The Nebraska men’s basketball team hits the road for an important Big Ten contest, as the Huskers take on Michigan Tuesday night in Ann Arbor.
Tipoff is set for 6:02 p.m. (central) from the Crisler Center, and the contest will be televised nationally on ESPN with Mike Tirico, Dan Dakich and Sam Ponder on the call.Tuesday’s game is also available online and on mobile devices on the WatchESPN app. Tuesday’s matchup with Michigan is the first of two Super Tuesday appearances for the Big Red, as the Huskers will host Wisconsin at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Feb. 10.
The game will be broadcast across the state of Nebraska on the 37-station IMG Husker Sports Radio Network, including KLIN 1400 AM in Lincoln, 1110 KFAB in Omaha and KRVN 880 AM in Lexington with Kent Pavelka calling the action and Matt Davison adding color commentary. The game can be heard for free on Huskers.com and is available on the Huskers’ app on iOS or android devices, as well as on TuneIn Radio and on SiriusXM Satellite Radio.
The Huskers (12-7, 4-3 Big Ten) broke out of an offensive slump on Saturday against Michigan State, scoring 79 points against a Spartan defense that was surrendering 61.9 points per game. Nebraska, which averaged a league-low 58.2 points per game in its first six Big Ten games, hit 49 percent from the field and went 27-of-39 from the foul line to earn its fourth win in the last five games.
While All-Big Ten performers Terran Petteway and Shavon Shields combined for 53 points, it was the performances of a pair of role players that helped propel the Huskers above the .500 mark in Big Ten play for the first time in 2014-15. Leslee Smith stepped into the starting lineup after David Rivers suffered a knee injury in practice Thursday night and gave the Huskers seven points and seven rebounds in a career-high 30 minutes. Sophomore Tai Webster came off the bench and played extended minutes after starting center Walter Pitchford was ejected four minutes into the contest and gave the Huskers 13 points, three rebounds and a pair of steals in 28 minutes after playing just 21 minutes in NU’s previous four contests.
Michigan (12-8, 5-3 Big Ten) is coming off a tough 69-64 overtime loss to Wisconsin on Sunday. Derrick Walton Jr. led the Wolverines with 17 points, including a 3-pointer to send the game to overtime, while Zak Irvin added 12 in a losing cause. Michigan was dealt a blow earlier in the month with the season-ending injury to Caris LeVert, as the junior led the Wolverines in scoring (14.9 ppg), rebounding (4.9 rpg) and assists (3.7 apg).