Wagner has helped carry the load for this MI team all season, and he’s going to be an essential part of whatever comes next for the Wolverines. MI faces fourth-seeded Nebraska on Friday.
Mo Wagner, after scoring just two points in the teams’ first meeting, had 20 points and 13 rebounds Friday.
Tough non-conference home losses to Creighton, Clemson and Washington State gave way a strong run in Big Ten play, where seven or eight teams could make the NCAA Tournament. The Spartans won 69-55.
“Give them credit, but I’m just so pleased with how we fought back and got into overtime”, Iowa coach Fran McCaffrey said.
It’ll be Wagner’s toughest test yet, as Michigan State employs bangers like 6-foot-8, 250-pound Nick Ward at center and 6-foot-11 National Basketball Association draft darling Jaren Jackson Jr.at power forward. “Our alums and our fans are”.
When Nebraska rolled up MI 72-52 in Lincoln back on January 18, a major reason why was because of the Huskers’ defense on the perimeter.
The Michigan Wolverines look for another victory after beating the Iowa Hawkeyes on Thursday.
Against the Huskers (22-10), Wagner and Abdur-Rahkman were full-go and Nebraska could not do much to stop them.
But a blowout loss at Maryland was followed by a late collapse against Rutgers on the road and then an epic fall in the second half against second-ranked Michigan State.
MI made strides in the second half, going on an 11-0 run to start the final 20 minutes.
Sophomore guard-forward Miles Bridges is one of only three players in the country averaging at least 16.8 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 0.9 blocked shots. Other teams have tried to follow Nebraska’s defensive blueprint, but MI has developed more sophisticated counters. Abdur-Rahkman said MI failed to adjust to the Huskers’ defensive switches.
“Once we started to really put things together, we’ve had some key wins“, Williams said. “As of late, teams have been trying to switch out their defenses against us”, Abdur-Rahkman said.
The showdown will feature the league’s two hottest teams, which have 20 consecutive wins between them, two Final Four contenders and three projected first-round National Basketball Association draft picks – top-seeded Michigan State’s forwards Jaren Jackson Jr. and Miles Bridges, and fifth-seeded Michigan’s Moritz Wagner.
Nebraska: Selection Sunday is more than a week away with the Big Ten playing its tournament earlier than usual to get it into the Garden.
“We feel like we can make a run – just like everybody else in this league”, Williams said. “Whether it’s the NCAA – which I think we should be”. Though it was ugly, MI (25-7) has now won six in a row and eight of its last nine dating back to January 29.
“I think it was a good team effort with their defense”, Palmer said. I think they just did a good job defensively and they got it going on the offensive end. “And in all fairness, the regular season with an 18-game schedule, to persevere through that is probably more hard than the conference tournament”.
Due to an irregular schedule, Ohio State will have an unexpected commodity for this time of year.
BC-BKC-B10-Illinois-Iowa, 2nd Ld-Writethru, 706 Big Ten Tournament at Garden opens with Iowa over IllinoisAP Photo MSG110, MSG102, MSG106, MSG101, MSG116, MSG117, MSG114, MSG115, MSG113, MSG112, MSG111Eds: Iowa 96, Illinois 87.