Author: Drew Montag

Drew Montag, Basketball Editor
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Big Ten Report – Week #14 – Postseason Tournaments, Part 3 (04/07/2014)

Results

Here are the results from last week’s games, in the NCAA Tournament and the National Invitation Tournament (NIT):

 

Tuesday (04/01/2014)

NIT Semifinals: (#1) Minnesota beat (#1) Florida State, 67-64 (overtime)

 

Thursday (04/03/2014)

NIT Championship: (#1) Minnesota beat (#1) SMU, 65-63. Congratulations!

 

Saturday (04/05/2014)

NCAA Semifinals: (#2 West) Wisconsin lost to (#8 Midwest) Kentucky, 74-73

 

At this point, all the Big Ten teams are done playing.

 

The Big Ten’s record in the NCAA Tournament was 10-6, in the NIT it was 6-1, and in the CBI (College Basketball Invitational) it was 1-1, for a total record of 17-8.

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Nothing But ‘Net – Week #23 – 03/31/2014 – (Elite) Eight Is Enough

The (#7) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games this week in the NCAA Tournament in Indianapolis, and they won the first and lost the second. They were the #2 seed in the Midwest Region. On Friday (03/28/2014), they beat the #11 seed, Tennessee, 73-71, then on Sunday (03/30/2014), they lost to the #8 seed, Kentucky, 75-72. The win and the loss leave Michigan with a final record of 28-9. Unfortunately, the loss knocks Michigan out of the tournament, just one game short of a 2nd consecutive Final Four.

While it’s certainly disappointing that UM got knocked out of the tournament, they did much better than anyone could have predicted in mid-December. At that point, they had just lost a 2-point heartbreaker (72-70) at home to then #1 Arizona, and their record was 6-4. Just a few days later, their preseason All-American center, Mitch McGary, announced that he was going to have surgery on his ailing back, and he was done for the season. Things looked dismal for this season’s team, but they pulled it together and:

  • Won the Big Ten regular season championship by 3 games.
  • Got to (and lost) the Big Ten tournament championship game.
  • Earned a #2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
  • Made it to the Elite Eight for the 2nd year in a row.

Not bad.

Both games this week were close and exciting, with both game decided in the last few seconds. The 1st half of the Tennessee game was a see-saw battle until the 10:00 mark, when Michigan went on a nice 25-13 run to end the half up 45-34. Michigan kept the lead around 11 points for the first half of the 2nd half, then UT started slowly cutting into it. Still, UM had a 10-point lead (70-60) with 3:40 to go, and it looked like they could hold UT off. Although they never lost the lead, they did let it shrink down to 1 point (72-71) with 10 second left, then they hit a free throw and kept Tennessee from getting off a shot. It was a narrow escape, but that’s all you need in a single-elimination tournament.

Michigan got an early lead on Kentucky, and managed to stay ahead or tied for the whole 1st half. The game was tied (37-37) at halftime, and UK finally got a lead in the 2nd half. The game was another see-saw affair, with both teams opening up small leads, before the other team came back to tie it up or go ahead. It was tied (72-72) with 27 seconds left, and UK got the last shot. They made it, with only 2.6 seconds left, and UM didn’t have time to get off a good shot to tie it. It was a sad way to end an amazing season. It really felt like Michigan was a Team of Destiny, but the basketball gods didn’t see it that way.

One last time: Stats? Stats!

In the Tennessee game, Michigan shot pretty well overall (27/49 = 55.1%), they shot 3-pointers very well (11/20 = 55.0%), and they shot free throws very well (8/10 = 80.0%). They lost the rebounding battle (barely: 26-28) and the turnover battle (13-7). It was the turnover margin that made the game close.

The stats for the Kentucky game are a lot less impressive. Michigan didn’t shoot very well overall (27/57 = 47.4%), they didn’t shoot very well from 3-point range (7/18 = 38.9%), but they did shoot free throws pretty well (11/14 = 78.6%). As expected, they got hammered on the boards (35-24), but they won the turnover battle (7-11). The game was lost on the boards.

Individually, 3 Michigan players hit double figures in both games:

  • Jordan Morgan – 15 points vs. Tennessee and 11 points vs. Kentucky. Jordan was the leading scorer for UM in the UT game.
  • Glenn Robinson III – 13 and 14 points. GR3 hit all his 3-pointers this week: 1-for-1 vs. UT, and 2-for-2 vs. UK.
  • Nik Stauskas. 14 and 24 points. Nik had a tough time with his 3-point shot in both games: 3-for-8 vs. UT, and 2-for-7 vs. UK.

Caris LeVert hit double figures (10 points) in the Tennessee game, but fell just a little short (9 points) in the Kentucky game.

5 other players scored in at least one game, just not in double figures:

Max Bielfeldt played in the Kentucky game, but didn’t score.

 

This Week

Michigan is done for the season, but I’m not. Check back next week for the Season Wrap-Up, Final Grades, and a Look Ahead To Next Season.

Go Blue!

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Big Ten Report – Week #13 – Postseason Tournaments, Part 2 (03/31/2014)

Results

Here are the results from last week’s games, in the NCAA Tournament, the National Invitation Tournament (NIT), and the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) :

 

Monday (03/24/2014)

CBI Quarterfinals: Penn State lost to Siena, 54-52

 

Tuesday (03/25/2014)

NIT 3rd Round: (#1) Minnesota beat (#3) Southern Mississippi, 81-73

 

Thursday (03/27/2014)

NCAA 4th Round, West: (#2) Wisconsin beat (#6) Baylor, 69-52

 

Friday (03/28/2014)

NCAA 4th Round, Midwest: (#2) Michigan beat (#11) Tennessee, 73-71

NCAA 4th Round, East: (#4) Michigan State beat (#1) Virginia, 61-59

 

Saturday (03/29/2014)

NCAA 5th Round, West: (#2) Wisconsin beat (#1) Arizona, 64-63 (overtime)

 

Sunday (03/30/2014)

NCAA 5th Round, East: (#4) Michigan State lost to (#7) Connecticut, 60-54

NCAA 5th Round, Midwest: (#2) Michigan lost to (#8) Kentucky, 75-72

 

At this point, the Big Ten has 2 teams left alive in postseason play: 1 team left alive in the NCAA Tournament, and 1 team left alive in the NIT.

 

The Big Ten’s record in the NCAA Tournament is 10-5, in the NIT it’s 4-1, and in the CBI it’s 1-1, for a total record of 15-7.

 

The Upcoming Week

Here are the 2 Big Ten teams left alive in postseason tournaments:

 

Minnesota – NIT, #1 seed in the Minnesota quadrant

Wisconsin – NCAA, #2 seed in the West

 

Here’s the schedule for this week:

 

Tuesday (04/01/2014)

NIT Semifinals: (#1) Minnesota vs. (#1) Florida State

 

Saturday (04/05/2014)

NCAA Semifinals: (#2 West) Wisconsin vs. (#8 Midwest) Kentucky

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Big Ten Report – Week #12 – Postseason Tournaments, Part 1 (03/24/2014)

Rankings

Four Big Ten teams are ranked this week, in the final AP poll of the season:

 

 

Here are links for the unranked teams:

 

 

Results

Here are the results from last week’s games, in the NCAA Tournament, the National Invitation Tournament (NIT), and the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) :

 

Tuesday (03/18/2014)

NIT 1st Round: (#1) Minnesota beat (#8) High Point, 88-81

 

Wednesday (03/19/2014)

NCAA 1st Round, Midwest: (#11) Iowa lost to (#11) Tennessee, 78-65 (overtime)

NIT 1st Round: (#2) Illinois beat (#7) Boston University, 66-62

CBI 1st Round: Penn State beat Hampton, 69-65

 

Thursday (03/20/2014)

NCAA 2nd Round, South: (#6) Ohio State lost to (#11) Dayton, 60-59

NCAA 2nd Round, East: (#4) Michigan State beat (#11) Delaware, 93-78

NCAA 2nd Round, West: (#2) Wisconsin beat (#15) American, 75-35

NCAA 2nd Round, Midwest: (#2) Michigan beat (#15) Wofford, 57-40

 

Friday (03/21/2014)

NCAA 2nd Round, West: (#11) Nebraska lost to (#6) Baylor, 74-60

 

Saturday (03/22/2014)

NCAA 3rd Round, East: (#4) Michigan State beat (#12) Harvard, 80-73

NCAA 3rd Round, West: (#2) Wisconsin beat (#7) Oregon, 85-77

NCAA 3rd Round, Midwest: (#2) Michigan beat (#7) Texas, 79-65

 

Sunday (03/23/2014)

NIT 2nd Round: (#2) Illinois lost to (#3) Clemson, 50-49

NIT 2nd Round: (#1) Minnesota beat (#4) St. Mary’s (CA), 63-55

 

At this point, the Big Ten has 5 teams left alive in postseason play: 3 teams left alive in the NCAA Tournament, 1 team left alive in the NIT, and 1 team left alive in the CBI.

 

The Big Ten’s record in the NCAA Tournament is 6-3, in the NIT it’s 3-1, and in the CBI, it’s 1-0, for a total record of 10-4.

 

The Upcoming Week

Here are the Big Ten teams left alive in postseason tournaments:

 

Michigan – NCAA, #2 seed in the Midwest

Michigan State – NCAA, #4 seed in the East

Minnesota – NIT, #1 seed in the Minnesota quadrant

Penn State – CBI (no seeds or regions in the CBI)

Wisconsin – NCAA, #2 seed in the West

 

Here’s the schedule for this week:

 

Monday (03/24/2014)

CBI Quarterfinals: Penn State at Siena

 

Tuesday (03/25/2014)

NIT 3rd Round: (#1) Minnesota vs. (#3) Southern Mississippi

 

Wednesday (03/26/2014)

CBI Semifinals: Penn State vs. the winner of the Fresno State/Princeton game (if Penn State wins on Monday)

 

Thursday (03/27/2014)

NCAA 4th Round, West: (#2) Wisconsin vs. (#6) Baylor

 

Friday (03/28/2014)

NCAA 4th Round, Midwest: (#2) Michigan vs. (#11) Tennessee

NCAA 4th Round, East: (#4) Michigan State vs. (#1) Virginia

 

Saturday (03/29/2014)

NCAA 5th Round, West: (#2) Wisconsin vs. winner of the (#1) Arizona/(#4) San Diego State game (if Wisconsin wins on Thursday)

 

Sunday (03/30/2014)

NCAA 5th Round, Midwest: (#2) Michigan vs. winner of the (#4) Louisville/(#8) Kentucky game (if Michigan wins on Friday)

NCAA 5th Round, East: (#4) Michigan State vs. winner of the (#3) Iowa State/(#7) Connecticut game (if Michigan State wins on Friday)

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Nothing But ‘Net – Week #22 – 03/24/2014 – Sweet 16, Again

The (#7) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games this week in the NCAA Tournament in Milwaukee, and they won them both. They were the #2 seed in the Midwest Region. On Thursday (03/20/2014), they beat the #15 seed, Wofford, 57-40, then

on Saturday (03/22/2014), they beat the #7 seed, Texas, 79-65. The 2 wins raise Michigan’s record to 27-8, but more importantly, they put Michigan in the Sweet 16 again, for the 2nd year in a row. That is definitely a big deal.

 

Michigan was expected to beat Wofford handily, and they did, even though the game wasn’t much to look at. UM didn’t play their “A” game, but they played well enough for long enough to win comfortably. Michigan missed their first 2 shots, and Wofford made their first 2 shots, so it was 4-0 with 18:17 left in the half. Michigan then went on a 9-0 run to go ahead 9-4, with 14:49 to go in the half, and they never trailed again. The Michigan lead got as high as 14 points (30-16) with 2:36 to go, and was still 14 points at halftime (34-20). Wofford fought back hard to open the 2nd half, and got the lead down to 7 points (40-33) with 9:25 to go, but that was as close as they got. UM pushed the lead back up to double figures (45-35, with 6:24 left), and won by 17 points. Not the most impressive win in recent memory, but the golden rule in NCAA Tournament play is “survive and advance”. Just ask all the top-ranked teams that lost in the first round: (#5) VCU, (#6) Ohio State, (#5) Cincinnati, (#5) Oklahoma, (#6) Massachusetts, and (#3) Duke. They would all love an “ugly win”.

 

Michigan was also expected to beat Texas, but not as easily, and not by as big a margin. Once again, Michigan found themselves down by a few points early (6-3, with 16:40 left in the 1st half), but they tied it at 6-6 in less than a minute, then went ahead for good with a nice 10-0 run. With 13:11 left in the half, they led 13-6, and pushed the lead up to double digits (21-10) with 10:35 to go. They got the lead up to 18 points (30-12) with 7:20 to go, but let Texas creep back a little at halftime (43-30). UM opened the 2nd half strong, and pushed the lead back up to 18 points (53-35) with 16:02 left in the game, then they went stone cold. Texas clawed their way back into the game, and got as close as 6 points (58-52) with 8:00 left in the game. UM finally started scoring again, and pushed the lead back up to a comfortable 16 points (76-60) with 1:05 left, then ran out the clock. This win was a little more impressive than the Wofford win, and it was encouraging to see Michigan play so well during “crunch time”.

 

Stats? Stats!

 

In the Wofford game, Michigan didn’t shoot particularly well overall (22-for-46 = 47.8%), but they did shoot 3-pointers pretty well (7-for-17 = 41.2%). They didn’t shoot many free throws, but they hit most of them: 6-for-9 = 66.7%. They won the rebounding battle (31-26), but they lost the turnover battle (11-9). Not very impressive stats for a not very impressive win.

 

The stats for the Texas game are a little more impressive. Michigan shot pretty well overall (24-for-54 = 44.4%), they shot very well from 3-point range (14-for-28 = 50.0%), and they shot free throws well (17-for-21 = 81.0%). They got hammered on the boards (41-30), but they won the turnover battle (4-9). The big difference was 3-point shooting: UM hit 14 of them, while Texas hit 4 (on 11 attempts).

 

Individually, 3 Michigan players hit double figures in both games:

 

  • Jordan Morgan – 10 points vs. Wofford and 15 points vs. Texas. Jordan also had 10 rebounds in each game, for 2 double-doubles!
  • Glenn Robinson III – 14 and 14 points.
  • Nik Stauskas. 15 and 17 points. Nik was the high scorer for UM in both games. He also had a career-high 8 assists in the Texas game.

 

Caris LeVert hit double figures (14 points) in the Texas game, but only had 6 points in the Wofford game.

 

5 other players scored in at least one game, just not in double figures:

 

 

Max Bielfeldt, Andrew Dakich, and Sean Lonergan all played in the Wofford game, but didn’t score.

 

This Week

 

Michigan plays on in the NCAA Tournament. The next 2 rounds of games (the Sweet 16 and the Elite 8) for the Midwest Region are in Indianapolis. Michigan plays the #11 seed, Tennessee, on Friday (03/28/2014, 7:15 p.m. EDT, CBS). If they win that one, they’ll play the winner of the (#4) Louisville/(#8) Kentucky game on Sunday (03/30/2014, time TBA, CBS) for a trip to the Final Four.

 

Even though Tennessee is a #11 seed, they must be doing something right, since they won their “First Four” (play-in) game on Wednesday vs. (#11) Iowa, then came back on Friday to beat (#6) Massachusetts, then played again on Sunday to beat (#14) Mercer, the team that had knocked off (#3) Duke. Michigan is going to have to take Tennessee very seriously.

 

Check back next week to see what happened, and why.

 

Go Blue!