Michigan vs. Nebraska Film Breakdown/Analysis

Michigan went to Nebraska and played sound, disciplined basketball from the opening tip. The Wolverines traveled without five star freshman Moussa Diabate due to illness, allowing Brandon Johns and Terrance Williams to play extended minutes in the frontcourt. Both forwards took advantage of the opportunity and turned in their best performance of the year. Defensively, Michigan had one of their better games. They were able to stick to the scout, identifying key personnel to limit Nebraska on both ends of the basketball court.

Brandon Johns: No Moussa, no problem. Johns resumed his role as a starter and came out aggressive, confident, and on a mission. He had his first double figure game, scoring 20 points in just 21 minutes. His aggressiveness was rewarded with seven free throw attempts. Coming into the game he was 3/12 from long range, but came out and went two for three from distance.

Hunter Dickinson: Hunter was dominant, and Nebraska did not have many answers for him outside of the occasional double team. He had a solid 15 points and 12 rebounds, giving him a double double in back to back games for the first time this season. Hunter looks more and more comfortable shooting the deep ball. He only made one of three, but the two he missed still looked like good shots.

Caleb Houstan: Caleb continued his hot shooting in Lincoln, going 6/9 from the field and 4/7 from distance. He did a little bit of everything. Grabbed six rebounds, had three assists, and two steals to go with his 16 points. In the last four games, Houstan is averaging 13.8 ppg and 7 rpg on 51% shooting from the field and 57% shooting from deep.

Terrance Williams: Terrance was steady all night for Michigan, balanced with his shot selection. He made all three 3pt shots he attempted, and still lived in the paint. He finished the game with 22 points, five rebounds, and three assists. When Moussa comes back in the rotation, Williams needs to stay aggressive when his number is called. This game should boost his confidence going forward.

Eli Brooks: Eli has been the most consistent player this year, and the one game where Michigan scores 100+, he has an off night shooting. He was steady defensively, assigned with stopping Bryce McGowens, Nebraska’s talented freshman. Eli helped hold McGowens to just 2/9 shooting from the field, 0/4 from deep. He was one of the main reasons Nebraska struggled with offensive efficiency.

DeVante’ Jones: The transfer point guard out of Coastal Carolina has been shaky early. I feel the point guard play has been one of the several reasons why the offense seems to stall and become stagnant at times. Didn’t shoot the ball great, but Jones was able to run the offense effectively. He finished with eight assists, and no turnovers for the first time this year. I didn’t see the typical mental errors by Jones tonight. I didn’t see fouls 90 feet from the basket, or wild unnecessary turnovers. Hopefully the game is slowing down, and Jones continues to find his role on this team.

Kobe Bufkin and Zeb Jackson: Kobe has played sparingly coming into this matchup, and Zeb has been recovering from an illness. Both players had a decent game, showed flashes of what they can bring to the team and the rotation. Juwan Howard and the coaches are looking for one of these big guards to step up and solidify their spot in the rotation. In Big Ten play, Michigan is going to need one of them to come in for Eli or Houstan and play 10-15 minutes.

I’m looking forward to watching the floor spacing and ball movement continue to develop, and if the team dynamic gets better once Moussa Diabate returns to the lineup. Michigan returns to play on December 11th against Minnesota in Ann Arbor. This will be the first road Big Ten game for new Gopher head coach, Ben Johnson.