Nebraska buries Michigan with early barrage and now prepares for break from competition
Nebraska certainly earned a week off from competition.
Considering the way the Huskers played for most of Saturday night’s game, they might not want a break.
Nebraska surged to a 20-point halftime lead and cruised to a 79-59 triumph over Michigan at sold-out Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Fred Hoiberg’s crew entered the night having lost three of its previous four games. On this night, however, Nebraska generally dominated, especially early in the game, as Keisei Tominaga and Josiah Allick were simply brilliant in the early stages.
The sharp-shooter Tominaga was 6-for-9 from the field in the first half, including 3-for-5 from three-point territory, for 15 points. He finished with 19.
Allick, a 6-foot-8 senior forward, had nine points and six rebounds in the first half and finished with 16 points and eight boards.
Brice Williams added 13 points, and Rienk Mast contributed 11 points, eight assists, and six rebounds.
Nebraska improved to 17-8 overall and 7-7 in the Big Ten. It doesn’t return to action again until this coming Saturday against Penn State.
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The Huskers improved to 15-1 at home. They’re only 1-7 in true away games, a statistic that confounds Big Red fans who hunger for the program to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2013-14 season.
The grind is real for Nebraska, and physical, mental toughness are more critical than ever
Tominaga, Allick spark Nebraska’s first-half dominance
Nebraska dominated the first half in surging to a 45-25 lead at the break.
Thing is, Nebraska missed eight of its last nine shots to end the half, so it could have been far worse. Allick’s six boards were a welcome sight for Hoiberg after Allick failed to grab a rebound in 15 minutes against Northwestern on Wednesday night.
Against Michigan, Nebraska used a 16-1 surge to lead 38-10. An earlier 16-3 blitz produced a 20-7 lead with 11:56 left in the first half.
The tone had been set.
Michigan (8-16, 3-10 Big Ten) shot just 32.1% from the field (9-for-28) during the first half, while Nebraska was 17-for-35 (48.6%), including 6-for-14 from deep (42.9%).
Michigan never got closer than 15 points in the second half.
The Wolverines, coming off a win against Wisconsin, were led by 6-4 guard Nimari Burnett’s 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the field.
