Michigan
Visit to Nebraska is perfect time for Michigan to shake shooting slump
ANN ARBOR — Against Nebraska, Michigan will likely need to shoot well in order to rebound.
The Wolverines, who control their own destiny in the Big Ten men’s basketball title race, play in Lincoln on Monday night (8:01 p.m. ET, FS1) aiming to do something they haven’t had to in four weeks: bounce back from a loss.
It would be a great time to break out of their recent shooting slump.
Michigan is shooting just under 30 percent from 3 over its last nine games. Head coach Dusty May isn’t happy about the trend but wants his players to keep firing if the shots come from passes out of the paint.
Nebraska’s zone defense allows a ton of 3-pointers. Close to half of opponent’s field goals against Nebraska have been 3s; per kenpom.com, only 16 of the 364 teams in the country have allowed a higher percentage of 3s.
Can Michigan take advantage? Nimari Burnett has been a consistent catch-and-shoot threat. Tre Donaldson is at 40 percent from deep on the season but has looked out of sync the past few games. Fellow guards Rubin Jones and Roddy Gayle Jr. have been cold from deep all year. Gayle has missed 22 of his last 23 3-point attempts and is passing up some open looks.
For the most part this season, 3-point shooting has determined how teams have fared against Nebraska. The Cornhuskers (17-10, 7-9) lost at Penn State on Wednesday 89-72 but have still won five of their last seven to join the NCAA Tournament bubble. ESPN lists them as one of the last four byes.
Brice Williams, a 6-foot-7 wing averaging 19.4 points per game, is an All-Big Ten candidate. He gets to the foul line often and converts at 90 percent. Forward Juwan Gary is at 13.3 points per game. Both players are in their fifth season and sixth year of college; they’re physically mature and have been through plenty of Big Ten battles.
Connor Essegian, a Wisconsin transfer, is averaging 10.8 points per game off the bench while shooting 40 percent from 3 on 160 attempts. Sam Hoiberg, the son of head coach Fred, has started the last eight games at point guard. He is a pass-first, second, and third-type player.
Berke Buyuktuncel is Nebraska’s leading rebounder whose contributions, according to his coach, go beyond the stat sheet. The 6-foot-10 center who transferred from UCLA has missed the last three games with a sprained ankle; Hoiberg suggested he’d be back for Michigan, though perhaps on a minutes restriction.
Pinnacle Bank Arena is an underrated environment but not particularly unkind to visitors this season. Nebraska has already lost there to Rutgers, USC, and Maryland. The Wolverines (20-6, 12-3) are 6-2 in Big Ten road games.
Their six-game win streak ended on Friday night at home against Michigan State 75-62. “We’re a half-game out of first place in the Big Ten in mid-February,” May said after. “There’s no time to hang our heads and mope and feel sorry for ourselves. We’ve got to unify and figure out a way to get better tomorrow, take care of our bodies, and get our edge back.”
Michigan’s players who spoke after the game echoed that sentiment. Because Michigan faces Michigan State again — in what could be an epic regular-season finale — the Wolverines don’t need any assistance to win the Big Ten.
“Everything we want is still ahead of us, but gotta go game by game,” Michigan forward Danny Wolf said. “And now on to Nebraska.”
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Michigan
Urban Meyer reacts to Sherrone Moore scandal after coach’s shock Michigan firing
One of the best college football coaches of all time, Urban Meyer, lent some sympathy to Sherrone Moore — or at least his family — in the wake of the former Michigan head coach’s shocking firing last week.
“Last night, I said a prayer for that family,’’ Meyer said on “The Triple Option Podcast,” speaking of Moore’s wife and daughters.
“I mean, you’ve got three little girls,’’ said Meyer, who won a national title at Ohio State a little over a decade ago. “You’ve got a guy that was on top of the road a week ago.”
That changed in stunning fashion, as Moore, a married father of three, went from leading the Wolverines to out of a job, fired in Ann Arbor for cause after the university confirmed he had an inappropriate relationship with a staff member.
The situation only worsened when Moore was later arrested after he allegedly broke into the home of the staff member, and during an argument, grabbed butter knives and threatened to kill himself.
On Friday, he was charged with third-degree home invasion, a felony, as well as a pair of misdemeanors — stalking and breaking and entering.
Here’s the latest on former Michigan coach Sherrone Moore
Even Meyer, who created some controversy of his own during a brief, ill-fated tenure as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars — when he was seen on video in 2021 that showed him dancing suggestively with a woman who was not his wife and was later fired before finishing his lone season in Jacksonville — was stunned by Moore’s downfall.
“They’re up 6-0 on the Buckeyes at home,” Meyer said of Michigan’s early lead against rival Ohio State on Nov. 29. “And then, also, you wake up, and they’re in this situation. Rivalries aside, this is all human element. Now, this is something that, from what you read, that’s some serious stuff that went on. And just, all of a sudden, you start seeing the impact. Forget football. Who cares about football?’’
Michigan
Yaxel Lendeborg scores 29 points and No. 2 Michigan stays unbeaten with 101-83 win over Maryland
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Yaxel Lendeborg had 29 points, a career-best nine assists and eight rebounds, and No. 2 Michigan rallied from a nine-point deficit Saturday night to defeat Maryland 101-83.
Aday Mara scored 18 points for the Wolverines (10-0, 2-0 Big Ten), who overcame a halftime deficit for the second time this season and the first since they beat TCU on Nov. 14.
Michigan scored 100 points for the fourth time in five games.
Diggy Coit made eight 3-pointers and scored 31 points for the Terrapins (6-5, 0-2), who lost center Pharrel Payne to a right leg injury late in the first half and forward Solomon Washington to ejection after he picked up his second technical foul early in the second half.
Coit scored nine of Maryland’s first 10 points and 22 before the break, helping to prevent Michigan from opening a lead larger than six in the first half.
The Terps lost Payne, their leading scorer at 18.7 points a game, with 4:36 remaining before halftime. Yet Maryland stretched its lead from one to 50-45 at the midpoint, then expanded it to 56-47 on Elijah Saunders’ 3.
Washington, who had a first-half technical for celebrating a 3 in front of the Michigan bench, was called for a delay-of-game technical just after Saunders’ basket. His departure left the Terps without their two most experienced and imposing interior players.
Lendeborg took advantage, scoring the next eight points. Mara’s dunk with 14 minutes left made it 64-63 and gave the Wolverines the lead for good.
Elliot Cadeau’s layup with 21.2 seconds remaining got the Wolverines to 100 points for the fifth time this season.
Up next
Michigan hosts La Salle on Dec. 21.
Maryland visits No. 24 Virginia on Dec. 20.
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Michigan
Aquinas College expands automatic acceptance to 2 more West Michigan high schools
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – After beginning a direct admittance program at one West Michigan high school in November, Aquinas College has now expanded the program to cover more classrooms.
The guaranteed admission program, first implemented for graduates of West Catholic High School with a 2.0 GPA or above, has now been expanded to Catholic Central High School in Grand Rapids and Muskegon Catholic Central High School.
The partnership will apply to students from all three schools entering college in the fall of 2026.
The direct admission program was described by Aquinas College leaders as offering high school students a “clear path to college success” while also continuing to develop partnerships.
Aquinas College, a private Catholic liberal arts institution located at 1700 Fulton St. E, was founded by the Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids in 1886.
The college has enrolled 1,262 students during the 2025-26 academic year, and its new student numbers are up, with 419 new students on campus this fall, up from 311 in 2024-25.
The college’s overall enrollment total is just slightly under the approximately 1,300 students Aquinas recorded across its campus in 2023-24, according to a press release sent out in January 2025.
This year’s partnership announcements do not mark Aquinas’ first direct admittance deal.
The college also has a direct admit bachelor’s in nursing partnership with the University of Detroit Mercy, which allows students to take core curriculum courses at Aquinas and nursing classes from Detroit Mercy faculty.
On Nov. 14, Aquinas announced its direct admittance deal with West Catholic High School.
The school, located at 1801 Bristol Ave. NW, enrolled just over 500 students as of the 2024-25 school year, according to an online school profile.
West Catholic President and CEO Jill Wierzbicki said the initiative simplifies the college application process and offers students a straightforward path to higher education.
On Nov. 20, Aquinas then announced it had also partnered with Grand Rapids’ Catholic Central High School, 319 Sheldon Blvd SE, which enrolls 567 students and is the oldest co-educational diocesan Catholic high school in the nation.
Brian Matzke, vice president for enrollment management, said there’s “no doubt that Aquinas here has had more graduates from Catholic Central than any other school in our history.”
On Dec. 10, the college announced another partnership deal with Muskegon Catholic Central High School, 1145 W Laketon Ave., which enrolled just under 300 students in 2023-24, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
Jerry McDowell, Muskegon Catholic Central president, said both the high school and Aquinas share a “deep commitment to developing the whole student — academically, spiritually, and individually.
“This direct-admit program provides our graduates with an exceptional opportunity to transition confidently into higher education while maintaining the Catholic values that guide their formation,” McDowell said.
Aquinas’ listed price for traditional undergraduate tuition is $41,192, according to senior director of strategic communications Dave DeJonge.
Students are eligible for annual merit scholarships between $15,000-$25,000, depending on their GPA and housing status. Additional scholarships may be available. This applies to all students who are admitted to Aquinas.
Matzke highlighted the direct admittance program’s easy transition from one West Michigan school to another, with those accepted to Aquinas able to live on campus or commute from home depending on what best fits their needs.
He also said a growing Grand Rapids job market, combined with support from the college’s career center, contributes to a 97% placement rate for graduates.
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