Author: Drew Montag

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played three games this week in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas, and they won all three of them, and the championship!  On Wednesday (11/27/2019), they beat Iowa State 83-76, on Thursday (11/28/2019), they beat (#6) North Carolina 73-64, and on Friday (11/29/2019), they beat (#8) Gonzaga 82-64.  Michigan’s record is now 7-0.

The Tournament And The Resort

Wow!  What a tournament!  I took my wife (Cindy), my son (Eric), and Eric’s best friend (Nathen) to Atlantis for the tournament, and we had a great time.  Paradise Island is beautiful, the Atlantis resort is awesome, and the basketball games were fabulous.  I don’t think many “experts” expected Michigan to beat any of the four ranked teams ([#6] North Carolina, [#8] Gonzaga, [#11] Oregon, and [#13] Seton Hall), much less beat two of them and win the tournament, but that’s exactly what they did.  Not only did they win all three games, they won them all decisively.  In fact, Michigan led at halftime in all three games, and never trailed in the 2^nd half of any of them.  They led by as many as 15 points in the 2^nd half against Iowa State, as many as 24 points in the 2^nd half against North Carolina, and as many as 21 points in the 2^nd half against Gonzaga.  There was no doubt that Michigan was the best team in the tournament, and it wasn’t even close.

Before we talk about the games, we need to talk about the fans.  There were fans at the games for all 8 teams, but there were way more fans there rooting for North Carolina than the other 7 teams combined.  They brought an incredible number of fans, and they were loud and rowdy and very confident, that is, until the 2^nd half of their game against Michigan.  That quieted them down.  Michigan had a respectable number of fans at the tournament, but we were outnumbered in all 3 games.  Iowa State probably had the 2^nd most fans there, after UNC, and they were also loud and rowdy and confident, until the 2^nd half of their game against Michigan.  Gonzaga brought more fans than Michigan, and they were pretty loud, but the Michigan fan group kept up with them.  Michigan didn’t play Seton Hall, Oregon, Alabama, or Southern Mississippi, so I didn’t get to see their fans during a game.  There were quite a few Seton Hall fans around the pool, although Oregon, Alabama, and Southern Mississippi didn’t have as many fans.  I was proud of the great job the small-but-mighty Michigan fan group did of cheering on the team.  We were the best of all the fan groups on a per-person basis.

This was a fun, laid-back, mellow, intimate tournament.  The arena is a converted ballroom, with seating for 3500 fans.  Our seats were right behind the basket, near the end of the UM bench.  We could hear the players on the court, and they could hear us, especially the opponents when they were shooting free throws (nice job, Eric).  The stands were never full; here are the attendance numbers for UM’s games:

• ISU – 1531
• UNC – 1828
• Gonzaga – 1503

One of the best aspects of this tournament was being able to mingle with the players.  They stayed at the same hotels we did, they ate at the same restaurants, and they used the same pools.  We saw them often, and the UM players were very friendly, polite, and cooperative.  We talked with them, and took photos with them.  It was great.

What Happened?

The way the tournament bracket was set up, the most important game was the first game.  If a team won that game, they were in the winner’s bracket, and the worst they could do was 4^th place.  However, if they lost the first game, they were in the loser’s bracket, and the best they could do was 5^th place.  Both Michigan and Iowa State realized this, and their first-round game was fierce.  ISU jumped out to a 9-point lead (16-7) with 13:46 to go in the 1^st half, but Michigan went ahead 2 minutes later, 17-16, with 11:37 left.  ISU pulled back ahead (33-32) with 5:06 left, but that was their last lead of the game.  Michigan finished the half on a 9-4 run, to lead by 4 at halftime (41-37), then came out in the 2^nd half and pushed the lead up to 13 (52-39) with 16:30 to go.  ISU got as close as 9 points a few times, but Michigan still led by 12 points (77-65) with 3:01 left.  ISU gave it one last push, and got as close as 5 points (81-76) with 7 seconds left, but Michigan made 2 free throws to ice the game.  It was a hard-fought game, but Michigan was clearly the better team.

No one was surprised that North Carolina won their opening-round game against overmatched Alabama, but it was a little surprising that they only won by 9 points (76-67), and they only led by 3 at one point in the 2^nd half.  Still, no one really expected Michigan to be able to stay with UNC for 40 minutes.  The game started out poorly for Michigan, with UNC jumping out to a 9 point lead (13-4) with 14:39 to go in the 1^st half.  UM finally went ahead 21-20 at the 9:00 mark, and the lead went back and forth for the next 5 minutes.  UM was still ahead by 1 point (30-29) with 4:03 to go, when they went on a 9-5 run to close out the half, leading 39-34.  The lead was still 5 points (41-36) with 17:16 to go when Michigan went on a glorious 19-0 run to put the game almost out of reach, 60-36, with 11:21 to go.  It was a good thing Michigan had a 24-point lead to work with, because UNC came storming back, and got as close as 8 points (69-61) with 2:46 left, but UM pushed the lead back up to 11 points and won by 9.  Once again, there was no doubt that Michigan was the better team.

In the championship game against Gonzaga, Michigan fell behind early again, this time 12-7 with 13:43 to go in the 1^st half.  Michigan went ahead 14-12 at the 12:16 mark, and never trailed again.  Michigan led by 8 (28-20) with 7:12 left in the half, and pushed the lead up to 11 points (36-25) at halftime.  The Zags came back early in the 2^nd half, and got within 2 points (38-36) with 16:00 left in the game.  Michigan pushed the lead back into double digits (50-38) with 13:35 to go, then to 19 points (62-43) with 10:08 left, and never let Gonzaga get closer than 11 points the rest of the way, winning by 18.  It was a dominant win.

Stats

The stats for the Iowa State game are pretty impressive.  Michigan shot very well overall (30-for-52 = 57.7%), they shot 3-pointers very well (10-for-21 = 47.6%), and they shot free throws well enough (13-for-18 = 72.2%).  They won the rebounding battle handily (39-28), but lost the turnover battle badly (22-9).  The 3-point shooting and the rebounding were the difference in this one.

The stats for the North Carolina game aren’t quite as impressive as the ISU stats, but they’re still pretty good.  Michigan shot well overall (28-for-56 = 50.0%), they shot 3-pointers well (11-for-26 = 42.3%), and they shot free throws decently (6-for-10 = 60.0%).  They lost the rebounding battle, barely (36-34), and they lost the turnover battle (16-11).  They won this game with defense, holding UNC to 15.4% shooting from 3-point range (2-for-13).

The stats for the Gonzaga game are also impressive.  Michigan shot very well overall (34-for-63 = 54.0%), they shot 3-pointers very well (12-for-23 = 52.2%), and they barely shot free throws (2-for-5 = 40.0%).  They won the rebounding battle (38-37) and the turnover battle (11-13).  Once again, the 3-point shooting was the difference.  Michigan made 12 3-pointers, Gonzaga made 6.  That’s the exact 18-point margin of victory right there.

Who Started?

The starters were Eli Brooks, Isaiah Livers, Zavier Simpson, Jon Teske, and Franz Wagner.

Wait, what?  Franz Wagner?  I thought he was out until at least the first week of December.  Well, he must have healed quickly, because he started and played and contributed in all three games.  It was a very pleasant surprise.

Who Looked Good?

Teske!  Jon Teske was a beast in this tournament.  He hit double figures in all 3 games (11, 10, and 19), and he had 6, 8, and (career-high) 15 rebounds to go with those points.  He also had 9 blocked shots over the 3 games, and altered a couple dozen other shots.  He played hard, he played strong, and he was easily the best player in the tournament.  Easily.  He won the tournament MVP, and he deserved it.  He even hit some 3-pointers: 1-for-2 vs. ISU, 2-for-4 vs. UNC, and 1-for-3 vs. Gonzaga.  The other teams couldn’t guard him, and they couldn’t score on him.  It was awesome to watch.

Livers actually scored more points than Teske (17, 12, and 21), and he played good defense, but he wasn’t the game-altering factor that Teske was.  Still, he joined Teske on the All Tournament team.  He hit a career-high 5 3-pointers (on 8 shots) in the Gonzaga game.

Simpson only hit double figures in 2 of the 3 games (10, 7, and 13), but he hit double figures for assists in 2 of the 3 games (13, 6, and 13).  He was limited to 17 minutes in the UNC game, due to foul trouble.

Brooks almost hit double figures in all 3 games (8, 24, and 8), and his 24 points against UNC were crucial.  He played well in all 3 games, especially filling in for Simpson when he had foul trouble vs. UNC.

Wagner only hit double figures in 1 of the 3 games (6, 3, and 10), but he played pretty well for someone who had only been practicing with both hands for 2 days.  He looked a little rusty out there, with some careless turnovers vs. UNC, but once he started playing instead of thinking, he looked much better.  He’s going to hit a bunch of 3-pointers this season, and he hit his first attempt of the season, but he didn’t have a particularly good tournament shooting 3-pointers: 2-for-3, 1-for-5, 0-for-1.

David DeJulius came off the bench as “instant offense”, and he delivered, with double figures in 2 of the 3 games (14, 11, and 9).  He shot 3-pointers pretty well: 2-for-3, 1-for-3, and 3-for-5.  He and Brooks shared point guard duty when Simpson was on the bench, and they both did well.  DeJulius wasn’t at all intimidated going up against a lottery pick guard (Cole Anthony from UNC).

Colin Castleton went in for Teske in each game to give Big Jon a breather, and he held his own while he was in there.  He did score in double figures in 1 of the 3 games (10, 4, and 0), and he played good defense.  He’s not as big/strong/tough as Teske, he’s more of a finesse player, but he played tough down low on defense.

Austin Davis played 7 strong, important minutes in the ISU game, when Teske had some foul trouble, and he did very well.  He only had 2 points and 2 rebounds, but he didn’t get pushed around in the paint, and he played solid defense.  He also played in the last minute of the Gonzaga game.

Brandon Johns, Jr. played in all 3 games, and scored a few points (2, 2, and 0), and grabbed a few rebounds (5, 3, and 0).  He also played good interior defense.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

Adrien Nuñez went from a starter to an afterthought in one game.  Once Wagner was cleared to play, he slid way down the bench.  He did hit a 3-pointer in the ISU game, for his only points of the tournament.  He didn’t play in the UNC game.

Who Else Played?

Cole Bajema played in the last minute of the Gonzaga game, and he hit his only 2-point basket.

Who Didn’t Play?

Even though Michigan opened up impressive leads in all 3 games, they were all close in the final minutes, so Coach Howard couldn’t put in the practice squad (C.J. Baird, Jaron Faulds, Rico Ozuna-Harrison, and Luke Wilson).

What Does It Mean?

After only playing against one team with a pulse (Creighton) in the first 4 games, Michigan finally got a chance to play against some solid competition, and they responded the way we had hoped they would.  They looked VERY solid against 2 teams in the Top 10.  There were a few chinks in the armor: too many turnovers, and a tendency to start slowly and let the opponent chip away at a big lead in the last 10 minutes of the game, but they looked VERY good building up those big leads against quality competition.  VERY good.

What’s Next?

This week, Michigan plays two games, one on the road and one at home.  On Tuesday (12/03/2019, 7:30 p.m., ESPN), they play at (#2) Louisville, then on Friday (12/06/2019, 6:30 p.m., FS1), they play Iowa in Crisler Arena.  The Louisville game is part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Louisville is currently 7-0, with no significant wins or losses.  They’ve got some height (one 6’11” player and two 6’10” players), and tons of senior leadership.  They are very tough on their home court, and this would be a major upset if Michigan could sneak by them.  This is Michigan’s first true road game, and Louisville will probably be ranked #1 when the polls come out this afternoon.

Iowa is currently 5-2, with a win over (#12) Texas Tech and losses to DePaul and San Diego State.  They’ve got some height (two 6’11” players and one 6’10” player), and a nice collection of upperclassmen.  They’re picked to come in 8^th in the Big Ten, so this is a “toss up” game.

Check back next week to see how Michigan did.

Go Blue!

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played one game this week, and they won it.  On Friday (11/22/2019), they beat Houston Baptist 111-68 in Crisler Arena.  Michigan’s record is now 4-0.

What Happened?

This one was over early.  Michigan jumped out to 12-2, 26-4, and 38-10 leads in the 1^st half, and HBU never challenged them.  The lead was 37 points (63-26) at halftime, and never dipped below 30 points in the 2^nd half.  The only questions were: would Michigan break 100 points? (yes, easily), and what would the final margin of victory be? (43 points).

HBU is not a very good team, and Michigan played well.  Coach Howard substituted liberally, and played his “deep bench” players with a decent amount of time left.  It was a fun game.

Stats

Things got a little ragged out there a couple of times, with sloppy turnovers and quick 3-point attempts, but the stats are still very impressive.  Michigan shot very well overall (43-for-77 = 55.8%), they shot 3-pointers very well (14-for-29 = 48.3%), and they shot free throws well enough (11-for-16 = 68.8%).  They won the rebounding battle (46-36) and the turnover battle (12-19).  Those are dominating statistics.

Who Started?

The starters were Eli Brooks, Isaiah Livers, Adrien Nuñez, Zavier Simpson, and Jon Teske.

Who Looked Good?

Simpson had a career game, with new career highs in points (22) and assists (14).  He hit 22 points very efficiently (8-for-10 shooting overall, 3-for-4 from 3-point range).  He even had 5 rebounds.

Livers also hit a new career high for points, with 24.  He shot even better than Simpson: 9-for-10 overall, 4-for-5 from 3-point range.

Teske didn’t hit double figures in points (3), but he did have 12 rebounds.

Colin Castleton had his best game so far, with 14 points, a career high.  He also shot very efficiently (6-for-7 overall, 0-for-0 from 3-point range).  More than just the points, he looked solid and confident out there, and played good defense.

David DeJulius was the other Michigan player in double figures, with 10 points.  He shot fairly well (4-for-9 overall, 2-for-4 from 3-point range), and looked good out there.

Brooks played a pretty good game, even though he didn’t quite hit double figures (9 points).  He did have 7 assists, which is good, but he shot pretty poorly (4-for-12 overall, 1-for-2 from 3-point range).

Brandon Johns, Jr. only had 5 points, but he had 8 rebounds and a blocked shot.

Cole Bajema had a career high in points (5) and minutes (13).  He also made the first 3-pointer of his career.

Austin Davis played for 7 minutes, and looked good, with 4 points (on 2-for-3 shooting), 3 rebounds, and NO fouls!

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

Nuñez had 8 points, but he shot terribly: 3-for-11 overall, 2-for-10 from 3-point range.

Who Else Played?

Coach Howard played everyone, including 3 minutes for the practice squad.  Just about everyone scored.

C.J. Baird hit another 3-pointer!

Jaron Faulds missed his only field goal attempt, but did hit 2 free throws for his first points at Michigan.

Rico Ozuna-Harrison made a 2-point basket.

Luke Wilson missed both of his field goal attempts, but did get an assist on Rico’s basket.

Who Didn’t Play?

Franz Wagner still has a broken wrist, and didn’t suit up.  He’s out until at least early December.

What Does It Mean?

HBU was an overmatched opponent, so it’s hard to learn much from this game.  It was very encouraging to see Michigan play hard and play well for 40 minutes.  There were a few sloppy moments, but it was usually a result of getting carried away and trying to get too fancy.  When they settled down and played the way they’ve been coached, they looked very good.

The games are about to get harder (see below).  Michigan could face 3 ranked opponents in their next 4 games.  That will tell us a lot more about this team.

What’s Next?

This week, Michigan plays three games, in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas.  On Wednesday (11/27/2019, 12:00 p.m., ESPN), they play Iowa State.  On Thursday (11/28/2019, 1:30 p.m. or 6:30 p.m., ESPN or ESPN2), they play either the winner or the loser of the Alabama/(#5) North Carolina game.  On Friday (11/29/2019, TBA, ESPN or ESPN2 or ESPNU or ESPNNews), they play one of the teams from the bottom half of the bracket ([#8] Gonzaga, [#11] Oregon, [#13] Seton Hall, and Southern Mississippi).  The complete bracket is here.

Iowa State is currently 3-1, with no significant wins or losses.  They were 23-12 last season, won the Big 12 Tournament, and lost in the 1^st round of the NCAA Tournament to Ohio State.  They don’t have much height (one 6’10” player, one 6’9” player), and they got about the same mix of upper- and underclassmen as Michigan.  It should be a fairly even matchup.

The other teams represent quite a challenge, with 4 teams in the top 15.  It should be quite the tournament.

Check back next week to see how Michigan did down there.

Go Blue!

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games this week, and they won both of them.  On Tuesday (11/12/2019), they beat Creighton 79-69, then on Friday (11/15/2019), they beat Elon 70-50.  Both games were in Crisler Arena.  Michigan’s record is now 3-0.

The Creighton game was part of the Gavitt Tipoff Games, which are essentially the Big East/Big Ten Challenge.  For the second year in a row, the Big Ten won the challenge, 5-3.

The Elon game was associated with the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament that Michigan is playing in over the Thanksgiving break.  Elon is in what they call the “Mainland Bracket”, which means that they play one game “on the mainland” (as opposed to the Bahamas, where the “Championship Bracket” is played) against one of the “Championship Bracket” teams, in this case Michigan, and then they play 2 other teams in the “Mainland Bracket” at home.

What Happened?

Unlike the season opener against Appalachian State, Michigan played well for 40 minutes against two opponents this week.  They didn’t have a miserable scoring drought like they suffered in the App State game.

The Creighton game was close for the whole 1^st half, with Michigan holding an 8-point lead (31-23) with 6:50 left in the half, and Creighton holding a 3-point lead (41-38) at halftime.  The game was still close with 12:27 left and UM only leading by 4 points (56-52).  Over the next 3 minutes, Michigan went on an 8-3 run to push the lead up to 9 points (64-55), and they managed to keep the lead between 5-12 points the rest of the way, winning by 10.

The Elon game was also close for most of the 1^st half, with Michigan up by only 4 points (26-22) with 2:42 left in the half.  UM closed the half on a 5-0 run to push the lead up to 9 points (31-22) at halftime.  The lead was still only 8 points (34-26) with 18:45 left, when Michigan went on an 11-2 run to push the lead up to 17 points (45-28) with 15:19 left.  Elon never got closer than 11 points the rest of the way, with Michigan winning by 20.

Stats

In the Creighton game, Michigan shot very well overall (30-for-53 = 56.6%), they shot 3-pointers pretty well (9-for-23 = 39.1%), and they shot free throws very well (10-for-12 = 83.3%).  They lost the rebounding battle badly (27-38) and the turnover battle as well (11-8).  Not only did UM lose the rebounding battle, they gave up 18 offensive rebounds.  Wow.  That’s an amazing stat for a winning team.

In the Elon game, Michigan shot fairly well overall (28-for58 = 48.3%), they shot 3-pointers fairly well (7-for-23 = 30.4%), and they shot free throws decently (7-for-10 = 70.0%).  They won the rebounding battle (38-31), but lost the turnover battle (10-7).

Who Started?

In both games, the starters were Eli Brooks, Isaiah Livers, Adrien Nuñez, Zavier Simpson, and Jon Teske.

Who Looked Good?

Teske had two nice, solid games, with 17 points vs. Creighton and 16 points vs. Elon.  He also had 7 rebounds in each game.

Simpson also hit double figures in both games, with 17 and 11 points.  He had 9 assists vs. Creighton and 7 vs. Elon.

Livers only hit double figures in one game, with a team-high 22 points vs. Creighton.  He came close in the Elon game, with 9 points.

Brooks also hit double figures in one game (10 points vs. Elon) and came close in the other game (7 points vs. Creighton).

The only other player with a double figures game this week was David DeJulius, with 10 points (and 8 rebounds) vs. Elon.  He came close to double figures in the other game, with 9 points vs. Creighton.  He’s starting to be a force coming off the bench.

Nuñez had 3 and 5 points, including a 3-pointer in each game.

Brandon Johns, Jr. had 2 and 5 points, and looked OK out there.

Colin Castleton had 2 points in each game.  He looked pretty comfortable out there.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

No one had a bad game.

Who Else Played?

The Creighton game was too close to play any of the non-mainstream players, but the Elon game was well enough in hand that C.J. Baird and Cole Bajema got in for the last minute.  Baird hit a 2-point basket.

Who Didn’t Play?

Franz Wagner still has a broken wrist, and didn’t suit up.  He’s out until at least early December.

Austin Davis was the only “regular” player who didn’t get in.

Baird played, but the rest of the practice squad (Jaron Faulds, Rico Ozuna-Harrison, and Luke Wilson) didn’t get in.

What Does It Mean?

We can’t learn much from the Elon game, but Creighton is a decent opponent, and Michigan handled them pretty well.  The really encouraging part was the mental aspect: the Michigan players didn’t panic when Creighton went ahead for a while, they just kept playing the game the way they’re supposed to.  They’re learning, and getting better.

What’s Next?

This week, Michigan only plays one game, in Crisler Arena.  On Friday (11/22/2019, 7:00 p.m., BTN-Plus), they play Houston Baptist.  Houston Baptist was 12-18 last season, and they don’t look to be much better this season.  They don’t have much height (one guy at 6’9” and another at 6’10”), and they’ve got a pretty young team.  Michigan should handle them pretty easily.

Come on down to Crisler to check out this season’s team, and stop by Sections 209-210 to say hi.

Go Blue!

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played one game this week, and they won it.  On Tuesday (11/05/2019), they beat Appalachian State 79-71 in Crisler Arena.  Michigan’s record is now 1-0.

What Happened?

As the title says, a disaster was (barely) averted.  Michigan almost blew a 30-point lead in the 2^nd half against an obviously inferior opponent.  Almost.  The 1^st half went smoothly, with UM opening up a nice 20-point lead (41-21) with 3:54 left, and pushing it up to 23 points (46-25) at halftime.  The first 5 minutes of the 2^nd half were fine as well, with UM building up a nice, safe, solid 30-point lead, 63-33.  The lead was still 30 points (67-37) with 12:59 left in the game, when the bottom fell out.  Michigan went to sleep on both ends of the court, and allowed ASU to go on a miserable 27-3 run over the next 10:36, which made the score 70-64 with 2:23 left.  During that stretch, Michigan went 1-for-12, with 9 turnovers.  Fortunately, UM woke up in the last 2:23 to seal the victory that almost got away.

Stats

Michigan shot reasonably well overall (29-for-61 = 37.5%), they shot 3-pointers reasonably well (9-for-25 = 36.0%), and they shot free throws pretty well (12-for-19 = 63.2%).  They (barely) won the rebounding battle (34-33) and the turnover battle (17-19).

Who Started?

The starters were Zavier Simpson, Eli Brooks, Adrien Nuñez, Isaiah Livers, and Jon Teske.

Who Looked Good?

Brooks was the leading scorer, with a career-high 24 points.  He shot a decent percentage overall (7-for-15) and from 3-poiht range (5-for-11).

Teske had a double-double (17 points, 13 rebounds), but was only a factor in the 1^st half, when he had 15 points and 11 rebounds, which means he only scored 2 points and grabbed 2 rebounds in the 2^nd half.

Livers was the only other Michigan player in double figures, with 14 points.  He played hard, but just wasn’t very hot.

Colin Castleton almost hit double figures, with 8 points.  He looked pretty comfortable out there.

Nuñez had 5 points, including a 3-pointer that was the only points UM got in the 27-3 ASU run.

Brandon Johns, Jr. had 5 points, and looked OK out there.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

David DeJulius played 28 minutes, and scored 0 points on 0-for-3 shooting.

Who Else Played?

When Michigan got ahead by 30 points with 13 minutes left in the game, I expected to see a bunch of subs, but then UM frittered away almost all of that lead, and Coach Howard had to keep his starters in the game until the very end.  So, this game featured a “short bench”.

Who Didn’t Play?

Franz Wagner still has a broken wrist, and didn’t suit up.  He’s out for at least another month.

Cole Bajema and Austin Davis were the only 2 “regular” players who didn’t get in.

The practice squad (C.J. Baird, Jaron Faulds, Rico Ozuna-Harrison, and Luke Wilson) didn’t get in.

What Does It Mean?

The good news: Michigan is good/talented/poised enough to dominate a lesser opponent and open up a 30 point lead in 27 minutes.

The bad news: Michigan is young/inexperienced/fragile enough to lose most of a 30-point lead in 13 minutes.

The games are going to start getting tougher very soon, and the “good” Michigan team better show up.  The “young” Michigan team will get spanked.

What’s Next?

This week, Michigan plays 2 games, both in Crisler Arena.  On Tuesday (11/12/2019, 6:30 p.m., FS1), they play Creighton, then on Friday (11/15/2019, 7:00 p.m., BTN), they play Elon.  The Creighton game is part of the Gavitt Tipoff Games, which is essentially the Big East/Big Ten Challenge.  The Elon game is associated with the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament that Michigan is playing in over the Thanksgiving break.  Elon is in what they call the “Mainland Bracket”, which means that they play one game “on the mainland” (as opposed to the Bahamas, where the “Championship Bracket” is played) against one of the “Championship Bracket” teams, in this case Michigan, and then they play 2 other teams in the “Mainland Bracket” at home.

Creighton was 20-15 last season, and went to the NIT.  They have some height (2 players at 6’11”), they have 5 of their top 6 scorers from last season returning, and they shoot a lot of 3-pointers.  This will be a good test for Michigan.

Elon was 11-21 last season, and they don’t look to be much better this season.  They don’t have much height (2 players at 6’8”), and they’ve got a pretty young team.  Michigan should handle them pretty easily, but that’s what I said about Appalachian State.

Come on down to Crisler to check out this season’s team, and stop by Sections 209-210 to say hi.

Go Blue!

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played their first and only exhibition game on Friday (11/01/2019) in Crisler Arena, and they pounded poor Saginaw Valley State University 82-51.  Since it was only an exhibition game, Michigan’s record is still 0-0.

What Happened?

Michigan led the whole game, jumping out to a 10-point lead right away, and stretching it to 14 points (26-12) midway through the 1^st half.  Then they fell asleep, and let SVSU creep back into the game with some sloppy offense and indifferent defense.  With 2:13 left in the half, Michigan’s lead was down to 2 points (31-29), and the crowd was getting uneasy.  Fortunately, Michigan woke up and finished the half with a 10-0 run, to make the score more comfortable (41-29).  They continued the run into the 2^nd half, and pushed the lead to 20 (58-38), then 30 and more.  The 2^nd half was never close.

Stats

Michigan shot pretty poorly overall (25-for-61 = 41.0%), they shot 3-pointers pretty poorly (9-for-31 = 29.0%), and they shot free throws pretty well (23-for-30 = 76.7%).  They won the rebounding battle (44-40) and the turnover battle (11-20).

Who Started?

The starters were Zavier Simpson, Eli Brooks, Adrien Nuñez, Isaiah Livers, and Jon Teske.

Note: I missed it when Livers switched his number from #4 (the last 2 seasons) to #2 (this season).  He wore #2 in high school, and it was his preferred number, but he let Jordan Poole wear it the last 2 seasons.  Now that Poole is in the NBA, Livers got it back.

Who Looked Good?

Livers was the leading scorer, with 20 points.  He shot a good percentage overall (7-for-11) and from 3-poiht range (4-for-8).

Brooks had a double-double, with 13 points and 10 rebounds.  He had a terrible overall shooting percentage (1-for-7), but the only shot he hit was a 3-pointer (1-for-4).  He was tremendous from the free-throw line (10-for-10).

Brandon Johns, Jr. was the only other Michigan player in double figures, with 12 points, on good shooting (4-for-5 overall, 2-for-3 from deep).

Simpson didn’t hit double figures in points (7), but he did have 11 assists.

Nuñez was the only other Michigan player to make a 3-pointer.  He had 7 points on poor shooting (2-for-6 overall, 1-for-5 from deep).

Teske didn’t score much (6 points), but he did have 9 rebounds.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

Cole Bajema only played 5 minutes, missed his only shot (a 3-point attempt), and made a free throw, for 1 point.  He didn’t play badly, he just didn’t do much.

Colin Castleton played 17 minutes, and scored 6 points on 2-for-5 shooting.  He had 3 rebounds.  He didn’t play badly, he just didn’t do much.

Austin Davis only played 6 minutes, and made his only shot (a dunk) and a free throw, for 3 points.  He didn’t play badly, he just didn’t do much.

David DeJulius played 24 minutes, and scored 5 points on 2-for-9 shooting.  After his performance in the “secret” scrimmage and the open practice, I expected a lot more from him.

Who Else Played?

Coach Howard emptied the bench for the final 3 minutes, so 4 players from the practice squad got to play: C.J. Baird, Jaron Faulds, Rico Ozuna-Harrison, and Luke Wilson.  Rico made the only basket, for 2 points.

Who Didn’t Play?

Franz Wagner has a broken wrist, and didn’t suit up.

What Does It Mean?

It’s hard to learn much from an exhibition game against an overmatched opponent.  We saw improvement from last season for some players (Johns and Nuñez), and unimpressive outings from others (Castleton and DeJulius).  We saw about what we expected from the upperclassmen (Simpson, Teske, Livers, and Brooks).  We didn’t see enough of the lone healthy freshman (Bajema) to make any judgement.

What’s Next?

Michigan’s first real game is Tuesday (11/05/2019, 7:00 p.m., BTN) vs. Appalachian State, in Crisler Arena.  ASU was 11-21 last season, and they don’t figure to be much better this season.  They don’t have anyone taller than 6’9” on their roster, and they’re pretty young.  Michigan should be able to handle them pretty easily.

Go Blue!