UMGOBLUE.COM
Posted on by Drew Montag

Nothing But ‘Net – Week #15 – 02/06/2023 – Two Big Wins

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games this past week, and they won both of them.  On Thursday (02/02/2023), they won at Northwestern 68-51, then on Sunday (02/05/2023), they beat Ohio State 77-69 in Crisler Arena.  The two wins raise Michigan’s record to 13-10 (7-5 in Big Ten).

What Happened?

Michigan finally won two games in the same week, after weeks of going either 1-1 or 0-2.  Even more encouraging – both opponents were pretty good, and Michigan was obviously better.  It was also great that Michigan finally won another Big Ten road game.  All in all, it was a very good week.

Game Flow

The Northwestern game was close for the entire 1st half, with several ties and lead changes, and neither team getting ahead by more than 5 points.  It was all tied up 22-22 with 1:30 left in the half, and Michigan led by one point at halftime, 26-25.  Northwestern went back in front at the start of the 2nd half, and they were up by 3 points (29-26) at the 19:13 mark.  That’s when Michigan went on a nice 18-2 run to give them a lead they would never surrender, 44-31, with 13:09 to go.  Northwestern got within 11 points once, but UM pushed their lead as high as 19 points, cruising to a 17-point win.  It was a dominating performance against a solid Northwestern team, for a season sweep.

Michigan led OSU from wire-to-wire.  OSU hung around for the whole game, getting within one point several times, but they never got ahead or even tied the score.  UM led by as many as 11 points in the 1st half, by 5 at halftime (41-36), and by as many as 13 points in the 2nd half.  UM kept their lead in the 10-12 point range for most of the 2nd half, and won by 8.  It was another dominating performance against a solid OSU team.

Stats

The game stats for the Northwestern game were decent.  Michigan shot pretty well overall (24-for-58 = 41.4%), they shot 3-pointers pretty well (7-for-20 = 35.0%), and they shot free throws well (13-for-16 = 81.3%).  They won the rebounding battle (41-33) and the turnover battle (7-9).  They won this game with rebounding and 3-point shooting.

The game stats for the OSU game were pretty good.  Michigan shot well overall (28-for-57 = 49.1%), they shot 3-pointers pretty well (8-for-23 = 34.8%), and they shot free throws well (13-for-18 = 72.2%).  They barely lost the rebounding battle (36-34) and the turnover battle (9-6).  They won this game with overall shooting and defense.

Who Started?

The starters for both games were Kobe Bufkin, Hunter Dickinson, Jett Howard, Dug McDaniel, and Terrance Williams II.

Who Looked Good?

Dickinson was the leading scorer for Michigan in both games, with 19 and 26 points.  He only had 3 rebounds vs. Northwestern, but he hauled down 11 rebounds vs. OSU, for another double-double.  On top of his scoring and rebounding, he played excellent post defense in both games.  He dominated the opposing centers, holding each team to just 6 points from that position (Northwestern: Nicholson 4, Beran 2 and OSU: Key 6, Okpara 0).  Dickinson dominated all 4 of them, offensively and defensively.

Bufkin was the only other Wolverine to hit double figures in both games, with 15 and 13 points.  He also rebounded very well, with 12 and 8, giving him his first career double-double in the Northwestern game.

Jett Howard had one good game and one decent game, with 8 and 16 points.  He didn’t shoot very well in either game: 2-for-8 overall (2-for-7 from deep) vs. Northwestern, and 5-for-12 overall (2-for-7 from deep) vs. OSU.

McDaniel had a decent game against OSU (8 points), but a lousy game against Northwestern (2 points, on 1-for-7 shooting).  He ran the offense pretty well.

Williams had a decent week: 7 and 6 points.  He also had 10 rebounds vs. Northwestern.

Joey Baker had a good week, with 14 points vs. Northwestern and 8 points vs. OSU.  He was deadly in the Northwestern game (5-for-6 overall, 3-for-4 from deep) and pretty efficient vs. OSU (3-for-5 overall, 2-for-4 from deep).  This is exactly the kind of contribution Michigan needs from him.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

No one looked not-so-good this week, although a couple players had one good game and one mediocre game.

Who Else Played?

Jace Howard played in both games, scoring 1 and 0 points.

Youssef Khayat played in the Northwestern game, but didn’t score.

Tarris Reed, Jr. did a mediocre job backing up Dickinson.  He scored 2 and 0 points, but he did play solid, rugged defense.

Who Didn’t Play?

Isaiah Barnes, Gregg Glenn III, and Will Tschetter and were the scholarship players who didn’t get to play this week.

Ian Burns, Jackson Selvala, and Cooper Smith were the practice squad players who didn’t get to play this week.

What Does It Mean?

Did Michigan inch their way a little closer to the bubble for the Big Dance?  Maybe, but they’re still a long way from actually being on the bubble.  Still, if they can keep playing at this level, they might sneak into the tournament.  However, they STILL have to beat a ranked team.

What’s Next?

This week, Michigan plays two games.  On Wednesday (02/08/2023, 6:30 p.m., BTN), they play Nebraska, then on Saturday (02/11/2023, 6:00 p.m., ESPN), they play (#21) Indiana.  Both games are in Crisler Arena.

Nebraska is currently 11-13 (4-9 in Big Ten), with impressive wins over Florida State, Boston College, (#7) Creighton, Iowa, Ohio State, and Penn State, and unimpressive losses to Colorado, St. John’s, Oklahoma, and Kansas State.  They don’t have any noteworthy players, but they do have some height: a 6’10” guy, a 6’11” guy, and a 7-footer.  They may be near the bottom of the Big Ten standings, but they’ve beaten some good teams and lost some close games to other good teams.  This will not be an easy game.

Indiana is currently 16-7 (7-5 in Big Ten), with impressive wins over (#18) North Carolina, (#18) Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan State, Ohio State, and (#1) Purdue, and unimpressive losses to Rutgers, Iowa, Northwestern, Penn State, and Maryland.  They have a few noteworthy players (Tracye Jackson-Davis, Race Thompson, and Miller Kopp), but they don’t have much height: one 6’10” guy.  IU has an impressive resume, some star players, and a ton of confidence after beating (#1) Purdue.  This will be an extremely challenging game.  Michigan can win, but they will need to play their “A+” game.

Check back next week to find out what happened and why.

Go Blue!

Related Posts