Field Level Media
Mar 2, 2018
Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman scored 21 points and Moritz Wagner added 20 points and 13 rebounds to help No. 5 seeded and 15th-ranked Michigan beat No. 4 seed Nebraska 77-58 in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals Friday afternoon at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Michigan (26-7) earned its sixth straight victory and will face top-seeded and No. 2 ranked Michigan State in the semifinals on Saturday. The Spartans earned a 63-60 victory against No. 9 seed Wisconsin in Thursday's first Big Ten tourney game.
Isaiah Roby had 16 points and seven rebounds and James Palmer Jr. scored 16 for Nebraska (22-10), which earned a double-bye after finishing fourth in the Big Ten regular-season standings. The Cornhuskers won 10 of their final 12 regular-season games.
Nebraska blew out Michigan when the teams met in the regular season, topping the Wolverines 72-52. After that loss, Michigan won eight of its final 10 regular-season games and topped No. 12 seed Iowa 77-71 in its tourney opener Thursday.
Duncan Robinson added 16 points and Zavier Simpson had 12 points and six assists for the Wolverines. Glynn Watson Jr. was the only other double-digit scorer for the Cornhuskers, finishing with 10 points.
Michigan led 34-24 at halftime.
Palmer's free throw with 14:02 remaining cut Nebraska's deficit to seven at 40-33, but Abdur-Rahkman's 3-pointer 19 seconds later restored the Wolverines' double-digit lead and sparked a 21-9 run to make it a 19-point game.
The Cornhuskers came no closer than 12 after that.
A 3-pointer by Palmer at the 16:09 mark of the opening period gave Michigan its largest lead at 9-5. Abdur-Rahkman's trey at 13:59 put Michigan on top for good at 11-9.
The Wolverines were easy winners in their lone meeting with Michigan State this season, beating the then No.4-ranked Wolverines 82-72 on Jan. 13 at Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing, Mich.
The Big Ten tournament title game takes place Sunday at 4:30 p.m. ET.
--Field Level Media