{"id":4414,"date":"2026-01-28T21:49:06","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T21:49:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2026\/01\/28\/will-tschetter-and-trey-mckenny-step-up-in-win-over-no-5-nebraska\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T21:49:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T21:49:06","slug":"will-tschetter-and-trey-mckenny-step-up-in-win-over-no-5-nebraska","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2026\/01\/28\/will-tschetter-and-trey-mckenny-step-up-in-win-over-no-5-nebraska\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Tschetter and Trey McKenny step up in win over No. 5 Nebraska"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Since the start of the season, the No. 3 Michigan men\u2019s basketball team has prioritized its identity as a team over the individual. With eight players averaging double-digit minutes, the Wolverines don\u2019t rely on the same five players to hoist them to victory night by night.<\/p>\n<p>And against Michigan\u2019s highest-ranked opponent thus far, No. 5 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/mens-basketball\/no-3-michigan-scrapes-by-no-5-nebraska-late-in-shootout-turned-slugfest-75-72\/\">Nebraska<\/a>, the Wolverines didn\u2019t change a thing. Relying on their bench as much as they have all season, two rotational players \u2014 graduate forward Will Tschetter and freshman guard Trey McKenney \u2014 were the difference makers against the Cornhuskers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe got great contributions off the bench from (McKenney) and (Tschetter),\u201d Michigan coach Dusty May said. \u201cAnd when you\u2019re chasing the championship you just have to have different guys step up each and every night.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While the majority of the duo\u2019s contributions came late in the second half, McKenney was quietly impactful in his six-minute first half. With a team-leading plus-minus of five, McKenney countered Nebraska\u2019s flurry from three with two of his own on 67% efficiency. More than just scoring, his presence beyond the arc created space for the Wolverines to drive while also giving them an easy outlet when the paint was congested.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>Defined by his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/mens-basketball\/among-flood-of-roster-movement-will-tschetter-hasnt-gone-anywhere\/\">reliability<\/a>, Tschetter capitalized from the get-go. In a half where Michigan trailed by eight and scored just 11 points in 10 minutes, Tschetter made his first shot count. Stuffed in the right corner, Tschetter wasted no time, draining a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer.<\/p>\n<p>Now down six following a jumper from the Cornhuskers, McKenney took over for the Wolverines. Taking what the defense was giving him \u2014 overly handsy play \u2014 McKenney chucked up a three, looking for a trip to the line. He got the call, but more importantly, he made it count.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought his three free throws were probably the biggest points in the game,\u201d May said. \u201c\u2026 We were down eight. We were in a funk. Brain fog. \u2026 He knocks down those three free throws and you can almost see that sense of belief that now we\u2019re getting stops. Our defense is on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This dependability, especially with free throws given Michigan\u2019s pace of play, has kept the Wolverines afloat all year. By having players with differing skillsets from the starters \u2014 like Tschetter\u2019s combination of size and three-point ability \u2014 Michigan has thrived even when its go-to guys get cold.<\/p>\n<p>And after a Wolverines crucial stop with seven minutes on the clock, the only Michigan player with a better free-throw percentage than McKenney earned his own trip to the line. Going two-for-two from the line, Tschetter brought the Wolverines back within a field goal of Nebraska.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-2    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>While Tschetter was perfect from the field, McKenney was not. Despite missing some crucial 3-pointers and getting blocked at the rim, McKenney still managed to get the last laugh. Tied up with a minute to go in the biggest game of the season thus far, McKenney pick-pocketed Cornhusker guard Jamarques Lawrence. Allowing the play to develop, McKenney sat tight in the corner until his man sagged off, just enough for him to call for the ball and drive to the hoop for a tough two through contact.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey were just baseline,\u201d McKenney said. \u201cI was open, so I laid it up and (it was) just a beautiful thing to see the ball go in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With McKenney\u2019s final teardrop landing, Michigan earned the lead and ultimately closed out the game. Consistent as ever, Tschetter and McKenney\u2019s play off the bench solidified the Wolverines\u2019 identity once again, as they put previously unbeaten Nebraska to bed.<\/p>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p><h3 class=\"jp-relatedposts-headline\"><em>Related articles<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Since the start of the season, the No. 3 Michigan men\u2019s basketball team has prioritized its identity as a team over the individual. With eight players averaging double-digit minutes, the Wolverines don\u2019t rely on the same five players to hoist them to victory night by night. And against Michigan\u2019s highest-ranked opponent thus far, No. 5 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4415,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[4185,1411,864,2722,4184,248],"class_list":["post-4414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-mckenny","tag-nebraska","tag-step","tag-trey","tag-tschetter","tag-win"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4414"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4416,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4414\/revisions\/4416"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}