Nebraska Cornhuskers (15-13, 5-12) vs Michigan Wolverines (24-4, 14-4)

Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019 - 6 p.m. CT

Crisler Center

TV: ESPN

Radio: Husker Sports Network

Internet: WatchESPN

1. Give a complete defensive effort

Michigan is led by Big Ten Freshman of the Year candidate Ignas Brazdeikis, who averages a team-high 14.4 points per game. But the Wolverines are anything but a one-man show, as they boast two other players averaging double figures in Jordan Poole (13.2) and Charles Matthews (12.8). Their two other starters - Zavier Simpson and Jon Teske - both average over nine points per game. Michigan only averages 70.3 ppg as a team, but it's the efficiency in which it operates that makes it so consistently effective. With an average of 13.2 assists and 9.2 turnovers committed per game, UM's ranks second in the Big Ten with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.4. Michigan head coach John Beilein is as good as anyone in the country and exploiting opponents' weaknesses, and Nebraska will have to be completely dialed in on defense from the opening tip until the final buzzer.

2. Find your shot

A far bigger issue facing Nebraska tonight is on the other end of the floor, where a team that's struggled to crack the 70-point mark for the past two months will go up against one of the best defensive teams in all of college basketball. The Wolverines currently lead the Big Ten and are fourth nationally in scoring defense (58.4 ppg) and they rank in the top-25 nationally in field goal defense (.400) and 3-point percentage defense (.298). That effort and execution on defense have allowed UM to boast a whopping scoring margin of 12.0 despite ranking ninth in the league in scoring. They're obviously both much different teams now, but Nebraska shot just 30 percent and made only 16 field goals in the last meeting with Michigan in last year's Big Ten Tournament, marking its fewest made shots of the 2017-18 season.

3. Match the intensity

Tonight's game is important for Nebraska in the sense that its magical and improbable run to save its post-season hopes has to start now. For Michigan, there will be plenty of motivation. The Wolverines are coming off a frustrating loss to in-state rival Michigan State that not only had major implications at the top of the Big Ten standings, but it also snapped the Wolverines' 22-game home winning streak. Now they host a reeling NU team on Senior Night in a nationally-televised game on ESPN where they will have every reason to come out firing on all cylinders. The Huskers have been swallowed up in difficult road environments plenty of times, and they've lost 11 of their past 12 meetings with Michigan dating back to 1964. For Nebraska to have any chance tonight, it must play with the same level of want-to, and likely even more.

Michigan 74, Nebraska 59

Robin's season record: 17-10

vs. the spread: 12-15