Keisei Tominaga scored a game-high 30 points as Nebraska cruised to an 85-70 victory over host Michigan on Sunday afternoon in the teams’ Big Ten Conference finale in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Nebraska (22-9, 12-8) closed the regular season with a 7-3 run to fortify its NCAA Tournament resume. The win gave the Cornhuskers their best conference finish since they tied for second in the Big Eight in 1992-93.
Michigan (8-23, 3-17) lost eight straight games to end the regular season, adding up to one of the worst records in school history.
Nebraska pulled away from the Wolverines in the second half by getting quality shots and hit 57.9 percent (33 of 57) of its field-goal attempts for the game to Michigan’s 39.7 percent (23 of 58).
The Cornhuskers dominated inside with 48 points in the paint to Michigan’s 26.
Tominaga hit 5 of 8 shots from 3-point range as the dynamic Japanese guard went over the 1,000-point mark in his three-season Nebraska career.
Josiah Allick added 15 points for the Cornhuskers, with Rienk Mast scoring 12 and Brice Williams 10.
Michigan point guard Dug McDaniel, the team’s scoring leader, didn’t score in the second half but led the Wolverines with 17 points overall. Terrance Williams II had 14.
The Cornhuskers held a 50-43 lead after a full-throttle first half. Michigan made 5 of its first 6 shot attempts and led by six points early.
Tominaga scored 23 first-half points, knocking down four 3-pointers and getting eight points on slashing drives to the basket. Nebraska shot 70 percent from the floor in the half.
The Cornhuskers will get a double-bye in next week’s Big Ten Tournament in Minneapolis and will play Friday against an opponent to be determined by Sunday’s late results.
Michigan, with the No. 14 seed, will play the No. 11 seed on Wednesday.
–Field Level Media
