Nebraska Men's Basketball Falls Short Against No. 15 Michigan

The Huskers had a chance in the closing seconds but came up short.

Kaleb Henry | Feb 25, 2025

Feb 24, 2025; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Brice Williams (3) drives against Michigan Wolverines guard Nimari Burnett (4) and center Danny Wolf (1) during the first half at Pinnacle Bank Arena. / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

In this story:

Almost.

Nebraska men's basketball almost got another signature win. They almost set a school record for ranked wins in a season. And they almost took the lead in the final seconds.

Almost.

Nebraska fell to No. 15 Michigan 49-46 Monday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The Huskers are now 17-11 on the year and 7-10 in the Big Ten Conference while the Wolverines improve to 21-6 overall and 13-3 in the league.

Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Rollie Worster (24) reaches for the ball against Michigan Wolverines forward Will Tschetter (42).

Feb 24, 2025; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Rollie Worster (24) reaches for the ball against Michigan Wolverines forward Will Tschetter (42) during the second half at Pinnacle Bank Arena. / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

An ugly game from start to finish saw neither team shoot above 30%. The Huskers were only in the game for two reasons: defensive energy that kept the Wolverines from getting hot and Brice Williams.

Williams scored 18 of Nebraska's 21 points in the first half as the Big Red trailed by four. He was 7-of-13 from the field at the break, making 4-of-7 3s. The rest of the team was 1-for-19 on field goals and 0-for-10 on 3s.

Neither team could pull away, with the largest lead being six points after a Michigan 8-0 run. But Nebraska closed that gap back to a single point with a 5-0 run and 1:36 to play.

Feb 24, 2025; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Fred Hoiberg watches during the first half against the Michigan Wolverines at Pinnacle Bank Arena. / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

After the teams exchanged a trio of missed shots, the basketball game became a free throw contest.

Michigan made a pair to go up by three. Williams answere with two to cut it back to one.

With 12 seconds to go, Wolverine Roddy Gayle Jr. missed the front end of a one-and-one. Husker Rollie Worster grabbed the board and quickly got the ball to Williams, who pushed into the frontcourt and was cut off by multiple Michigan defenders. He handed the ball off to Connor Essegian on the wing who let it fly.

Miss.

Feb 24, 2025; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Connor Essegian (0) shoots the ball during the first half against the Michigan Wolverines at Pinnacle Bank Arena. / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Michigan grabbed the rebound and went the other way, getting fouled with four seconds to play. After two made free throws, Nebraska threw the ball deep. The pass somehow found Berke Buyuntucel's hands. He tried to find a teammate but with time running out was forced to put up a shot at the buzzer, missing his 10th attempt of the game.

The Huskers shot 25.8% for the game, making 6-of-28 3s. The Wolverines made 29.5% of their shots, including 5-of-27 from deep.

Williams finished with a game-high 26 points. No other Husker scored more than six points.

Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Brice Williams (3) dunks the ball during the first half against the Michigan Wolverines.

Feb 24, 2025; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Brice Williams (3) dunks the ball during the first half against the Michigan Wolverines at Pinnacle Bank Arena. / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Nebraska stays home Saturday to host Minnesota. Tip from Pinnacle Bank Arena is set for 1 p.m. CST on Big Ten Network.

Box score

Nebraska Athletics Notes

Nebraska falls to 4-4 against ranked teams as Michigan was No. 15 in Monday’s AP poll.
Nebraska held Michigan to a season-low 49 points, as its previous low was 62 against Michigan State on Feb. 12. The 49 points allowed were NU’s second-lowest total of the season.
Nebraska held Michigan to a season-low 29.5 percent shooting, as Michigan’s previous low was 36.1 percent against Northwestern.
Nebraska ‘s 46 points was a season low (52 at Michigan State.
Brice Williams has now been in double figures in 26 of 28 games this season, including 15th 20-point game of the year. Williams finished with 26 points.
Williams became the 32nd player in school history to go over 1,000 points as a Husker with his jumper at the 15:50 mark of the second half. He is just the fourth Husker to do it in two seasons or less, joining Terran Petteway, James Palmer Jr. and Dave Hoppen. Williams now has 1,004 points at Nebraska and 1,805 career points.
Williams tied a career high with four 3-points. He had done it seven other times in his career.
Braxton Meah had eight rebounds to surpass his season-high of seven set at Northwestern on Feb. 5

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Published Feb 24, 2025|Modified Feb 25, 2025

KALEB HENRY

Kaleb Henry is an award-winning sports reporter, covering collegiate athletics since 2014 via radio, podcasting, and digital journalism. His experience with Big Ten Conference teams goes back more than a decade, including time covering programs such as the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Oregon Ducks, and USC Trojans. He has contributed to Sports Illustrated since 2021. Kaleb has won multiple awards for his sports coverage from the Nebraska Broadcasters Association and Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association. Prior to working in sports journalism, Kaleb was a Division I athlete on the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Track and Field team where he discussed NCAA legislation as SIUE's representative to the Ohio Valley Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.