Huskers Look to Clinch B1G Tourney Double Bye at Michigan

Huskers Look to Clinch B1G Tourney Double Bye at Michigan
The Nebraska men's basketball team looks to clinch a double bye in next week's Big Ten Tournament on Sunday afternoon, as the Huskers close the regular season with a matchup with the Michigan Wolverines. Tipoff at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor is set for 11:01 a.m. (central) with coverage on BTN and the Huskers Radio Network.

Nebraska (21-9, 11-8 Big Ten) enters the final weekend of the regular season in a tie for third place in the Big Ten standings with Northwestern and Wisconsin. A win on Sunday would give Nebraska its best conference finish since NU tied for second in the Big Eight in 1992-93 and would guarantee the Huskers a top-four seed in Minneapolis. Depending on the weekend's results, NU could be seeded between third and sixth for the Big Ten Tournament.

The Huskers have been off since a 67-56 win over Rutgers on March 3. Juwan Gary (15 points, 11 rebounds) and Josiah Allick (10 points, 12 rebounds) both posted double doubles as Nebraska enjoyed a 44-40 advantage on the glass and held Rutgers to 32.8 percent shooting. Keisei Tominaga added 18 points, including a 7-0 run after Rutgers cut a 17-point lead to 54-48 midway through the second half. 

Tominaga leads a balanced attack at 14.0 points per game, as Nebraska's lineup features four double-figure scorers. The senior guard is closing on 1,000 career points at Nebraska and would become the fifth member of the 2023-24 roster to go over 1,000 career points. 

Michigan (8-22, 3-16) is locked into the No. 14 seed in next week's Big Ten Tournament. The Wolverines have been off since an 84-61 loss at Ohio State on March 3. Dug McDaniel led Michigan with 19 points and three assists while Terrance Williams II had 13 points. McDaniel did not play in the first meeting between the two teams.

Numbers to Know
982 - Keisei Tominaga enters Sunday's game at Michigan needing only 18 points to reach 1,000 for his Husker career. He would be the 31st player in Husker history to reach 1,000 career points, and one of 11 players to reach the total in three seasons or less.

9.4 - NU leads the Big Ten with 9.4 3-pointers per game as of March 6, an average which is on pace to challenge the single-season school record for 3-pointers per game (9.5/gm, 2001-02). The Huskers are 10-4 this season when hitting at least 10 3-pointers.

20 - Nebraska has won its 20 games dating back to last season when holding an opponent to 70 points or less. This season, NU is 16-0 following the win over Rutgers on March 3.

10.3 - Jamarques Lawrence is averaging 10.3 points per game on 54 percent shooting and 2.4 assists per game since moving to the bench on Feb. 7. He has four double-figure games in that stretch,  including a career-high 19 points in the win at Indiana on Feb. 21.

.939 - C.J.  Wilcher's free throw percentage this season, as he has hit 33 of 33 from the foul line. Wilcher is a perfect 23-of-23 in Big Ten play and has hit 28 straight free throws dating back to Nov. 9.

2 - Rienk Mast became only the second Husker in the last 25 years to post a 30-point, 10-rebound game with his performance against Ohio State on Jan. 24. He joined Aleks Maric, who accomplished the feat four times in his career from 2005 to 2008.

9 - Nine members of the Husker men's basketball team were named to the NU Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll for the fall semester announced on Feb. 22. The group includes Josiah Allick, Henry Burt, Jeffrey Grace III, Sam Hoiberg, Rienk Mast, Eli Rice, Keisei Tominaga,  C.J. Wilcher and Brice Williams. Mast had a perfect GPA for the fall semester.

Worth Noting 
• Nebraska's 21 wins this season are the most by Nebraska since the 2017-18 campaign and ties for sixth on NU's single-season chart. Nebraska can pick up its 22nd win on Sunday, and that would tie for second on NU's all-time list. NU has already increased its win total in each of the past three years, the first time that has happened in the program since the mid-1960s (1963-64 to 1965-66).

• Nebraska enters Sunday's game with a 21-9 record, which matches the Huskers' best 30-game mark since joining the Big Ten in the 2011-12 season (also 21-9 in 2017-18).  The last time NU had a better record after 30 games was a 24-6 mark in 1990-91. 

• Nebraska now has 14 seasons with at least 20 wins in school history. It marks just the seventh time in school history that NU has won at least 20 games during the regular season (also 1919-20, 1965-66, 1977-78, 1990-91, 1992-93, 2017-18). 

• Nebraska is one of 25 teams nationally that ranks in the top 50 both in offensive and defensive efficiency in KenPom as of March 6. NU is one of three Big Ten teams in the top 50 of both, joining Purdue and Michigan State. It marks the first time that Nebraska has been ranked in the top 50 of offensive and defensive efficiency in the KenPom era (1996-97). 

• Nebraska has an opportunity to break one last losing streak during the regular season, as Nebraska is winless in 12 previous appearances in Ann Arbor, including 0-8 since joining the Big Ten. The Huskers have broken several long streaks this season, including five streaks of at least seven games: Michigan State (11 games); Michigan (eight games); Kansas State (seven games); Indiana (seven games) and Northwestern (seven games).

• The Huskers finished the regular season with an 18-1 record inside Pinnacle Bank Arena, setting a single-season mark for home wins in a season. The .947 mark is NU's best home mark by winning percentage since 1965-66. NU went a perfect 10-0 at home in Big Ten play, marking the third time NU has posted an unblemished home conference mark since World War II (also 1965-66, 2017-18). All of the other seasons with a perfect conference record were between 1908 and 1921.

• NU goes for its 12th Big Ten win of the season on Sunday, as NU has 13 seasons with at least 10 conference wins, including 2023-24. It is the first time Nebraska has finished .500 or better in Big Ten play for the first time since the 2017-18 season and third time since joining the conference in 2011-12. 

•  The 2023-24 season marks just the fourth time in school history that both the Husker men and women have won 10-or-more conference games, as the Husker women went 11-7 in Big Ten action. The others took place in 2017-18 (Big Ten), 2013-14 (Big Ten) and 1997-98 (Big 12). 

• Nebraska enters the Michigan game averaging 76.5 points per game to rank fifth in the Big Ten in scoring offense as of March 6.  It is an increase of more than eight points per game from last year and NU's highest scoring average since 1995-96 (80.2 ppg). NU has jumped from 149th to 46th nationally in offensive efficiency in KenPom as of March 6. NU's highest average since joining the Big Ten is 73.3 points per game in 2021-22.

• Nebraska leads the Big Ten and ranks 26th nationally with 9.4 3-pointers per game as of March 6. The Huskers broke the single-season record for 3-pointers in a season at Ohio State on Feb. 29, and now have 274 3-pointers. The previous mark was 270, which was set in 36 games in 2018-19. 

• A few Huskers are approaching milestones heading into Sunday's game against Michigan. Keisei Tominaga:  Has 982 career points and needs 18 points to become the 31st player in school history to reach 1,000 points at Nebraska. C.J. Wilcher: Is four points away from cracking the top-60 scorers on NU's career list...Is four 3-pointers from tying Cookie Belcher for 10th on NU's career 3-point chart (146).  Josiah Allick: Is one rebound from 750 rebounds for his career. Brice Williams: Is one rebound away from 500 for his career...is 24 points away from 1,200 for his career.

•  The Huskers have been one of the most consistent teams in the Big Ten for the last year. NU is 27-12 over the last 39 games dating back to Feb. 1, 2023, which ranks second only to Purdue in the Big Ten in winning percentage in that span. 

• Nebraska has two top-10 wins for the first time since 2013-14 and the sixth time in school history (2023-24, 2013-14, 1993-94, 1991-92, 1990-91 and 1957-58).  The 1957-58 team was coached by Jerry Bush, the grandfather of current Husker Head Coach Fred Hoiberg. 

• Nebraska enters Sunday's game ranked fourth in the Big Ten in free throw shooting at 75.9 percent.  It is on pace to be one of NU's highest season percentages in school history and the highest since the 2011-12 team set a school record with a .766 free throw percentage. 

• The Huskers are 25-6 under Fred Hoiberg when scoring at least 80 points, including 20-3 over the last three seasons. All three losses have come in overtime (104-100 in 4OT at NC State on Dec. 1, 2021; 87-82 in OT at Rutgers on Jan. 17, 2024; 87-84 at Illinois on Feb. 4, 2024). NU had won its last 17 games when reaching the 80-point plateau before the OT loss at Rutgers.

• Nebraska's bench has provided a spark, averaging a conference-best 22.3 points per game as of March 6. The Huskers' leading scorer has come from the bench eight times (Hoiberg-Lindenwood; Wilcher-five times; Gary-Stony Brook; Allick-Iowa), and NU has had 25 double-figure efforts from its bench in 2023-24.

About Michigan
Michigan comes into Sunday's regular-season finale with an 8-22 record following Sunday's loss at Ohio State. The Wolverines have played well at times during the season, posting a win against St. John's in non-conference action while dropping overtime games at Oregon and to Florida on a neutral court. In conference action, the Wolverines have a win at Iowa, as well as home wins over then-No. 11 Wisconsin and Ohio State.

Michigan is led by fifth-year head coach Juwan Howard, who has guided Michigan to two NCAA Tournaments and an NIT bid in his first four seasons.  Howard, who starred at Michigan during the Fab 5 era, spent 19 seasons in the NBA playing for eight franchises and won two NBA titles with the Miami Heat in 2012-13. He worked in the Miami Heat organization for six seasons, the final five as an assistant coach before returning to his alma mater in 2019.

Dug McDaniel leads the Wolverines in scoring at 16.6 points per game while dishing out a team-high 4.6 assists per game. McDaniel did not play against Nebraska in the first meeting. Terrance Williams II averages 12.3 points per game and shoots nearly 40 percent from 3-point range, while Nimari Burnett (9.6 ppg) and Tarris Reed Jr. (8.9 ppg, 7.3 rpg) give Michigan some offensive firepower in the wake of Olivier Nkamhoua’s season-ending injury.

Series History: Michigan leads the all-time series, 22-4, in a series that goes back to 1949, although the Wolverines’ win over the Huskers in the 1992 Rainbow Classic was later vacated. Michigan has won 16 of the 18 meetings since Nebraska joined the Big Ten with Nebraska snapping a seven-game losing streak to the Wolverines last month. One of Nebraska’s four wins in the series was a 74-73 win over No. 1 Michigan at the NU Coliseum on Dec. 12, 1964. In that game, Fred Hare’s buzzer beater knocked off the Cazzie Russell-led Wolverines. That win is one of four wins over No. 1 ranked teams in Nebraska’s history.

Last Meeting: Nebraska erupted on a pair of 13-0 first-half runs to build a 30-point lead and never looked back in a 79-59 victory over Michigan in front of a sellout crowd at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Feb. 10. Josiah Allick produced his Nebraska season bests of 16 points and eight rebounds to set the tone early for the Huskers.  Nebraska put four players in double figures and shot 46 percent from the floor in snapping an eight-game losing streak to the Wolverines dating back to 2018. Keisei Tominaga had 19 points while Brice Williams and Rienk Mast added 12 and 11 points, respectively. NU held the Wolverines to a season-low 32.3 percent shooting.

Last Time Out
Keisei Tominaga scored seven of his team-high 18 points in a span of 48 seconds in the second half, as Nebraska held off Rutgers, 67-56, on March 3.  

Tominaga took over after Rutgers whittled a 16-point second-half lead to 54-58 with 7:05 remaining. He started the run with a conventional 3-point play before sending the sellout crowd of 15,854 into a frenzy with a four-point play, as he was fouled while hitting a 3-pointer from the logo to give the Huskers a 61-48 cushion with 6:00 left. Tominaga capped a personal 12-point run with a trio of foul shots that put NU ahead 64-51 with 5:19 left and NU led by double figures the rest of the way. 

While Tominaga keyed the decisive run, it was the play of Josiah Allick and Juwan Gary that set the tone for Nebraska. Allick had 10 points and a season-high 12 rebounds, while Gary added 15 points and 11 caroms. The pair helped Nebraska post a 44-40 advantage on the glass, while the Huskers held Rutgers to 32.8 percent shooting, including 4-of-25 from 3-point range. 

Finding Balance
Nebraska has relied on its depth and a balanced attack with four players averaging double figures and three others averaging at least 6.8 points per contest.

• Nebraska has just one player in the top 25 of the Big Ten in scoring (Keisei Tominaga, 20th) but have four players that average between 12.0 and 14.0 points per game.

• Nine different players reached double figures this season, and the Huskers have had eight different leading scorers. Jamarques Lawrence became the most recent addition to the list with his 14-point effort at Ohio State on Feb. 29.

• Five players have had 20+ points in a game this year, while both Rienk Mast and Keisei Tominaga have posted 30-point contests.

• Eight players are averaging at least 15 minutes per game while no Husker ranks in the top 25 of the Big Ten in minutes per game. 

• NU has gotten at least one double-figure effort from its bench in 24 of 30 contests.

• The Huskers had a season-best six players in double figures in the win over North Dakota on Dec. 20 and four other games with five double-figure scorers.

• The Huskers have battled through injuries during the season, as only four players - Brice Williams, Jamarques Lawrence, Sam Hoiberg and C.J. Wilcher - have played in all 30 games this season. 

Defense Keys Late-Season Surge
Nebraska's success during the second half of Big Ten play has been because of its work on the defensive end of the court. 

• Since Feb. 1, Nebraska is second nationally in defensive efficiency according to BartTorvik.com, trailing only Iowa State in that metric.   

• For the season, Nebraska is currently ranked 31st nationally in defensive efficiency in KenPom after ranking 69th (2022-23) and 178th (2021-22).

• The Huskers have held its last 10 opponents to under 43 percent shooting dating back to Jan. 29, and has held its last six opponents to 70 points or less. 

• In Big Ten play, NU leads the conference in field goal defense (.417) and is in position to lead the conference for the first time in that category since joining the Big Ten in 2021-12.