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A-maize & blue
Michigan rallies, hands Nebraska its first loss since March 2025, leaving Arizona and Miami (Ohio) as only unbeaten teams. Plus: Indiana upends rival Purdue, a notable SEC night, Michigan State survives at Rutgers, Saint Louis rallies, and more results. Also, could Liberty be a Cinderella in March?
Sean Paul
January 28, 2026
Good morning! We’re down to two unbeaten teams in college hoops after a night when six ranked teams staged double-digit comebacks in victories, the most on the same day in eight seasons.
Let’s dive in!
1. Michigan manages to end Nebraska’s perfect start
No. 5 Nebraska didn’t have a full roster for its trip to Michigan on Tuesday night, but it looked like a 25th-straight win was possible.
Then the second half happened.
No. 3 Michigan trailed for much of the game, but clawed away at Nebraska, then held the Huskers scoreless over the final 3:20 for a 75-72 win. It dropped the Huskers (20-1, 9-1 in Big Ten) from the sport’s unbeaten ranked and resulted in their first loss since March 9, 2025.
But credit the Huskers with an admirable game. It played without its most important player in big man Rienk Mast (illness) and freshman guard Braden Frager (ankle) and gave the Wolverines (19-1, 9-1) all it could handle in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines turned it over 19 times, went 6-of-23 from deep (27%), yet managed a win. Shooting 19 more free throws than Nebraska also helped.
“I don’t think we did a lot of things well, but just our sheer determination to win the last four or five minutes was impressive,” Michigan coach Dusty May said.
That determination showed on defense. Michigan held Nebraska to 22 points and 1-of-13 (8%) from deep in the final 20. In the first half, the Huskers were 10-of-19 from beyond the arc (52%). Three of those missed 3s came on the final possession. Jamarques Lawrence, who scored 20 points, missed a pair of clean looks before Sam Hoiberg missed the final shot after an offensive board.
Michigan big men Aday Mara and Morez Johnson dominated. Mara scored 10 points with seven rebounds, and Johnson scored 17 with 12 rebounds and even hit a three.
The Huskers will look to get healthy before Sunday's matchup at home against Illinois. Michigan will face Michigan State in East Lansing on Friday, so the celebration will be brief for the winning Wolverines.
2. Indiana revels, adds to Purdue’s woes
It was quite the night in Indiana. It’s not every game that you pick up your first Quad 1 win of the season AND hand your in-state rival its third-straight loss.
