Blog

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played one game this past week in the Big Ten Tournament, and they lost it.  On Thursday (03/10/2022), they lost to Indiana 74-69 in Indianapolis, IN.  The loss lowers Michigan’s record to 17-14 (11-9 in Big Ten).

What Happened?

First things first: Despite losing in their first game of the Big Ten Tournament, Michigan was still selected to play in the NCAA Tournament, starting this week.  They are the #11 seed in the South Region, which seems about right.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is that Michigan collapsed in the last 12:52 of the IU game, although this collapse proved to be non-fatal, since Michigan still made it to the Big Dance.

On paper, this is just another loss in a season full of them.  It was expected to be a close game, and it was.  Michigan was the #8 seed in the tournament, and Indiana was the #9 seed.  Michigan had beaten IU at their place by 18 points back in late January, and UM was favored by 3 points in this game.  Losing by 5 points in a tournament game, that’s not so bad, is it?  Well, it is when you give up a 17-point lead in the last 12:52 of the game, and lose by 5.  The game was close for the first few minutes, and was all tied up (10-10) with 13:54 to go in the 1^st half.  Michigan went on a nice 11-0 run, and led by 11 (21-10) at the 8:48 mark.  They kept the lead in the 11-13 point range for the rest of the half, and led by 13 at halftime, 41-28.  IU started the 2^nd half strong, and got back within 8 points (43-35) with 18:05 to go.  Michigan promptly regained control, and pushed the lead up into the 13-15 point range.  They kept it there until the 12:52 mark when … they just stopped playing.  At that point, the score was 60-43, and Michigan had been scoring regularly.  They went completely cold, and IU got hot, and the last 12:52 were just plain miserable.  IU went on a 9-0 run to get within 8 points (60-52) with 9:19 to go, then Michigan made 2 free throws to momentarily stop the run.  IU went on another run, this one 11-0, to lead 63-62 at the 5:39 mark.  Michigan made 2 more free throws, for their final lead (64-63) with 4:37 left.  Michigan finally made a basket at the 1:42 mark, to pull within 5 points (71-66), and a 3-pointer at the 0:44 mark to pull within 2 points (71-69), but IU made their free throws to win by 5.

Take a good look at that: from the 12:52 mark to the 1:42 mark (11 minutes and 10 seconds), Michigan only scored 4 points, all on free throws.  In that miserable stretch they did the following on offense:

• 12:08 – Turnover
• 11:08 – Missed jumper
• 10:42 – Missed layup (in the paint)
• 10:19 – Missed jumper (in the paint)
• 10:00 – Turnover
• 09:42 – Turnover
• 09:01 – Missed jumper (in the paint)
• 08:59 – Turnover
• 08:36 – 2 made free throws
• 07:46 – Turnover
• 07:13 – Missed jumper
• 06:39 – Missed jumper (in the paint)
• 06:28 – Missed 3-pointer
• 06:27 – Turnover
• 05:51 – Missed 3-pointer
• 05:15 – Missed jumper
• 04:37 – 2 made free throws
• 04:06 – Missed 3-pointer
• 03:57 – Missed jumper
• 03:16 – Missed jumper (in the paint)
• 03:09 – Turnover
• 02:19 – Missed 3-pointer

That’s 7 turnovers, 8 missed jumpers, 1 missed layup, and 4 missed 3-pointers, for a total of 13 missed shots in a row.  5 of the 8 of those missed jumpers were in the paint.  It was horrible.

Stats

Not surprisingly, the stats for the game are lousy.  Michigan shot poorly overall (22-for-58 = 37.9%), they shot 3-pointers poorly (6-for-20 = 30.0%), but they did shoot free throws well (19-for-21 = 90.5%).  They won the rebounding battle (34-32), and they tied the turnover battle (12-12).  They lost this game with that 0-for-13 shooting collapse.  Up to that point, Michigan was shooting decently: 20-for-45 = 44.4%.  If they had kept that up, they would have made 5 or 6 shots in that stretch of 13 shots, for 10-12 points, more than enough to win the game.

Who Started?

The starters were Eli Brooks, Moussa Diabate, Hunter Dickinson, Caleb Houstan, and DeVante’ Jones.

Who Looked Good?

Jones was the leading scorer for Michigan, with 18 points on decent shooting (5-for-10).

Brooks scored 17 points, but he didn’t shoot well: 4-for-13 overall, 2-for-5 from 3-point range.

Dickinson had a strong 1^st half, with 13 points, but he only had 2 points in the 2^nd half, with 15:26 to go.  He disappeared when Michigan needed him the most.

Houstan almost hit double figures, with 9 points.  After going scoreless in the 1^st half, he hit three 3-pointers in a row in a 4-minute stretch early in the 2^nd half, as Michigan built up the 17-point lead, then he went cold again.  He ended up shooting 3-for-10 overall, 3-for-8 from 3-point range.

Diabate had a lousy game offensively (4 points), but he did haul in 12 rebounds and block 2 shots.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

Frankie Collins scored 2 points.

Brandon Johns, Jr. scored 4 points.

Terrance Williams II was scoreless.

Who Else Played?

No one else played.

Who Didn’t Play?

Isaiah Barnes, Kobe Bufkin, Jace Howard, Adrien Nuñez, and Will Tschetter are the scholarship players who didn’t play.

Ian Burns, Jaron Faulds, and Brandon Wade are the players on the scout team who didn’t play.

What Does It Mean?

If Michigan had just hung on and beaten IU, they wouldn’t have had to worry about making the NCAA Tournament, but they still managed to sneak in, even with the heartbreaking loss.  Now that they’re in, they need to start winning a few games in a row.  Starting with the home Purdue game on 02/10/2022, Michigan has gone W-L-W-L-W-L-W-L-W-L.  In the Big Dance, one loss and you go home.

What’s Next?

This week Michigan is scheduled to play in the NCAA Tournament.  As mentioned above, they are the #11 seed in the South Region.  They’re scheduled to play their first game on Thursday (03/17/2022, 12:15 p.m., CBS) in Indianapolis, IN, against the #6 seed, (#23) Colorado State.  If they manage to win that one, they’re scheduled to play again on Saturday (03/19/2022, TBA, TBA) against the winner of the game between the #3 seed (Tennessee) and the #14 seed (Longwood).  The other high seeds in the South Region are (#1 seed) Arizona, (#2 seed) Villanova, and (#4 seed) Illinois.  Here’s the full bracket.

Colorado State went 25-5 (14-4 in the Mountain West).  They didn’t play many games against ranked opponents, so they don’t have many impressive wins.  They did beat Creighton and St. Mary’s, but they also lost to San Diego State (twice, by 30 and 5), to UNLV (twice, by 14 and 21), and to Wyoming.  They don’t have any noteworthy players, but they do have some height: a 6’10” forward and a 7’1” center.  It’s worth noting that Michigan beat UNLV in Las Vegas in the Thanksgiving tournament, and UNLV beat Colorado State twice.  This is a game that Michigan can win, as long as they don’t have any 11-minute meltdowns.

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

Go Blue!

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played three games this past week, and they won two and lost one.  On Tuesday (03/01/2022), they beat (#25) Michigan State 87-70 in Crisler Arena, on Thursday (03/03/2022), they lost to (#24) Iowa 82-71 in Crisler Arena, then on Sunday (03/06/2022), they beat (#23) Ohio State 75-69 in Columbus.  These were the last three games of the regular season.  The two wins and one loss leave Michigan with a final regular season record of 17-13 (11-9 in Big Ten), tied for 7^th place in the standings.

What Happened?

Before we look at this week’s games, a quick note on an omission:  In the last two articles I’ve talked about Coach Howard and his 5-game suspension for his role in the handshake debacle after the Wisconsin game, but I failed to mention that the Associate Head Coach, Phil Martelli, has been the acting head coach for those five games.  He has done a wonderful job filling in for Coach Howard, going 3-2.  Now that the regular season is over, Coach Howard will be back as head coach.  Back to the game descriptions.

Take a look at those dates in the first section: Tuesday 03/01, Thursday 03/03, and Sunday 03/06.  Add in the previous game, a home loss to (#15) Illinois on Sunday 02/27.  That’s four games in eight days, including a stretch of three games in five days.  That stretch was exhausting just to watch (and usher), so you can imagine how tiring it was for the players.  The Michigan players looked like they were running on fumes in the Iowa game, which was their third game in five days.  Winning two of the last three was quite an accomplishment, especially against three straight ranked opponents, including one of the road, in Columbus, on their Senior Day.

The MSU win was a thing of beauty.  Except for maybe the home win over (#4) Purdue in mid-February, it was the best game Michigan played all season.  The game was close early, until Michigan went ahead for good (12-11) at the 16:33 mark.  They pushed the lead up into double digits, and led by 16 points (44-28) at halftime.  They grew the lead even further in the 2^nd half, up to 21 points (62-41) with 12:51 to go.  Michigan stalled, and MSU crept to within 12 points (67-55) at the 8:00 mark.  Michigan pushed the lead back to 14-16 points, but MSU hung around, and it was back to 12 points (75-63) with 4:34 to go.  Michigan finished strong, and won by 17 points.  It was a solid, dominating win.

The Iowa game was miserable.  Iowa hit their first three 3-pointers, all in the first 4 minutes, and Michigan missed their first six shots, and Iowa was up 11-4 at the first media timeout (15:33 mark).  The pattern continued: Iowa was hot and Michigan was not, and the Iowa lead grew to 15 points (26-11) with 10:07 left in the half.  It got as high as 18 points, and was 17 points (47-30) at halftime.  Michigan tried to creep back into the game early in the 2^nd half, and got within 13 points (49-36) at the 18:12 mark, but Iowa answered the small Michigan run, and kept the lead in the 16-18 range.  Michigan finally got the deficit down to single digits (71-62) with 5:34 left, and then down to 7 points (73-66) with 3:00 to go, but that was as close as they got.  Iowa led wire-to-wire, and won by 11.  Michigan looked tired and flat out there.  It was a lousy Senior Night.

The OSU game was a miracle.  Michigan has had a tough time recently in Columbus, and it was Ohio State’s Senior Day.  To make things even worse, Michigan had to play without their star player, Hunter Dickinson, who was a last-minute scratch with food poisoning.  It looked hopeless, but Michigan managed to hang around with OSU for much of the 1^st half.  The lead went back and forth, and OSU was only up by one point (29-28) with 3:16 left in the half.  Unfortunately, OSU went on an 8-2 run to end the half, up 7 points (37-30).  The 2^nd half is when the miracle happened.  Michigan tied the game (39-39) at the 15:50 mark, and the lead went back and forth a couple times, then Michigan went ahead for good (45-43) with 14:18 to go.  They pushed their lead as high as 12 points (56-44 with 10:18 left), and still led by 11 points (60-49) with 7:31 to go.  OSU came storming back, and got within 4 points several times, but never any closer.  Michigan played tough in the last 2 minutes, made their free throws, and won by 6 points.  It was an amazing, unlikely victory.

Stats

The stats for the MSU game are great.  Michigan shot very well overall (32-for-55 = 58.2%), they shot 3-pointers very well (7-for-12 = 58.3%), and they shot free throws well enough (16-for-22 = 72.7%).  They won the rebounding battle (33-28), but lost the turnover battle (11-10).  They won this game with great shooting, both overall and from 3-point range.

The stats for the Iowa game are deceptive.  Michigan shot well overall (30-for-60 = 50.0%), they shot 3-pointers pretty well (7-for-19 = 36.8%), but they didn’t shoot free throws very well (4-for-8 = 50.0%).  They won the rebounding battle (31-29), but lost the turnover battle (13-9).  They lost this game with porous 3-point defense, allowing Iowa to shoot 57.9% (11-for-19) from deep.

The stats for the OSU game are also deceptive.  Michigan shot poorly overall (28-for-68 = 41.2%), they shot 3-pointers decently (8-for-21 = 38.1%), and they shot free throws perfectly (11-for-11 = 100.0%).  They won the rebounding battle (35-34) and the turnover battle (6-13).  They won this game with free throw shooting and low turnovers, which is definitely not Michigan’s brand this season.

Who Started?

The starters for the MSU and Iowa games were Eli Brooks, Moussa Diabate, Hunter Dickinson, Caleb Houstan, and DeVante’ Jones.  Brandon Johns, Jr. started in place of Dickinson (illness) in the OSU game.

Who Looked Good?

Dickinson only played in two of the three games this week, but he was the star in both of the games he played in, especially the MSU game.  He dominated MSU, with a career-high 33 points.  He also had 9 rebounds, just one short of a double-double.  He played with fire in his eyes against MSU, and even got a talking to for staring and jawing at the MSU bench after some of his bigger baskets.  He shot 13-for-19, including 4 dunks, and he had 4 blocked shots.  He was AWESOME!  Oh yeah, he had a double-double (21 points, 11 rebounds) in the Iowa game, but he didn’t play with the same enthusiasm he had in the MSU game.  He missed the OSU game with food poisoning.

Jones had a great week, with double figures in two of the three games: 9 points vs. MSU, 10 points vs. Iowa, and a team-high 21 points vs. OSU.  He almost had a double-double vs. OSU, with 9 assists.

Brooks had a good week, with double figures in two of the three games: 8 points vs. MSU, 17 points vs. Iowa, and 14 vs. OSU.

Houstan had a feast-or-famine week, with double figures in two of the three games and zero points in the third.  He had 16 points vs. MSU and 11 vs. Iowa, but he was scoreless vs. OSU, shooting 0-for-10.

Diabate had a decent week, with 6, 4, and 14 points.  He had to play center in the OSU game, with Dickinson out, and he did a nice job, with 7 rebounds.

Terrance Williams II had a very good week, with 9, 4, and 17 points.  His 9 points vs. MSU may not look like much, but they were all key points that gave Michigan the momentum.  He came in and hit his first three 3-point attempts, which swung the game Michigan’s way.  He also hit his first three 3-point attempts in the OSU game, once again turning the momentum in Michigan’s favor.  He fired up the rest of the team in both games, and he deserves a lot of the credit in both wins.

Kobe Bufkin didn’t score many points this week (0, 0, and 3), but he gets a mention because his 3-pointer in the closing moments of the OSU game was the dagger that sealed the win.

Frankie Collins also didn’t score many points this week (0, 0, and 4), but he gets a mention because he did a nice job spelling Jones at point guard.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

Johns had a quiet week, with 5, 4, and 2 points.

Who Else Played?

Jaron Faulds played in the MSU and OSU games.  He hit one free throw vs. MSU.

Jace Howard played in the MSU and Iowa games, but didn’t score.

Adrien Nuñez played in the MSU game, but didn’t score.

Who Didn’t Play?

Isaiah Barnes and Will Tschetter are the scholarship players who didn’t play in any of the games.

Ian Burns and Brandon Wade are the players on the scout team who didn’t play in any of the games.

What Does It Mean?

With two wins against ranked opponents, Michigan is now on the right side of the “bubble” for the NCAA Tournament.  It would certainly help if they could win a couple games in the Big Ten Tournament.  They have proven that they can hang with the big boys, but they have also shown that they can lose to anyone.

What’s Next?

This week Michigan is scheduled to play in the Big Ten Tournament, in Indianapolis, IN.  They tied for 7^th place in the Big Ten standings with Michigan State, but MSU has a better winning percentage against the top teams in the conference, so MSU will be the #7 seed and Michigan will be the #8 seed.  Michigan starts the tournament on Thursday (03/10/2022, 11:30 a.m. EST, BTN) vs. the #9 seed, Indiana.

Indiana is currently 18-12 (9-11 in Big Ten).  They finished in 9^th place in the Big Ten standings.  Michigan played Indiana once this season, back on 01/23/2022 in Bloomington, and UM won 80-62.  IU has had a rough end to their regular season, losing 7 of their last 9 games.  This is a winnable game, if Michigan plays their “A” game.

If Michigan gets by Indiana, the next game will be against the #1 seed, Illinois, at 11:30 a.m. on Friday (03/11/2022) on BTN.  Since Illinois beat Michigan twice in the regular season, it will be a stiff challenge.

Here’s the complete bracket.

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 won one and lost one.  On Thursday (02/17/2022), they beat Iowa 84-79 in Iowa City, then on Sunday (02/20/2022), they lost at (#15) Wisconsin 77-63.  The win and the loss leave Michigan with a record of 14-11 (8-7 in Big Ten).

What Happened?

The good news?  Michigan won a Big Ten road game in an arena where they’ve had trouble in the past.  The very bad news?  Michigan lost to Wisconsin on the road.  But wait, that’s only “regular” bad news, not “very” bad news.  The very bad news is that Coach Howard punched/slapped a Wisconsin assistant coach in the handshake line after the game, and it turned into a minor brawl.  Howard will probably be suspended for at least one game, maybe more.  A couple Michigan players might also get suspended for one or more games, since they joined in the melee.  I’ve watched the replays of the fight, and read a lot of details on what was said and done leading up to the fight, and it looks like there’s enough blame to go around.  It looks like Wisconsin started it, but Howard shouldn’t have reacted the way he did.  Once it got going, I can’t blame any of the players who were caught up in it.  It’s a mess, and the punishments haven’t been decided yet.

The Iowa game was close and exciting the whole way.  The teams traded slim leads all game, with Iowa up 2 points (39-37) at halftime.  It was all tied up (50-50) with 15:14 to go, when Michigan finally started pulling away.  They got the lead up to 7 points (57-50) at the 13:10 mark, then pushed it into the 9-11 point range.  Michigan led by 12 points (78-66) with 3:25 left, then they just fell asleep.  Iowa scored 9 straight points, to pull within 3 points (78-75) with 1:20 to go, when Michigan woke up, and started scoring again.  Iowa got within 2 points (81-79) with 6 seconds left, but they missed a 3-pointer with 1 second left, Michigan got the rebound, got fouled, and made the free throws to make it a 5-point win.  It was very exciting.

The Wisconsin game went fine until it didn’t.  For the whole first half, it was close and exciting, with lots of runs and lead changes.  The game was tied (31-31) at halftime, and Michigan exploded out of the gate for the 2^nd half, going up 38-33 with 18:40 to go.  Just when things were looking promising, Michigan fell asleep, again.  This time, they didn’t wake up in time.  They let Wisconsin go on a miserable 14-1 run to make it 47-39 at the 13:25 mark, and they never recovered.  Wisconsin quickly pushed the lead up into double digits, and Michigan never got closer than 10 points the rest of the way.

Stats

The stats for the Iowa game are decent.  Michigan shot well overall (31-for-62 = 50.0%), they shot 3-pointers poorly (4-for-20 = 20.0%), and they shot free throws well (18-for-23 = 78.3%).  They won the rebounding battle (40-37), and tied in the turnover battle (11-11).  They won this game with overall shooting, but NOT with 3-point shooting.  They were lucky to win a Big Ten road game shooting 20% from deep.

The stats for the Wisconsin game are miserable.  Michigan shot poorly overall (25-for-64 = 39.1%), they shot 3-pointers terribly (4-for-25 = 16.0%), and they shot free throws decently (9-for-13 = 69.2%).  They won the rebounding battle handily (38-28), but lost the turnover battle (12-8).  They lost this game with horrible 3-point shooting.

Who Started?

The starters for both games were Eli Brooks, Moussa Diabate, Hunter Dickinson, Caleb Houstan, and DeVante’ Jones.

Who Looked Good?

Dickinson had a good week, with 14 points vs. Iowa and 21 points vs. Wisconsin.  He did his part, but he needed more support vs. Wisconsin.

Brooks also had a good week, with 13 points vs. Iowa and 14 points vs. Wisconsin.

Jones hit double figures in both games, with 11 points in each.  He also had 10 rebounds in the Iowa game, for a double-double.

Diabate had one great game, followed by a lousy game.  He was the star of the Iowa game, with a new career-high 28 points, but he disappeared in the Wisconsin game, with a meager 3 points on 1-for-3 shooting and a free throw.  If he could have played just an average game vs. Wisconsin, Michigan might have stood a chance, but he was a no-show.

Kobe Bufkin had a nice game (10 points) vs. Iowa, but didn’t do much vs. Wisconsin (2 points).

Jace Howard played in both games, and scored 2 points in each game.  He played good defense again.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

Houstan had a lousy week, with 6 points in each game.  His shooting was horrible: 2-for-9 (0-for-5 from deep) vs. Iowa, and 2-for-10 (2-for-7 from deep) vs. Wisconsin.

Frankie Collins played in both games, but didn’t score.

Brandon Johns, Jr. played in both games, but didn’t score.

Terrance Williams II didn’t play in the Iowa game (minor ankle injury), and scored 4 points vs. Wisconsin.

Who Else Played?

Jaron Faulds played in both games, but didn’t score.

Adrien Nuñez played in the Wisconsin game, but didn’t attempt a shot.

Who Didn’t Play?

Isaiah Barnes and Will Tschetter are the scholarship players who didn’t play in either game.

Ian Burns and Brandon Wade are the players on the scout team who didn’t play in either game.

What Does It Mean?

As I’ve said many times before, any win on the road in the Big Ten is a good win, and the Iowa win was a very nice win.  The odds of beating Wisconsin in Madison were very low, but it would have been nice if Michigan had put up more of a fight (before the handshake line).  Still, the win and the loss leave Michigan just on the right side of “the bubble” for the NCAA Tournament.  Unfortunately, they play 3 ranked teams in their last 5 games, and they’re likely to be playing some of those games without Coach Howard and maybe a couple players.  They probably need to win 3 of the 5 games to sneak into the Big Dance, and that could be tough.

What’s Next?

This week Michigan is scheduled to play two games.  On Wednesday (02/23/2022, 7:00 p.m., BTN) they are scheduled to play Rutgers, then on Sunday (02/27/2022, 2:00 p.m., CBS) they are scheduled to play (#12) Illinois.  Both games are in Crisler Arena.

Rutgers is currently 16-10 (10-6 in Big Ten).  At this point, they are the hottest team in the Big Ten. Before losing to (#5) Purdue on Sunday, they had 4 wins in a row against ranked opponents: (#13) Michigan State, (#16) Ohio State, (#14) Wisconsin, and (#12) Illinois.  They beat Michigan 75-67 back on 01/04/2022 in Piscataway, and it felt like an upset at the time, but with Rutgers continued success, it looks like a well-deserved win.  Back in December, they also beat then (#1) Purdue.  They are good, and the two players I noted last time have been very good: Geo Baker and Ron Harper, Jr.  This will be a very challenging game for Michigan.  If they play the way they did last week vs. Purdue, they can win, but if they play like they did in the 2^nd half of the Wisconsin game, they’re going to be in big trouble.

Illinois is currently 19-7 (12-4 in Big Ten).  They beat Michigan 68-53 back on 01/14/2022 in Champaign, and since then they have beaten (#10) Michigan State, (#11) Wisconsin, and (#19) Michigan State.  The players I noted last time have been very good: Kofi Cockburn and Trent Frazier.  Once again, Dickinson will have his hands full with Cockburn, who I still think is the most powerful basketball player I’ve ever seen.  This will be a very challenging game for Michigan.  Illinois is in the thick of the Big Ten title race, and they will be out for blood.  Michigan can win, but only if they play a flawless game.

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

Go Blue!