Five takeaways from Michigan’s comeback win over Nebraska

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Ann Arbor’s first top-five matchup in over six years lived up to the hype. The No. 3 Michigan men’s basketball team took care of business against No. 5 Nebraska in a tale of two halves. The first half ended in a shootout 50-48 Cornhusker lead, only to turn into a defensive slugfest where the Wolverines won the second frame 27-22.

When all was said and done, Nebraska’s once fiery offense was stifled by crucial defensive adjustments in the second half. Although the Cornhuskers were shorthanded with illness and injuries, the Wolverines proved they can compete with — and beat — the nation’s best.

Here are five takeaways that led to Michigan’s dethroning of Nebraska:

Second-half defensive adjustment makes all the difference

Fifty points in the first half compared to 22 points in the second half was truly the difference between the Cornhuskers remaining undefeated and atop the Big Ten standings, and losing their first game of the season. The Wolverines’ intentional adjustment on defense in the second half completely shut down what had been a high-flying offense led by a brigade of 3-pointers, turning it into a stagnant team that missed the vast majority of its shots from all over the court.

“We tweaked our ball screen coverage, and then, most importantly, we just had much more urgency to get to the shooters,” Michigan coach Dusty May said. “There’s a give and take, and so we made some errors, and we gave up a few cutting layups.”

Nebraska wing Pryce Sandfort scored 14 points in the first half and hit four 3-pointers, but went just 2-of-8 from the floor in the second half.

“I thought they were a lot cleaner with their switches on me, specifically,” Sandfort admitted. “They were pretty good with their top locks when I was coming off of screens.”

With stronger communication in the second half compared to the first half, Michigan more effectively defended Nebraska’s high-octane screening and movement offense. As May mentioned, this sometimes allowed cutting guards to get past players for easy layups because they had to contest the 3-pointers.

However, once the shots from deep stopped falling, it was just a matter of making Nebraska’s attempts from inside the arc miserable.

“At some points in the second half, we were making them take really tough twos,” McKenney said. “That’s what you want. So I think just our physicality and making them take a bunch of tough shots late in the second half really helped us.”