Author: Drew Montag

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games this past week, and they lost both of them.  On Thursday (01/04/2024), they lost to Minnesota 73-71 in Crisler Arena, then on Sunday (01/07/2024), they lost to Penn State 79-73 in the Palestra, in Philadelphia.  The losses lower Michigan’s record to 6-9 (1-3 in Big Ten).

What Happened?

This season is officially “on the brink”.  Michigan had to win at least one of these games to stand any chance of a respectable season.  Instead, they let two very winnable games slip away.

Game Flow

Michigan led for at least half of the game vs. Minnesota, but they could never pull away.  They led by 4 points (37-33) at halftime, and they led for the first 10 minutes of the 2^nd half.  Minnesota led for the next few minutes, but the game was all tied up (59-59) with 6:04 to go.  That was it, though: Minnesota led the rest of the way, although UM got within 2 points a couple times.  Michigan actually a 3-point shot to win and a 2-point shot to tie in the last few seconds, but they missed them.

The PSU game was very frustrating.  Michigan dominated early, up 12-2, 28-16, and 36-22.  They were in control of the game, but they started letting it slip away.  They were still up 10 at halftime (37-27), but they absolutely stunk in the 2^nd half.  They were just horrible.  They threw away their hard-fought 10-point lead quickly, and once PSU got ahead, they were done.  They frittered away 9 of the 10 points in the first 3:27 of the 2^nd half, leading by one point (42-41) with 16:33 to go.  They managed to hang onto a 1-3 point lead for the next couple minutes, but PSU finally went ahead 51-49 with 11:36 left, and that was the game.  Michigan never got close after that, and looked terrible doing it.

Stats

The game stats            for the Minnesota game were miserable: 41.4% shooting overall, 31.6% from deep, and 77.3% from the line.  Michigan actually won the rebounding battle (35-34), and tied in the turnover battle (9-9).  It was a close game, and the difference was poor shooting by Michigan.

The game stats for the PSU game were decent: 50.0% shooting overall, 33.3% from deep, and 65.0% from the line.  Michigan won the rebounding battle (39-31), but they killed themselves in the turnover battle: 19-7.  That’s how they lost the game: turnovers.

Who Started?

The starters were Nimari Burnett, Dug McDaniel, Olivier Nkamhoua, Tarris Reed, Jr., and Terrance Williams II.

Who Looked Good?

Nkamhoua hit double figures in both games: 16 and 13 points.  He also had 8 and 9 rebounds.

Burnett also hit double figures in both games: 17 and 10 points.

Williams had one mediocre game and one very good game: 7 and 24 points.  He was the leading scorer in the PSU game.  24 points is a new career high for him.

McDaniel had a decent week: 9 and 11 points.  He was badly outplayed by PSU’s point guard.

Reed had one good game and one mediocre game: 14 and 5 points.  He had 11 rebounds vs. Minnesota, for a double-double.

Will Tschetter had 5 and 4 points off the bench.

Tray Jackson had 3 and 5 points off the bench.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

No one had a not-so-good week.

Who Else Played?

Youssef Khayat played in both games, and scored 0 and 1 points.

Jaelin Llewellyn played in the PSU game, and missed both of his shot attempts.

Who Didn’t Play?

George Washington III was the only scholarship player who didn’t play in either game.

None of the Scout Team players played in either game: Ian Burns, Harrison Hochberg, Jackson Selvala, and Cooper Smith.

Jace Howard is still recovering from an injury, and not playing yet.  He’s expected back “later in the season”.

What Does It Mean?

This team is broken.  Their morale is shot.  They expect to lose, and they expect bad things to happen.  It a real shame, because they have decent talent, they just can’t seem to play a complete game any more.  I’ll be surprised if they win another game this season.  Yup, 6-26.

What’s Next?

This week, Michigan only plays one game.  On Thursday (01/11/2024, 7:00 p.m., FS1), they play at Maryland.

Maryland is currently 9-6 (1-3 in Big Ten).  They beat UCLA, but they lost to Davidson and UAB.  They’ve got a 7-footer and two 6’11” guys, so they’ll beat Michigan in the paint.  I don’t expect Michigan to stand much of a chance against Maryland, but they might hang around before they lose in the last minute.

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

Go Blue!

Happy New Year.  Let’s hope that 2024 is better than 2023 for Michigan basketball.

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played one game this past week, and they lost it.  On Friday (12/29/2023), they lost to McNeese 87-76 in Crisler Arena.  The loss lowers Michigan’s record to 6-7 (1-1 in Big Ten).

What Happened?

So much for “guarantee” games.  These are games that “good” teams schedule against “not so good” teams at home, with no return visit.  The “good” team guarantees a certain amount of money for the privilege of a home game without a return visit, and the “not so good” team is supposed to be happy with the money, since the “good” team will surely beat them.  Well, Michigan isn’t that good this season, and two of the “guarantee” games were decisive losses, not easy wins: Long Beach State (94-86) on 11/17/2023, and now McNeese (87-76) on Friday.  Losing one “guarantee” game in a season is considered highly embarrassing; losing two of them in a season is unheard of.

Now, Long Beach State and McNeese aren’t your normal “guarantee” game opponents, in fact, they both looked pretty darn good against Michigan, but still.  These were both games that Michigan could have won, but they certainly didn’t play their best ball.  McNeese was bigger, faster, and much more athletic that Michigan, and they deserved to win, but Michigan made it easier than they should have.

Game Flow

Early on, the game was close.  Michigan actually led for most of the first 6:15.  They were up 17-13 with 14:22 to go in the 1^st half, but they let McNeese go on a 9-1 run, and McNeese was up 22-18 at the 11:02 mark.  Michigan got within 1 point (22-21) seconds later, then McNeese pulled away.  They got the lead as high as 12 points (35-23) with 5:47 to go, and it looked like they were going to run away with it, but Michigan fought back.  With 1:25 left in the half, Michigan actually led, 37-36, but that was the last time they led.  McNeese scored the last 4 points of the half, and they led 40-37 at halftime.

The 2^nd half was very discouraging.  Michigan was powerless to stop McNeese.  Every time they made a mini-run to cut the deficit down to something manageable, McNeese answered with a run of their own.  They kept their lead up in the 7-9 point range for the rest of the game, occasionally letting Michigan get within 5 points.  With 3:23 left, McNeese pushed their lead up to 10 points (75-65), and they never let Michigan get any closer.  Michigan tried the desperation move of fouling a lot in the final 2:00, but McNeese hit enough of their free throws to keep the game out of reach.  It was a depressing loss.

Stats

The game stats            were miserable.  Michigan shot poorly overall (22-for-56 = 39.3%), they shot 3-pointers pretty well (13-for-35 = 37.1%), and they shot free throws well (19-for-23 = 82.6%).  They tied in the rebounding battle (36-36), but they lost the turnover battle horribly (15-4).  They lost this game with WAY too many turnovers.

Who Started?

The starters were Nimari Burnett, Dug McDaniel, Olivier Nkamhoua, Tarris Reed, Jr., and Terrance Williams II.

Who Looked Good?

Williams was the leading scorer, with 20 points on pretty good shooting: 5-for-9 overall, 4-for-8 from deep.  He even had 3 assists and 0 turnovers.  He held up his end.

McDaniel scored 17 points, and he kept Michigan in the game early with some timely 3-pointers, but he was cold in the 2^nd half and sloppy with the ball (4 turnovers) the whole game.  He wasn’t the reason Michigan lost, but he hurt the effort as much as he helped it.

Nkamhoua also scored 17 points, all in the 2^nd half, but he was also sloppy with the ball, with 4 turnovers.  He tried his best to get Michigan back in the game, but it was too little, too late.

Will Tschetter was the only other Michigan player in double figures, with 11 points off the bench.  He shot well (3-for-4 overall, 1-for-2 from deep), he grabbed 5 rebounds, and he had 0 turnovers.  He held up his end.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

Reed was terrible, just terrible.  He missed his only shot attempt, and committed 4 fouls in 22 minutes of “action”.  Michigan could not get the ball in to him, and when they did, he couldn’t do anything with it.

Burnett was also lousy out there.  He scored 6 points on miserable shooting: 2-for-11 overall, 2-for-8 from deep.  He also committed 4 fouls and had 2 turnovers.  He hurt the team a lot more than he helped it.

Who Else Played?

Tray Jackson scored 3 points on 3-for-4 shooting from the free throw line.  He was 0-for-2 from the floor.

Youssef Khayat scored 2 points on 2-for-2 shooting from the free throw line.  He was 0-for-2 from the floor.

George Washington III missed his only shot attempt.

Who Didn’t Play?

Jaelin Llewellyn was the only scholarship player who didn’t play.  He wasn’t on the bench.  I don’t know what’s up with him.

None of the Scout Team players played: Ian Burns, Harrison Hochberg, Jackson Selvala, and Cooper Smith.

Jace Howard is still recovering from an injury, and not playing yet.  He’s expected back “later in the season”.

What Does It Mean?

I think we can stop hoping that Michigan will somehow finish above 0.500 and sneak into the NIT.  They won’t.  This season is lost, and they will be lucky to finish 10-21, which was my preseason prediction.  Most of the teams in the Big Ten are better than Long Beach State and McNeese, and Michigan was outplayed by both of them.  Michigan might beat a couple of the bottom teams in the Big Ten, and they might even pull off an upset of one of the contenders, but they don’t have the horses to win 10 Big Ten games.

Mid-Term Grades

With 13 games down, and 18 games to go, this is a good time to stop and hand out mid-term grades.  As you can imagine, mid-term grades for an underachieving 6-7 team will not be very good.

Freshman Eligibility

• Harrison Hochberg (Inc.) – Harrison is on the Scout Team, and hasn’t played much: 7 minutes in 4 games.  He hasn’t attempted a shot yet.

• George Washington III (C-) – George has been a major disappointment so far.  He has had his chances, and he hasn’t taken advantage of them.  He has played 58 minutes in 10 games, and has scored 6 points: 2-for-12 overall shooting, 1-for-5 from deep, and 1-for-2 from the free throw line.

Sophomore Eligibility

• Nimari Burnett (B-) – Nimari has had some good games (St. John’s, Memphis, Iowa, and EMU) and some bad games (Youngstown State, Texas Tech, Indiana, and McNeese).  His 3-point shooting has been decent (23-for-69 = 33.3%), but his overall shooting has been weak (43-for-115 = 37.4%).  He’s averaging 9.8 points/game, which is OK.

• Youssef Khayat (C+) – Youssef has played 35 minutes in 7 games, and he’s scored 15 points on lousy shooting: 4-for-13 overall (30.8%), 1-for-6 from deep (16.7%).  He is 6-for-6 shooting free throws.

• Dug McDaniel (A) – Here it is: the only “A” in this batch of grades.  Dug has played his heart out every minute of every game.  He’s fast, he’s a great dribbler, he’s shooting well, and he runs the offense pretty well.  He’s shooting 44.7% overall (85-for-190) and 39.0% from deep (32-for-82).  He leads the team in scoring (19.0 points/game), assists (65), and steals (14).  He’s a warrior out there.

• Tarris Reed, Jr. (B) – Tarris has had some good games (Stanford, Iowa, EMU, and Florida) and some bad games (Texas Tech, Oregon, Indiana, and McNeese).  He was a weapon against Iowa, but he was barely playable vs. McNeese.  His shooting percentage is very good (42-for-71 = 59.2%), but he hasn’t taken enough shots.  Michigan has had trouble getting the ball in to him at the post, and when they have, he often turns it over (24 turnovers).

• Jackson Selvala (Inc.) – Jackson is on the Scout Team, and hasn’t played much: 11 minutes in 5 games.  He has attempted 2 shots, both 3-pointers, and he missed them both.

• Cooper Smith (Inc.) – Cooper is on the Scout Team, and hasn’t played much: 8 minutes in 4 games.  He has scored 2 points, on 1-for-2 shooting.

• Will Tschetter (B+) – Will has been a pleasant surprise so far this season.  After not scoring much his freshman year, he has blossomed this season.  He’s averaging 8.3 points/game on great shooting: 39-for-54 overall (72.2%) and 13-for-20 from deep (65.0%).  He has played small forward, power forward, and even (small) center, and he’s held his own, even against much taller centers.

Junior Eligibility

• Ian Burns (Inc.) – Ian is on the Scout Team, and hasn’t played much: 12 minutes in 4 games.  He has attempted 2 shots, both 3-pointers, and he missed them both.  He has scored 2 points on 2-for-2 free throw shooting.

• Jace Howard (Inc.) – Jace hasn’t played yet this season.  He has a foot injury that is taking forever to heal.

Senior Eligibility

• Jaelin Llewellyn (Inc.) – Jaelin has only played in 4 games for a total of 39 minutes as he continues to rehab from a knee injury.  He’s shooting well, but just not enough: 4-for-6 overall (57.1%) and 3-for-5 from deep (60.0%).

• Tray Jackson (B-) – Tray has provided some scoring and rebounding off the bench, but he only shows flashes of what he is capable of, then he disappears.  He’s averaging 5.7 points/game, with one great game (Long Beach State) and a bunch of too-quiet games (UNC-Asheville, Stanford, Florida, and McNeese).  His overall shooting has been pretty good (25-for-57 = 43.9%), but his 3-point shooting has been terrible (3-for-18 = 16.7%).

• Olivier Nkamhoua (A-) – Olivier has been the second most valuable player on the team, after McDaniel.  He has played a lot of power forward and a bit of (small) center.  He has played hard in every game, and he has delivered.  He’s second on the team in scoring average (17.2 points/game), and he’s the leading rebounder (7.5 rebounds/game).  He’s been shooting well: 88-for-157 (56.1%) overall, 18-for-43 (41.9%) from deep.  His only blemish has been turnovers: 34 of them.

• Terrance Williams II (B+) – Terrance has been another nice surprise this season.  After seeing him for 3 seasons, I thought I knew what to expect, but he has elevated his game this season.  He’s the third leading scorer on the team (12.3 points/game) with nice shooting numbers: 52-for-112 (46.4%) overall, 30-for-70 (42.9%) from deep.  Most importantly, he’s cut his fouls and turnovers way down from his career averages.

What’s Next?

This week, Michigan plays two games.  On Thursday (01/04/2024, 9:00 p.m., Peacock), they play Minnesota in Crisler Arena, then on Sunday (01/07/2024, 12:00 p.m., BTN), they play Penn State in The Palestra in Philadelphia, PA.  Both games (and all the rest of Michigan’s games) are Big Ten games.

Minnesota is currently 10-3 (1-1 in Big Ten), with no impressive wins, and an unimpressive loss to San Francisco.  They don’t have any noteworthy players, but they do have some height: two 6’11” players.  This is a team that Michigan can beat, but not if they play the way they did vs. Long Beach State and McNeese.

Penn State is currently 7-6 (1-1 in Big Ten), with an impressive win vs. Ohio State, and unimpressive losses to Butler, VCU, and Bucknell.  They don’t have any noteworthy players, but they do have some height: one 6’10” player and two 6’11” players.  This is one of the very few Big Ten games that Michigan could win, but they’ll have to play their best ball to win in on the road, even at a supposedly neutral site.

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

Go Blue!

Merry Christmas, to all who celebrate it.

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played one game this past week, and they lost it.  On Tuesday (12/19/2023), they lost to Florida 106-101 in double overtime.  The game was played in Charlotte, NC, as part of the Jumpman Invitational.  The loss lowers Michigan’s record to 6-6 (1-1 in Big Ten).

What Happened?

Michigan has lost six games this season, and five of them have been close enough that either team could have won.  The lone exception was the game against Texas Tech in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas before Thanksgiving.  All the other losses have been by 8 points or less, or in overtime (or double overtime):

• 11/17/2023 – Long Beach State: 94-86.  Michigan was only down 2 points (87-85) with 30 seconds left.
• 11/22/2023 – Memphis: 71-67.  Michigan was only down 2 points (69-67) with 10 seconds left.
• 12/02/2023 – Oregon:  86-83 (overtime).  The game was tied (83-83) with 25 seconds left in overtime.
• 12/05/2023 – Indiana:  78-75.  Michigan was only down 1 point (75-74) with 35 seconds left.
• 12/19/2023 – Florida: 106-101 (double overtime).  Michigan was only down 4 points (105-101) with 18 seconds left in the second overtime.

Those are all games that Michigan could have won.  They have to get better at winning “crunch time”.

Game Flow

Michigan had the lead for most of the 1^st half.  UM was up 8 points (15-7) with 13:53 to go in the half, and kept the lead in the 5-7 point range for the next 10 minutes.  At the 3:32 mark, Florida went up 31-30, and the lead went back and forth until halftime, when Florida led 38-37.  Michigan should have led at halftime, and they had a 2 point lead and the last shot, but they threw a lousy alley-oop pass that was intercepted, and Florida hit a half-court 3-pointer at the buzzer to lead by one.  Sigh.

Once again, Michigan led for most of the 2^nd half.  With 17:19 left in regulation, the game was tied, 44-44.  Michigan went on an 11-2 run, and they were up 9 points (55-46) at the 15:06 mark.  They kept the lead in the 4-6 point range for the next 5 minutes, but Florida slowly clawed back into it, and the game was tied (63-63) with 9:57 to go.  The lead went back and forth for the rest of regulation, with neither team able to get more than 4 points ahead.  The game was tied at 65-65, 69-69, 72-72, 74-74, and 81-81.  Florida took the last shot in regulation, but missed it.  The score was 81-81 at the end of regulation.

Michigan led for most of the first overtime, but never by more than 3 points.  The game was tied at 83-83, 84-84, and 89-89.  This time, Michigan had the last shot, but missed.  On to the second overtime, tied up at 89-89.

Michigan finally ran out of gas in the second overtime.  The score was tied at 91-91 and 93-93, then Florida went on a 9-0 run to go up 102-93, and that was the ball game.  It’s a shame, because Michigan played well enough to win, but they just couldn’t hit the key buckets.

Stats

The game stats            were pretty good.  Michigan shot decently overall (34-for-76 = 54.4%), they shot 3-pointers very well (10-for-22 = 45.5%), and they shot free throws well (23-for-29 = 79.3%).  They lost the rebounding battle badly (54-43), and tied in the turnover battle (16-16).  They lost this game with poor rebounding and too many turnovers.  They gave up 21 offensive rebounds.  Ouch.

Who Started?

The starters were Nimari Burnett, Dug McDaniel, Olivier Nkamhoua, Tarris Reed, Jr., and Terrance Williams II.

Who Looked Good?

McDaniel had another monster game, with 33 points and 8 rebounds.  33 points ties his career high, which he set back on 12/02/2023 vs. Oregon, in another road loss in overtime.

Nkamhoua also had a very good game, with 24 points.  He also had 11 rebounds, for a double-double.

Williams continued his recent improved play, with 17 points on good shooting (7-for-12 overall, 3-for-5 from deep).

Reed had a pretty good game, with 14 points.

Burnett had a decent game, with 10 points.  His shooting was off: 3-for-11 overall, 0-for-5 from deep.

Jaelin Llewellyn played for 5 minutes, and scored 3 points, going 1-for-2 from deep.  This was all the bench scoring for Michigan: 3 points.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

Tray Jackson played for 11 minutes, but didn’t attempt a shot.

Will Tschetter played for 8 minutes, but didn’t attempt a shot.

Who Else Played?

No one else played.  That was a big problem.  The starters played 45, 47, 44, 45, and 45 minutes, and the 3 bench players played 5, 11, and 8 minutes.  The starters were out of gas by the end of the second overtime.

Who Didn’t Play?

The scholarship players who didn’t play: Youssef Khayat and George Washington III.

The Scout Team players who didn’t play: Ian Burns, Harrison Hochberg, Jackson Selvala, and Cooper Smith.

Jace Howard is still recovering from an injury, and not playing yet.  He’s expected back “later in the season”.

What Does It Mean?

In a season where Michigan stood a chance of getting into the NCAA Tournament, this loss would have been a huge disappointment, since it would have been a missed opportunity for a “quality win” on their resume.  Since Michigan is just hoping to get to 0.500 and sneak into the NIT, this loss was just another loss, in a season sure to be full of them.  Until they prove they can win a close game, they are looking more like a 10-21 team than a 16-15 team.

What’s Next?

This week, Michigan only plays one game.  On Friday (12/29/2023, 7:00 p.m., B1G+), they play McNeese in Crisler Arena.  This is their last non-conference game.

McNeese is currently 10-2, with an impressive win over Southern Mississippi, and embarrassing losses to Western Carolina and Louisiana Tech.  They do have an interesting win over Mississippi University For Women, 92-23.  That must have been something.  They don’t have any noteworthy players, and they also don’t have much height: no one over 6’9”.  This game could be more challenging than expected, but Michigan should win it if they play a solid game.

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

Go Blue!

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played one game this past week, and they won it.  On Saturday (12/16/2023), they beat Eastern Michigan 83-66 in Crisler Arena. The win raises Michigan’s record to 6-5 (1-1 in Big Ten).

What Happened?

For the first time this season, Michigan played an uneventful game, and they won it.  Part of what made it uneventful was that it was the first game this season with Juwan Howard as head coach, now that he is sufficiently recovered from his heart surgery.  The other part of what made it uneventful was that Michigan played a “typical” game for them.  Not a great game, not a bad game, a typical game.  They were about 17 points better than EMU, and that’s what the scoreboard said at the end.

It may have been an uneventful game, but it was hardly an uneventful week, with all kinds of rumors flying around about a verbal altercation involving Jace Howard, an unidentified student trainer, Jon Sanderson (the strength and conditioning coach), and Juwan Howard.  It resulted in an HR complaint filed by Sanderson, and no disciplinary actions taken by Warde Manuel, the Athletic Director.  The team didn’t appear at all affected by the outside distractions.

Game Flow

Michigan led for almost the entire game.  EMU was up 4-2 early, but UM went up 5-4 at the 18:17 mark, and never trailed again.  They pushed the lead up to 10 points (16-6) with 14:14 to go, and kept the lead in the 7-9 point range for the next 10 minutes.  The lead was still 10 points (37-27) at the 3:46 mark, when Michigan went on a 12-5 run to end the half, up 49-32 at halftime.  Michigan kept the lead in the 14-16 point range for most of the 2^nd half, although EMU did creep closer every now and then.  With 10:00 to go, the lead was down to 10 points (59-49), when a flurry of activity in just 22 seconds put the game back out of reach: EMU missed a 3-pointer (9:33 mark), UM made a 3-pointer (9:27), EMU missed a dunk (9:17), and UM tipped in an alley-oop pass (9:11) to push the lead back up to 15 points.  EMU never got closer than 12 points the rest of the way.  It was a solid win against a feisty opponent.

Stats

The game stats were pretty good.  Michigan shot well overall (31-for-57 = 54.4%), they shot 3-pointers very well (12-for-27 = 44.4%), and they shot free throws decently (9-for-15 = 60.0%).  They won the rebounding battle (37-30), but lost the turnover battle (11-5).  They won this game with good shooting and good 3-point defense: EMU shot 2-for-15 from deep, including 0-for-7 by their leading scorer.

Who Started?

The starters were Nimari Burnett, Dug McDaniel, Olivier Nkamhoua, Will Tschetter, and Terrance Williams II.

Who Looked Good?

Nkamhoua was the leading scorer, with 17 points.  He also had 9 rebounds, for an almost-double-double.

Burnett had a good game, with 14 points on 5-for-7 shooting (3-for-5 from deep).

Williams continued his recent improved play, with 13 points on decent shooting (4-for-10 overall, 3-for-7 from deep).

McDaniel was limited by foul trouble, but he still managed to score 11 points.

Tarris Reed, Jr. didn’t start this game, for the first time this season.  He played well off the bench, with 13 points, and he did start the 2^nd half.

Tray Jackson played well off the bench, with 7 points.

Tschetter had a decent game, with 5 points and 6 rebounds.

Jaelin Llewellyn played for 15 minutes, and scored 3 points, going 1-for-2 from deep.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

All the mainstream players looked good this week.

Who Else Played?

Ian Burns played, but didn’t attempt a shot.

Harrison Hochberg played, but didn’t attempt a shot.

Youssef Khayat missed his only shot attempt.

Jackson Selvala missed his only shot attempt.

George Washington III played, but didn’t attempt a shot.

Who Didn’t Play?

Cooper Smith didn’t play.

Jace Howard is still recovering from an injury, and not playing yet.  He’s expected back “later in the season”.

What Does It Mean?

This was a game that Michigan was expected to win, and they took care of business.  If they can continue to play some solid, “typical” basketball, they might stand a shot at a better-than-0.500 record.

What’s Next?

This week, Michigan only plays one game.  On Tuesday (12/19/2023, 7:00 p.m., ESPN), they play Florida in Charlotte, NC, as part of the Jumpman Invitational.

Florida is currently 7-3, with impressive wins over Florida State and Pittsburgh, and no embarrassing losses.  They have one noteworthy player: Tyrese Samuel, a transfer from Seton Hall. They also have a lot of height: two 6’10” players, a 6’11” player, and a 7’1” player.  This game will be a big challenge for Michigan, and they will have to play their best game so far this season to win it.

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

Go Blue!

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games this past week, and they lost one and won the other.  On Tuesday (12/05/2023), they lost to Indiana 78-75 in Crisler Arena, then on Sunday (12/10/2023), they won at Iowa 90-80.  Both games were in the Big Ten.  The loss and win leave Michigan with a record of 5-5 (1-1 in Big Ten).

What Happened?

These were two games that Michigan could have easily lost, so winning one of them is a bonus.  Winning a road game in the Big Ten is no easy feat, and Michigan has had a tough time winning at Iowa, so this win is doubly surprising, and doubly sweet.  The Indiana game was close and exciting, and Michigan could have won that one as well.

Game Flow

The Indiana game was close for the whole game, with neither team leading by more than 7 points.  IU led for most of the 1^st half, but Michigan kept it close.  With 1:12 left in the half, it was all tied up (37-37).  Michigan scored with 43 seconds to go, and led by 2 points at halftime, 39-37.  The 2^nd half was more of the same, except that Michigan led for most of the time.  With 8:59 to go, Michigan led by 6 points, 59-53.  IU went ahead, 60-59, and then the lead went back and forth, with several ties (60-60, 62-62, 64-64, 66-66, 69-69, 71-71, and 73-73).  It was 73-73 with 1:23 to go, when IU went ahead by 2, and Michigan never quite caught up.  As in the Oregon game last week, Michigan missed some key free throws and had some silly turnovers in the last couple minutes.  If they can clean that up, they might win one of the close ones.

The Iowa game was also close for the first 22 minutes, with neither team leading by more than 5 points.  Michigan led for most of the 1^st half, but Iowa kept it close.  It was all tied up, 33-33, with 1:52 left in the half, and Michigan made 2 free throws with 22 seconds left to lead by 2 points (35-33) at halftime.  Iowa opened the 2^nd half with a quick 4-0 run, for their last lead of the game, 37-35, with 19:13 to go.  Michigan went on an 11-0 run to get a 9-point lead that they never surrendered, 46-37, with 16:38 left.  Michigan pushed their lead to 11 points (53-42) at the 13:36 mark, and then they put the game away with a brilliant 9-0 run over the next 71 seconds.  With 12:25 left, Michigan led by 20 points (62-42), and the game was over.  Before Michigan emptied the bench and let the Scout Team play, Iowa never got closer than 14 points.  The Scout Team played for the last 90 seconds, and they let Iowa make the score look more respectable, but that was a 20-point victory masquerading as a 10-point victory.

Stats

The game stats for the Indiana game were mediocre.  Michigan shot decently overall (26-for-55 = 47.3%), they shot 3-pointers poorly (4-for-17 = 23.5%), and they shot free throws pretty well (19-for-24 = 79.2%).  They tied in the rebounding battle (30-30), and barely lost the turnover battle (14-13).  They lost this game with poor 3-point shooting.

The game stats for the Iowa game were only a little better.  Michigan shot decently overall (29-for-60 = 48.3%), they shot 3-points fairly well (9-for-24 = 37.5%), and they shot free throws          well (23-for-28 = 82.1%).  They won the rebounding battle (41-32), but lost the turnover battle (13-10).  They won this game with shooting and rebounding.

Who Started?

The starters were Nimari Burnett, Dug McDaniel, Olivier Nkamhoua, Tarris Reed, Jr., and Terrance Williams II.

Who Looked Good?

Nkamhoua was the leading scorer vs. Indiana (18 points), and he had 12 points and 10 rebounds vs. Iowa, for another double-double.

McDaniel hit double figures in both games (13 and 11 points), but he had a terrible week shooting: 3-for-14 overall (0-for-4 from deep) vs. Indiana, and 4-for-12 overall (1-for-5 from deep) vs. Iowa.  After his brilliant shooting in the Oregon game, it was painful to watch him shoot and miss so much this week.

Williams was the only other starter to hit double figures in both games, with 10 points vs. Indiana and 13 points vs. Iowa.  He had a pretty good week shooting 3-pointers: 2-for-5 vs. Indiana and 3-for-6 vs. Iowa.  He’s been playing the best basketball of his career lately, and I hope he keeps it up.

Reed was the undisputed star of the Iowa game, with a career-high 19 points, on 7-for-10 shooting.  He even shot free throws well (for him): 5-for-7.  Add in 6 rebounds and 3 blocked shots, and that’s the kind of game Michigan needs from him consistently.  Unfortunately, he only had 5 points vs. Indiana, which is closer to his average.

Burnett had one mediocre game (4 points vs. Indiana) and one good game (14 points vs. Iowa).  He shot poorly vs. Iowa: 4-for-11 (2-for-8 from deep).

Will Tschetter came in off the bench and played very well in both games, with 17 and 10 points.  He was red-hot vs. Indiana (6-for-7 overall, 1-for-2 from deep), and he shot pretty well vs. Iowa (3-for-6 overall, 1-for-2 from deep).

Tray Jackson played pretty well off the bench, with 5 and 8 points.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

All the mainstream players looked good this week.

Who Else Played?

Ian Burns played in the Iowa game, but didn’t attempt a shot.

Youssef Khayat played in the Iowa game, and scored 2 points on free throws.

Jaelin Llewellyn played in the Indiana game, but not the Iowa game.  He hit his only shot attempt vs. IU, a 3-pointer.

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

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

George Washington III played in the Iowa game, and hit one of his two free throws.

Who Didn’t Play?

Harrison Hochberg didn’t play in either game.

Jace Howard is still recovering from an injury, and not playing yet.  He’s expected back “later in the season”.

What Does It Mean?

It’s great that Michigan won one of their two December Big Ten games, especially on the road against one of the teams they’re expected to battle with in the lower half of the Big Ten standings.  It’s a shame that they let the upset bid vs. Indiana slip away.  Still, they’re looking like the 10-21 team I predicted.  They have yet to win a close game, and they’re likely to see many close games the rest of the season.

What’s Next?

This week, Michigan only plays one game.  On Saturday (12/16/2023, 2:30 p.m., BTN), they play Eastern Michigan in Crisler Arena.

Eastern Michigan is currently 5-4, with no impressive wins, and a few embarrassing losses: Butler (94-55), (#10) Florida Atlantic (100-57), North Dakota, and Oakland.  They don’t have any noteworthy players (Emoni Bates was there last season, but he’s in the G-League now), but they do have some height: a 6’11” player and a 7-footer.  This is a game that Michigan should win, but so was Long Beach State.  If UM plays a good clean game, they should beat EMU, but if they start turning the ball over and missing free throws, who knows.

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

Go Blue!