Wolverines Hit the Road for Thursday Late-Night Tilt at Nebraska

Thursday, January 18

Lincoln, Neb.

8:00 PM CT

Michigan

Nebraska

Wolverines Hit the Road for Thursday Late-Night Tilt at Nebraska

1/17/2018 3:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: Tom Wywrot

» Michigan will play its second game of a three-games-in-seven-days stretch starting with Thursday night's game at Nebraska.
» Both Michigan and Nebraska are coming off thrilling last-second victories. U-M hit two free throws with 1.2 second left to beat Maryland, while Nebraska's last-second three-pointer gave the Cornhuskers a win over Illinois.
» Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman hit two free throws to help U-M's improbable comeback win over Maryland and help him become the 52nd Wolverine to reach 1,000 career points.
» Zavier Simpson has had five-or-more assists in his last six straight games and leads U-M with 71.

THIS WEEK
Monday, Jan, 15 -- Maryland (W, 68-67) [ Recap ]
Thursday, Jan. 18 -- at Nebraska, 8 p.m. CST (BTN)
Sunday, Jan. 21 -- Rutgers, noon (BTN)

• Watch: Coach Beilein's Media Rountable

The University of Michigan men's basketball team (16-4; 5-2 B1G) plays its second of three games this week heading to Lincoln, Nebraska, on Thursday (Jan. 18) for a battle with the Cornhuskers (13-7; 4-3 B1G) in Pinnacle Bank Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. CST with the game broadcast on Big Ten Network.

THE SERIES WITH NEBRASKA
• Thursday's game, the only one between the teams this regular season, marks the 17th all-time meeting between Michigan and Nebraska. U-M leads in the overall series with a 14-2 record.
• The Wolverines have won the last 10 straight games against the Cornhuskers dating back to 1980. Nebraska's last win over Michigan was a 74-73 decision in Lincoln on Dec. 12, 1964.
• Last season, U-M swept the series with a 91-85 barnburner at Crisler Center (Jan. 14, 2017) before a 93-57 regular-season finale win at Pinnacle Bank Arena (March 5, 2017).
• U-M has won its last four straight at Nebraska and is 4-2 all-time in Lincoln.
• U-M coach John Beilein is 8-0 all-time against Nebraska.

A LITTLE ABOUT THE CORNHUSKERS
• Nebraska (13-7; 4-3 Big Ten) is coming off a thrilling last-second 64-63 victory over Illinois. James Palmer's three-pointer at the buzzer helped lift the Cornhuskers to the victory.
• Palmer, a Miami (Fla.) transfer, leads Nebraska with 15.7 points per game and is one of three players in double figures -- Isaac Copeland (12.3) and Glynn Watson Jr. (11.9). Copeland adds the team lead in rebounding at 6.4 per game.

WOLVERINE TIDBITS
• Thursday's game is the second of a three-games-in-seven-days stretch -- Maryland (Monday, Jan. 15; win 68-67), at Nebraska (Thursday, Jan. 18) and Rutgers (Sunday, Jan. 21).
• Zavier Simpson has had five or more assists in his last six games -- 34 assists to just seven turnovers. Overall, he leads U-M with 71 assists (3.6 apg).
• Moritz Wagner is coming back to form after posting a career-best 27 points in U-M's road win at No. 4 Michigan State and following with 18 points and 11 rebounds (fifth career double-double) in the win over Maryland. He leads U-M in scoring (14.9) and rebounding (7.2).
• Jordan Poole came off the bench to hit three straight three-pointers and help U-M erase a 10-point deficit against Maryland. It's the third time this season he has been the spark off the bench. He had 11 points in U-M's comeback win to beat Illinois as well as a career-best 19 points -- with five triples -- in the Big Ten opener over Indiana.

WHAT A COMEBACK
• Michigan is coming off an improbable 68-67 comeback win over Maryland. After trailing by 10 at the half, U-M used a 22-11 early second-half run to take the lead thanks to seven straight three-pointers. As the battle shifted to the final minute, U-M took a 66-61 lead before two Terrapin triples, including a Kevin Huerter dagger with four seconds left, gave Maryland a one-point lead with 3.2 seconds left.
• After a U-M timeout, the Wolverines inbounded the ball under the Terrapins' basket and Isaiah Livers made a laser of a pass to a cutting Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman across midcourt. He was then fouled as he drove hard to the basket with 1.2 seconds to go.
• With the Wolverines in the double-bonus, Abdur-Rahkman stepped to the line and coolly sank two free throws to record his 999th and 1,000th career point and win the game.

SOME INTERESTING MICHIGAN POINTS
• U-M coach John Beilein prefers to stick to an eight- or nine-man rotation, but this season he has played up to as many as 10 or 11 players this season.
• Beilein has always wanted to have multiple players distributing the ball. This season, he has three Wolverines with 60-plus assists -- Zavier Simpson (71), Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman (64), and Charles Matthews (60). The last time U-M had three players with 100-plus assists in a season was in 2013-14 -- Nik Stauskas (118), Caris LeVert (109) and Derrick Walton Jr. (106) -- all of whom are in the NBA.
• As with most Beilein-coached teams, the three-pointer is a featured scoring component. Nearly 43 percent of U-M's offense this season has come via the long-range shot -- 508 3FGA (20th nationally). U-M has made eight or more three-pointers in 16 games.
• The Wolverines have 11 games with 10 or more three-pointers and carry a 9-2 record when reaching that number. U-M has a season-high 15, twice -- vs. Chaminade and Alabama A&M.
• Flipping the stat line, U-M's opponents are averaging just 5.6 three-pointers per game. In the first four games, the Wolverines gave up 32 triples (8.0 per game), but they have buckled down to allow 81 three-pointers (5.0 per game) since. U-M has held an opponent to five or fewer triples in 12 games including a season-low two by Indiana and three at Michigan State.
• With more defensive intensity stressed this season, U-M already has 135 steals -- 6.8 per game -- with seven Wolverines collecting 10-or-more swipes already. The highest team total with Beilein at U-M was 239 during the 2012-13 season (39 games, 6.1 per game).
• Michigan's free throw numbers have been lower than usual this season. The Wolverines are shooting 66.1 percent on the season. But over the last five games, U-M has shot 75.0 percent (69-for-92) including a season-best 28-for-35 (80.0%) performance at Michigan State. Last season, the Wolverines set the program record for free throw percentage at 77.9 percent.