Nothing But ‘Net – Week #16 – 02/13/2023 – So Close | By Fans...For Fans Since 1999 | UMGOBLUE.COM Michigan Wolverine Football & Basketball

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games this past week, and they won one and lost the other. On Wednesday (02/08/2023), they beat Nebraska 93-72, then on Saturday (02/11/2023), they lost to (#18) Indiana 62-61. Both games were in Crisler Arena. The win and the loss leave Michigan with a record of 14-11 (8-6 in Big Ten).

What Happened?

Michigan won the game they were supposed to win (Nebraska), and got so close in the Indiana game, but couldn’t quite pull it off. UM was dominant vs. Nebraska, and they looked every bit as good as Indiana, but IU managed to be one point better. It’s a real shame, because Michigan led for most of the IU game, only to go stone cold in the final minutes.

Game Flow

The Nebraska game was close early, with the teams exchanging the lead a few times in the first 6 minutes. With 14:34 to go, Nebraska had their last lead, 12-11, then Michigan went on a nice 14-0 run to put the game out of reach. Michigan pushed the lead as high as 24 points (41-17) in the 1^st half, leading by 12 (46-34) at halftime. Nebraska got within 9 points (48-39) at the 18:01 mark, but that was as close as they got. Michigan pushed the lead back up to 21 points (68-47) with 11:41 to go, led by 23 a couple times, and coasted to a 21-point win. It was a dominating performance.

The IU game was close for the first few minutes, with IU ahead by one (6-5) at the 17:16 mark. Michigan went on a quick 8-0 run to take a small lead, 13-6, with 15:35 to go. UM kept the lead in the 6-8 point range for the rest of the half, pushing it as high as 11 (32-21) at the 6:27 mark. Michigan still led by 8 points (37-29) with 2:25 left in the half, but they allowed IU to score the last 4 points of the half, cutting the lead to 4 at halftime, 37-33. IU kept it going after halftime, and finally caught and passed UM, 40-39, at the 16:34 mark. Michigan responded, and took the lead back, pushing it up to 7 points a few times. Michigan was up by 7 points (53-46) with 11:34 to go, when IU made another push. They grabbed the lead again, 54-53, at the 9:05 mark, but Michigan came right back again. They led for most of the rest of the game, but only by 1-3 points. UM was up by 3 points (61-58) at the 5:12 mark when they just fell apart offensively. IU outscored them 4-0 in the last 5:12 to win by one point. During that 5:12 drought, Michigan did the following:

Missed 3-pointer
Missed 3-pointer
Missed layup
Missed short jumper
Missed jumper
Turnover
Missed jumper
Missed 3-pointer

That’s 7 missed shots and a turnover. Disgusting.

Stats

The game stats for the Nebraska game were excellent. Michigan shot very well overall (34-for-59 = 57.6%), they shot 3-pointers very well (14-for-26 = 53.8%), and they shot free throws very well (11-for-13 = 84.6%). They won the rebounding battle handily (35-23) and the turnover battle (13-15). They won this game with great shooting and rebounding.

The game stats for the Indiana game were mediocre. Michigan shot decently overall (23-for-54 = 42.6%), they shot 3-pointers pretty poorly (5-for-20 = 25.0%), and they shot free throws pretty well (10-for-13 = 76.9%). They lost the rebounding battle (33-31), but won the turnover battle (11-13). They lost this game with poor 3-point shooting.

Who Started?

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

Who Looked Good?

Dickinson had a good week, with 16 points in each game. He also had 10 rebounds in the Nebraska game, for another double-double. The only downside was his defensive performance against IU’s Trayce Jackson-Davis. Dickinson couldn’t stop him, and could barely slow him down. TJD scored 28 points, although some them were scored while Dickinson was either on the bench with 2 quick fouls in the 1^st half, or playing very cautiously with those 2 fouls late in the 1^st half. He did better defensively in the 2^nd half, but he still only slowed TJD down, but couldn’t stop him.

Jett Howard also had a good week, with a team-high 22 points vs. Nebraska, and 12 points vs. IU. He shot well in the Nebraska game (7-for-17 overall, 6-for-14 from deep), but not so well vs. IU (5-for-14 overall, 2-for-8 from deep). He had a miserable 2^nd half vs. IU, and he missed two huge 3-pointers in the last 5:12, including the final shot at the buzzer. He’s Michigan’s best option for a last-second shot, and he bricked it. Sigh.

Bufkin also had a good week, with 13 and 14 points. He also had a miserable 2^nd half vs. IU. If he could have hit just one more basket, UM might have pulled off the upset.

McDaniel had one great game (14 points vs. Nebraska) and one lousy game (5 points vs. IU). He was very efficient in the Nebraska game, shooting 5-for-7 overall, 2-for-2 from deep, but he was very inefficient in the IU game, shooting 1-for-8 overall, 0-for-4 from deep. He also missed a key front-end-of-the-one-and-one free throw late in the IU game.

Williams also had one good game (10 points vs. Nebraska) and one lousy game (4 points vs. IU).

Joey Baker was yet another Michigan player with one good game (11 points vs. Nebraska) and one lousy game (2 points vs. IU).

Tarris Reed, Jr. had a pretty good week, with 4 and 8 points. More important than his scoring was his defense, especially vs. IU. He had to try to contain Trayce Jackson-Davis when Dickinson was on the bench with 2 quick fouls in the 1^st half, and he did a pretty good job.

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 3 and 0 points.

Jackson Selvala played in the Nebraska game, but didn’t attempt a shot.

Cooper Smith played in the Nebraska game, but didn’t attempt a shot.

Will Tschetter played in both games, but didn’t attempt a shot. He was on the wrong end of two terrible calls in the IU game; first, he was called for a foul that was clearly a charge, then he was called for a charge (wiping out a basket) that was clearly a foul. The refs were pretty bad in the IU game, and just those two bad calls more than account for the difference.

Who Didn’t Play?

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

Ian Burns was the only practice squad player who didn’t get to play this week.

What Does It Mean?

After inching their way a little closer to the bubble for the Big Dance, Michigan threw it all away in the IU loss. Now they need to win 4 of their last 6 regular season games to stand a chance of making the tournament. Since most of those games are against upper-division teams, and 4 of them are on the road, it doesn’t seem likely.

What’s Next?

This week, Michigan plays two games. On Tuesday (02/14/2023, 9:00 p.m. EST, ESPN2), they play at Wisconsin, then on Saturday (02/18/2023, 8:00 p.m., FOX), they play Michigan State in Crisler Arena.

Wisconsin is currently 14-10 (6-8 in Big Ten), with impressive wins over USC, (#13) Maryland, and Iowa, and unimpressive losses to Wake Forest, Illinois (twice), Northwestern (twice), Maryland, and Nebraska. They don’t have any noteworthy players, and they only have one tall guy (a 7-footer). They were ranked for a few weeks earlier in the season, but a 3-8 stretch knocked them out of the rankings. Michigan has always had a tough time winning in the Kohl Center, and this will be a very challenging game.

Michigan State is currently 16-9 (8-6 in Big Ten). They beat Michigan in the Breslin Center back on 01/07/2023, but it was a close game. This is another game that Michigan can win, but they need to play their “A” game. They can’t go 5:12 without scoring.

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

Go Blue!