Game 20: Nebraska at Michigan Preview

Michigan hosts Nebraska tonight (7:00 p.m., Peacock/NBCSN) with a chance to regain a share of first place in the league. The Huskers are 20-0 (9-0) and ranked in the top five nationally for the first time in school history.

Nebraska was excluded from the Big Ten Tournament last year before winning The Crown, and now it is one of three undefeated teams left in the sport. With two wins over top-five Big Ten teams in hand, the Huskers have a real path to winning a Big Ten title after being picked 14th in the official unofficial Big Ten poll.

For Michigan, it is judgment week. The Wolverines host Nebraska tonight and travel to Michigan State on Friday night. Two wins, and they’ll be in the Big Ten driver’s seat again. A couple of losses, and pundits will be combing over their recent form and asking hard questions.

After writing about Michigan’s back-loaded conference schedule for months, it’s finally here. We’ll learn more about the Wolverines in the next seven days than we have since Thanksgiving.

The Huskers

The only place to start is with the 3-point shot. Nebraska’s relationship with the 3-pointer defines its offense and its defense.

The Huskers are ranked 11th nationally in 3-point volume (51% of attempts) and 360th in 3-point volume allowed (49.7% of attempts). In short, roughly half of the shot attempts in any Nebraska game are threes — sometimes much more.

Offensively, Nebraska plays a five-out style that emphasizes off-ball screening, movement, and dribble handoffs. The Huskers will play with their bigs on the perimeter as passers and hand-off hubs, and run everything through them. They rank in the 88th percentile or higher in volume of cuts, off-ball screens, and dribble handoffs.