3 keys and a prediction for Nebraska basketball vs. Michigan

Nebraska basketball isn’t facing a must-win game tonight against Michigan, but it’s pretty close.

A loss to the Wolverines would mean that the Huskers lose their margin for error. They have three games remaining after this: two at home against Minnesota and Iowa, plus a road game against Ohio State.

Win two of those three and Nebraska should still be in the field, as long as they win at least one game in the Big Ten tournament. But lose to Michigan, and suffer another loss at home, and that might be it.

Nebraska basketball needs at least 20 wins to make the tournament. Beating Michigan would help. It would be another quad-1 win too and here are three keys and a prediction.

Get off to a decent start

Nebraska started awfully against Penn State. The Huskers had some sloppy turnovers early and just weren’t competitive. They had a similar start against Northwestern but were able to snap out of it.

Against Michigan, the Huskers don’t have that luxury. Maryland came to the Vault, took control early, and Nebraska was on its heels all that. They can’t let that happen again.

Juwan Gary and Brice Williams need to set the tone. The defense needs to be on point and a poor start could spell doom for a desperate Nebraska basketball team.

Limit offensive rebounds

Nebraska allows more offensive rebounds than any team in the Big Ten during conference games, which doesn’t bode well against a team with two talented 7-footers.

The way Nebraska defends is part of that. Nebraska forces lots of 3-point attempts, sometimes overhelping to protect the rim. You’ll probably see some of that and as important as it is to limit Michigan’s bigs, Nebraska has to limit offensive rebounds too.

Nebraska allows 9.9 per game and keeping Michigan under 10 will be a huge key tonight.

Make more 3-pointers

The bottom line is that Nebraska needs to shoot well to win this game. Michigan will try to force as many difficult 2-point attempts as possible.

The Wolverines are seventh in 3-point percentage defense in the conference, while Nebraska is 15th in 3-point percentage. Michigan is 11th in 3-point percentage, while the Nebraska defense is 18th.

Both teams have been inconsistent from 3-point range. The Wolverines have been much better defending the 3-point line than Nebraska and if it plays out that way tonight, it’s hard to see Nebraska winning the game.

Prediction: Michigan 76, Nebraska 72.

Nebraska’s defense has been the issue in most of its losses and Michigan is one of the best offenses in the Big Ten. Even if Berke returns, Danny Wolf is a handful and it’s hard to see Michigan shoot the ball as poorly as it did Friday night, although fatigue could be a factor.

For More Nebraska content, follow us on Twitter, like our Facebook Page, and Subscribe to the Husker Big Red YouTube Channel. You can also find our podcast on Apple or Spotify.