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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