They are capable, but this shooting slump is real and if Michigan doesn’t snap out of it, it will cost U-M the Big Ten regular-season championship.