Nebraska added to Michigan State’s misery with an upset road win over Sparty on Wednesday, their fourth straight victory. The Huskers have an opportunity to creep up the Big 12 standings and further complicate things for Michigan with another win.
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HOW THE MICHIGAN WOLVERINES CAN COVER THE SPREAD
Michigan was flirting with irrelevance two weeks ago, but is, in fact, pretty good – and could be much better if Caris LeVert rejoins the rotation. That stretch of games against Purdue, Maryland and Iowa produced just a 1-2 record. But it could have gone worse, much worse.
The Wolverines emerged from that stretch with a 13-5 record and a 3-2 Big Ten mark. They followed that with a win Wednesday over last place Minnesota. The schedule has no blemishes but there is also little meat on the bone. Wins over Maryland and Texas are good, but there’s little else. That’s why Michigan needs to win the games it should, and this is one of them.
The caveat, though, is LeVert. Michigan is taking long steps in learning about itself with its best player out of the lineup. Derrick Walton Jr. looks more willing to take charge. Zak Irvin continues the upswing in his all-around game. Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman is starting to score the basketball.
With LeVert eventually rejoining an improved roster, Michigan might emerge as a dangerous team. The Wolverines remain one of the best jump-shooting teams and their three-point shooting can beat anyone. In other words, a solid team is getting stronger.
HOW THE NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS CAN COVER THE SPREAD
Heading into Wednesday’s contest at Michigan State, Nebraska was riding a surge of momentum and beaming with confidence thanks to three straight wins. But those victories came against Rutgers, Minnesota and Illinois, the bottom three teams in the Big Ten standings with a combined 1-18 conference record.
In East Lansing, the Cornhuskers were certainly going to be brought back from the high they were on. The Spartans were, after all, the No. 1 ranked team in the country just a few weeks back. They had also lost their previous two games and dropped the last two to Nebraska. Sparty wasn’t going to let this one slip away.
But they did, and Nebraska’s soaring right now. The Huskers can equal their last season win totals – both overall and in conference play – by beating the only team they have yet to defeat since joining the league in 2011 – discounting Maryland, which joined last season.
With leading scorer Andrew White held to just seven points against the Spartans, the roster rallied and produced the biggest win of the NCAAB season. Shavon Shields poured in 28 freshman guard Glynn Watson added 13 and Tai Webster had 10. Coach Tim Miles credited better spacing, which produced driving lanes and open three-point shots.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
Nebraska is brimming with confidence following its upset win at the Breslin Center Wednesday night. And they’ve been winning with deadly shooting. The Huskers made half their field goal attempts against MSU and have shot at least 50 percent in four straight games. It’s no coincidence that they have all been wins. Michigan has learned to win without LeVert and has to be breathing a sigh of relief following a brutal stretch of games against Iowa, Maryland and Purdue. The Wolverines knocked off Minnesota in their last game and has what is the closest thing to an easy stretch of games in the conference with matchups against Nebraska, Rutgers and Penn State before a showdown with Indiana early next month. LeVert is close to returning, according to coach John Beilein, and having him ready for the Hoosiers will be critical. But the Wolverines have grown and come together in his absence, which will make a strong team even better.
Michigan 76, Nebraska 68
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