Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Nebraska men’s basketball, late in a close Big Ten game, gave up critical offensive rebounds, turned over their own possessions instead of attempting shots, and flat-out crumbled late with victory hanging in the balance to remain winless in conference play.
Well, it happened again.
The Michigan Wolverines scored the final six points after Nebraska tied it with 1:20 to go, resulting in the Huskers’ 11th Big Ten loss of the season, 85-79 in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Star freshman Bryce McGowens continued his dazzling scoring run with 24 points. It was his fourth consecutive game with at least 20, a Nebraska freshman record besting Dave Hoppen’s three straight 20-plus-point performances in the 1982-83 season. McGowens shot 50% overall, 10-20, and pulled down six rebounds. His ten made field goals were also a career-high.
McGowens scored four of NU’s final six points and started the break that led to the other two, a pair of free throws from freshman CJ Wilcher that tied the game at 79 with 1:20 remaining.
In only ten seconds, Michigan (11-8 overall, 5-4 Big Ten) took the lead back when All-American 7-foot-1 center Hunter Dickinson found DeVante’ Jones open for a left baseline layup.
With a chance to answer, senior guard Kobe Webster turned it over to Jones. Nebraska (6-16, 0-11) buckled down defensively, but when Jones’s missed 3-pointer bounced high off the rim and came down over the free throw line, 6-foot-4 Michigan guard Kobe Bufkin grabbed the offensive rebound.
With just 19 seconds left, the Huskers had to foul. Eli Brooks made both, Webster missed a 3, Jones hit a couple more free throws, and that was that.
The Huskers led 44-37 at halftime, helped by a pair of 7-0 runs sandwiched around a Michigan 7-0 run. Both teams led by as many as ten points, and both weathered long scoring droughts as control teetered back and forth all evening. The second half featured a 16-1 run from Michigan, then a 16-2 Nebraska answer.
Then came a crucial turning point. Freshman Keisei Tominaga, who had just knocked down a 3-pointer to put NU up 73-66, was whistled for a foul with 5:48 remaining. Tominaga appeared to have cleanly blocked Hunter Dickinson’s shot, and he protested the call by running towards half-court very demonstrably. The official then called Tominaga for a technical foul.
Brooks made both technical free throws, Dickinson also made his, and it was a four-point possession for the Wolverines, who grabbed the lead back less than four minutes later.
Dickinson led all scorers with 26 points, including 20 in the second half alone. 12 of those 20 came in the first six minutes after halftime in the Wolverines’ 16-1 scoring stretch. He played only five minutes in the first half due to two quick fouls.
Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg played the same five players down the stretch, using no substitutions over the final 12 minutes. Bryce McGowens, Webster, Tominaga, Wilcher, and junior Derrick Walker, Jr. didn’t leave the floor until Walker fouled out in the final seconds. Webster and Tominaga scored seven points each, all after halftime. Junior Trey McGowens and senior Alonzo Verge, Jr. were both held scoreless in the second half and shot a combined 4-13 on the night.
A foul-riddled affair forced both teams to their bench before halftime. 21 first-half fouls saddled starters Dickinson and Jones with two apiece for the Wolverines, but they were topped by Walker and junior Lat Mayen with two each. Plus, freshman Eduardo Andre picked up three first-half fouls off the bench. Andre, NU’s tallest player at 6-foot-11, contributed four points, four boards, a block and a steal in 14 minutes.
As Nebraska continues to hunt their first Big Ten victory, they shot 50.8% from the floor, good for their best in a conference game this season. Their 44 first-half points matched their most in a Big Ten first half since December 5, 2018 at Minnesota.
The schedule now offers Nebraska a fairer fight. While their first 11 league games featured the top eight teams in the Big Ten standings as of Tuesday, the next seven are against teams between 9th and 13th place in conference record.
Nebraska will host Northwestern on Saturday, February 5th, at noon CST in Lincoln.