Michigan
Nebraska
Wolverines to Open Big Ten Play on the Road at Nebraska
12/6/2021 4:27:00 PM | Men's Basketball
» Michigan opens Big Ten play heading to Lincoln, Neb., for a road game at Nebraska in Pinnacle Bank Arena.
» The Maize and Blue leads the all-time series with Nebraska, 19-3.
» U-M is 60-44 all-time in conference openers with a 24-24 road record.
» After a double-double victory against San Diego State, Hunter Dickinson now leads U-M in scoring (14.5 ppg) and rebounding (8.5 rpg)
NEXT GAME
Tuesday, Dec. 7 -- at Nebraska, 6:00 p.m. CST
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The University of Michigan men's basketball team will open Big Ten play on the road on Tuesday (Dec. 7) when the Wolverines head to Lincoln, Neb., to square off with Nebraska (5-4) at the Pinnacle Bank Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CST (7 p.m. EST) on ESPN2 with Jason Benetti (play-by-play) and Robbie Hummel (analyst) on the call.
The Nebraska Cornhuskers
• Nebraska enters the game against U-M carrying a 5-4 record. After starting 1-2 to begin the season, the Cornhuskers won four straight before a 4OT loss at N.C. State (104-100) in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge stopped the streak. Opening its early Big Ten slate at Indiana, Nebraska took an early first half lead before IU rallied and went to win, 68-55, and hand the Cornhuskers a second straight loss.
• Nebraska played its first seven games in Lincoln, before playing the last two on the road -- both losses.
• Nebraska averages 77.1 points per game with 37.0 rebounds and 14.4 assists.
• The Cornhuskers' roster features 18 players with 10 listed as freshmen, imcluding one transfer. The remaining eight players, while not in their first season, are also all transfers.
• Nebraska is led by freshman Bryce McGowens, who leads in scoring (17.3 ppg) and rebounding (6.9 rpg). He has six double-figure games this season with four 20+ efforts, including a career-best 29 points against Sam Houston. He has grabbed 5+ rebounds in all nine games and posted a career-best 11 against Southern.
• Arizona State graduate transfer Alonzo Verge, Jr., averages 15.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.9 assists, good for second in the Big Ten. He has eight double-figure games with two 20+ posted two games of double-digit assists (10, Tennessee State and 11 at NC State).
• Junior transfer (Tennessee) Derrick Walker has started all nine games and averages 9.9 points and 5.2 rebounds to go with a team-best 11 blocks. Sophomore transfer (Ranger College) and Japan native Keisei Tominaha leads the team with 15 3-pointers.
The Nebraska Series
• Michigan leads the all-time series with Nebraska, 19-3.
• U-M has a 10-0 record in Ann Arbor with a 6-3 record in Lincoln. The Wolverines have won six of the last seven meetings at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
• U-M holds a 3-0 record in neutral games with the last coming in the 2018 Big Ten Tournament -- a 77-58 quarterfinal win at Madison Square Garden (March 2) as the Wolverines went on to repeat as tournament champions.
• There has been one game when both teams were ranked among the nation's top 25. With 20 points and 12 rebounds from Fab Fiver Chris Webber, the No. 6-ranked Wolverines were able to pull off an 88-73 win over No. 20 Nebraska at the 1992 Rainbow Classic.
• There have been three games decided by three-or-fewer and U-M leads those, 2-1. The last thriller was a one-point U-M win at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Jan. 9, 2014. After Nebraska took a one point lead with 34 seconds remaining, U-M's Derrick Walton Jr. made a strong drive to the basket, and the ball fell in as he was fouled. With a chance for the and-one, he missed. With U-M up 71-70, the Cornhuskers' last second attempt failed, giving the Maize and Blue the road win.
• There has never been an overtime game between the two programs.
Big Ten Openers
• Michigan is 60-44 all-time with a 36-20 home record and a 24-24 road record.
• For the first time since 2017, the Wolverines will begin the conference slate on the road.
• With U-M's opener at Nebraska, U-M will have played 11 of 13 conference squads in a Big Ten opening match up. U-M has yet to play Maryland and Rutgers.
• U-M has opened the most against Northwestern (19 times; 15-4) and Indiana (18 times; 4-14).
• Michigan is 4-4 in overtime conference openers, with the last at Iowa (L, 86-83, Jan 1, 2021).
Early Big Ten Openers
• When the Big Ten moved to a 20-game regular season schedule 2017, a home-and-home opening series was created in early December around the football championship game.
• U-M has gone 4-2 in early season conference games since then, winning its opener in each of the last three seasons.
• The 2020 early season games were altered due to the rescheduling of the conference season due to COVID-19.
2017: Indiana (Dec. 2; W, 69-55) and at Ohio State (Dec. 4; L, 71-62)
2018: 19/18 Purdue (Dec. 1; W, 76-57) and at Northwestern (Dec. 4; W, 62-60)
2019: Iowa (Dec. 6; W, 103-91) and at Illinois (Dec. 11; L, 71-62)
2020: no early Big Ten games due to covid-19 pandemic
2021: at Nebraska (Dec. 7) and Minnesota (Dec. 11)
What You Should Know
• Hunter Dickinson leads U-M in scoring (14.5 ppg) and rebounding (8.5 rpg) for a second straight season.
• Scoring in double-figures in all eight games, Eli Brooks is second on U-M with 14.4 points per game.
• Brooks has gone 22-for-25 (88.0%) from the free throw line this year, and is 62-for-69 over (89.89%) over the last two seasons. For his career, Brooks is an 80 percent free throw shooter (80.6%; 108-for-134).
• Devante' Jones, who recently grabbed his 500th board at North Carolina, is second on U-M with 5.1 rebounds per game. Freshmen roommates Caleb Houstan and Moussa Diabate is third at 4.6 per game.
• Dickinson (19), Diabate (17) and Jones (10) combine for 46 of 82 offensive rebounds -- 56.1 percent.
• Diabate has nearly evenly split his rebounding (17 offensive, 20 defensive).
• Diabate (7.6 ppg) has posted all three of his double-figure games over his last five games.
• Houstan (4.6 rpg) has 22 of his 37 rebounds over his last three games.
• Brooks (15) and Houstan (13) lead U-M with 28 of U-M's 48 3-pointers --58.3 percent.
• Jones leads U-M with 28 assists (3.5 apg), while Brooks is second with 23 (2.8 apg).
• Dickinson (9) and Diabate (8) have 17 of 26 blocks -- 65.3 percent.
Up Next
Saturday, Dec. 11 -- vs. Minnesota (Crisler Center), 6:30 p.m.
