Michigan needs a spark, and Wagner, Walton deliver
Ann Arbor – With a daunting Big Ten stretch looming, Michigan desperately needed a spark.
Moritz Wagner and Derrick Walton Jr. provided it.
Wagner scored a career-high 23 points and Walton made several clutch baskets down the stretch to carry Michigan to a much-needed 91-85 win over Nebraska Saturday afternoon at Crisler Center.
Wagner finished 6-for-9 from the field with six rebounds and two blocks in 31 minutes, and Walton scored 13 of his 20 points in the final six minutes for Michigan (12-6, 2-3 Big Ten), which snapped a two-game skid in conference play. Wagner's previous high was 20 points against Kennesaw State earlier this season.
"I hope it will go a long way how hard we played today of just what it takes to do everything you can because every time we punched them, they punched back," Michigan coach John Beilein said. "There's a lot of teams I've coached that pretty soon they just give in and say we ain't going to stop these guys and all of sudden we get sloppy. We executed really well down the stretch when we had to."
After taking a slim 40-36 lead at halftime, Wagner added some separation for Michigan with two 3-pointers to give the Wolverines their largest cushion, 53-43, with 15:41 left.
But Nebraska (9-8, 3-2) responded and cut it to three after Jack McVeigh hit a 3-pointer before D.J. Wilson (11 points) answered with a 3-pointer of his own make it 62-56 with 10:47 left.
BOX SCORE: Michigan 91, Nebraska 85
Walton took over from there as he scored four straight points with a free throw and 3-pointer to put Michigan up 69-63 roughly four minutes later.
Yet Nebraska wouldn’t go away, countering with a 5-0 run to make it a one-point game and inducing the feeling the win was slipping away.
That was until Walton drained two more 3-pointers and came up with two steals that resulted in two free throws and a fast-break layup, extending Michigan’s lead to 80-73 with 1:54 to play.
“I just wanted to be a lot more aggressive,” Walton said. “I felt like I hurt my team by being in foul trouble in the first half so I want to come out, be aggressive and not force anything but also look for my own and a couple shots fell for me.
“It just seemed tonight Moe had it going and we kept feeding him. Whenever he died down a little bit, I'd just catch a little fire myself.”
Glynn Watson Jr. (22 points) quickly made a 3-pointer to keep Nebraska in it but Zak Irvin (21 points, seven assists) had eight points – a layup and six free throws – and Walton drained three free throws over the final 1:04 to seal it.
“Derrick and I just got telepathy I would say. We know when each other are ready to go,” Irvin said. “I gave him that look and he knew exactly what I meant: ‘We need you right now to step up.’ I know what he's capable of. Everybody on the team does.
“For him to be able to do that and take over the game those last eight, 10 minutes was huge. We went in a little bit of a dry spell and he got us out of a funk.”
Wagner was aggressive from the start and shouldered the scoring load in the first half, taking three of Michigan’s first four shots. He knocked down a 3-pointer from atop the key and two free throws as the Wolverines took a 7-6 lead with 17:01 left in the half.
Unlike its previous four games, though, Michigan’s defense wasn’t being burned by 3-pointers. Instead, Nebraska did the bulk of its damage in the paint with layups to cut it to 18-14 with 11:30 left.
Wagner continued to keep Michigan ahead with a jumper and dunk to push the lead to 26-18 at the 8:22 mark, but the Wolverines eventually ran into trouble as Walton and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman each picked up two fouls.
Beilein elected to rely on the lineup of Xavier Simpson, Duncan Robinson, Irvin, Wilson and Wagner for final 6 minutes, 36 seconds of the half. And it didn’t work so well at first.
Nebraska scored six straight on a 3-pointer by Tai Webster (28 points) and a Jordy Tshimanga three-point play to cut it to two. Simpson stopped the spurt with two free throws and Wagner knocked down a 3-pointer from the wing to make it 35-28 at the 3:55 mark.
Wagner added two free throws and Robinson hit a deep 3-pointer before Webster hit a layup with seven seconds left to trim Michigan’s advantage to 40-36 at the break.
“I think (Walton) was making plays for his team. I think they were winning plays,” Nebraska coach Tim Miles said. “He made big shots. We went 1-3-1 (zone) and he hit one there and then he ran through the passing lane, Glynn lost his balance and got the steal. Those were big-time plays. I think Wagner early and his length really were the difference in the game.”
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