Category: Basketball

Happy New Year!  That’s a wish for the future, not a reflection on a certain football game.

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games this past week, and they lost one and won the other.  On Thursday (12/29/2022), they lost to Central Michigan 63-61, then on Sunday (01/01/2023), they beat Maryland 81-46.  Both games were in Crisler Arena. 

The loss and the win leave Michigan with a record of 8-5 (2-0 in Big Ten).

What Happened?

Talk about a mixed up week!  Michigan was expected to handle CMU easily, and have a real uphill battle to stay with Maryland, and exactly the opposite happened.  Michigan played terribly against a mediocre CMU squad, and lost in the last 11 seconds, then they played their best game in several seasons against a powerful Maryland team, and beat them soundly.  The CMU loss ranks as one of the top (bottom?) two or three most embarrassing losses since I’ve been following Michigan basketball (since 1974), and the Maryland win is one of the most impressive I’ve seen in the last 20 years.  That’s all mixed up!

Game Flow

The CMU game started out innocently enough, with UM opening up a quick 7-point lead, 7-0, at the 17:14 mark.  They kept the lead in the 4-6 point range for most of the half, pushing it up to 8 points (23-15) with 5:49 to go.  Unfortunately, they went cold at that point, and let CMU go ahead, 27-25, with 28 seconds left.  Michigan hit a 3-pointer with 6 seconds left, and led by 1 point at halftime, 28-27.  Michigan stayed ahead for the first 4 minutes of the 2^nd half, by 3-5 points, but CMU pulled ahead again, 36-35, with 16:14 to go.  The lead went back and forth for the next few minutes, and UM led 44-42 with 12:12 left.  CMU went up for a while, but UM tied it up (49-49) with 8:18 to go.  CMU kept going ahead by 1-3 points, and UM kept tying it up.  It was tied 60-60 with 3:14 left, and Michigan actually led 61-60 with 2:27 to go, but CMU hit an off-balance 3-pointer with 11 seconds left, and UM missed 2 shots in the last 4 seconds to lose the game.  It was stunning.

There was a very odd sequence in the 1^st half of the game.  From the 5:55 mark to the 3:54 mark (2 minutes and 1 second), there were 5 offensive foul calls in a row, with 3 against CMU and 2 against Michigan.  It’s rare to see 5 offensive foul calls in a complete game, but unheard of to see 5 offensive foul calls in a row in 2:01.  The refs didn’t cost Michigan this game, they blew it on their own, but the officiating was, let’s say, “unusual”.

After the stunning loss to CMU, I don’t think many fans expected UM to stand much chance against Maryland.  As I pointed out in my scouting report last week, Maryland started the season 8-0, and they were ranked as high as #13 at one point.  They had dropped out of the Top-25 (at #26), but they were still having a much better season than Michigan.  It looked like a blowout, and it was, but not the way we were expecting.  Michigan looked like a completely different team, charging out of the gate and running Maryland off the court in the first 6 minutes of the half.  Michigan scored the first 17 points, on 7-for-7 shooting, and led 19-1 at the 13:57 mark.  In those first 6 minutes, Maryland missed their first 10 shots, including four 3-point attempts, and they had 3 turnovers to boot.  After hitting a 3-pointer at the 12:09 mark to make it 19-4, they missed 8 more shots in a row over the next 5+ minutes, and were down 27-4 with 6:50 to go in the half.  They made a couple baskets and a couple free throws to pull within 22 points (35-13) with 2:29 to go, but Michigan finished the half with a 9-0 run to lead by 31 points at halftime, 44-13.

The second half was more of the same.  Michigan kept the lead above 30 points for most of the rest of the game, only letting Maryland get within 28 once and 29 once, before pushing the lead up to 38 points (63-25) with 10:38 to go.  Michigan kept the lead in the 35-37 point range the rest of the way, winning by 35, even with the practice team on the floor for the last 3 minutes.  It was a thorough butt-whipping, and easily the best game that Michigan has played this season.

Stats

The game stats for the CMU game were miserable.  Michigan shot poorly overall (20-for-57 = 35.1%), they shot 3-pointers terribly (6-for-22 = 27.3%), and they shot free throws decently (15-for-21 = 71.4%).  They lost the rebounding battle horribly (44-32), but won the turnover battle (9-14).  They lost this game with poor shooting and lousy rebounding.  They let CMU grab 17 offensive rebounds for 23 second chance points.

The game stats for the Maryland game were mixed.  Michigan shot well overall (28-for-56 = 50.0%), they shot 3-pointers terribly (3-for-11 = 27.3%), and they shot free throws well, and often (22-for-29 = 75.9%).  They crushed Maryland in rebounding (49-30), and tied in the turnover battle (13-13).  They won this game with free throw shooting and rebounding, and great defense.  They held Maryland to 26.5% overall shooting (18-for-68).

Who Started?

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

Note that three of the starters are from “the DMV” (District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia).  These three players accounted for 51 of Michigan’s 81 points vs. Maryland.  Dickinson in particular took the game vs. Maryland personally, and played with passion.

Who Looked Good?

Dickinson was definitely the star of the Maryland game, with 32 points and 12 rebounds for a solid double-double, but he had a disappointing game against CMU, with only 13 points and 6 rebounds.  He shot very well vs. Maryland (13-for-16), but only 3-for-9 vs. CMU.  He played with fire in his eyes against Maryland, but looked disinterested in the CMU game.  If he could have played with the same intensity vs. CMU, Michigan might have avoided the upset loss.

Despite the team scoring 81 points, Williams was the only other Michigan player in double figures vs. Maryland, with 11.  He only had 2 points vs. CMU.

Bufkin was the leading scorer vs. CMU, with 16 points, but he only scored 5 points vs. Maryland.

McDaniel almost hit double figures in both games, with 10 vs. CMU and 8 vs. Maryland.  He did a decent job running the offense in both games, but he had as many turnovers (3 and 3) as assists (4 and 2) on the week.  He needs to work on cutting down his turnovers.

Jett Howard hit double figures in the CMU game (12 points), but had a miserable game vs. Maryland (6 points).  He shot poorly in both games: 4-for-14 overall (3-for-11 from deep) vs. CMU, and 1-for-7 overall (0-for-4 from deep) vs. Maryland.

Joey Baker chipped in some points off the bench: 3 and 7.

Tarris Reed, Jr. did pretty well backing up Dickinson, scoring 2 and 4 points.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

No one looked “not-so-good” this week, although several players had weak games in one of the two games.

Who Else Played?

Isaiah Barnes played in both games, and scored 0 and 3 points.

Ian Burns played in the Maryland game, but failed to score.

Gregg Glenn III played in the Maryland game, and scored 2 points.

Jace Howard played in both games, and scored 2 and 0 points.

Youssef Khayat played in the Maryland game, but failed to score.

Jackson Selvala played in the Maryland game, but failed to score.

Cooper Smith played in the Maryland game, but failed to score.

Will Tschetter played in both games, and scored 1 and 3 points.

Who Didn’t Play?

Everyone played in at least one game this week (Maryland).

What Does It Mean?

After the CMU game, it looked like Michigan would be lucky to win another game this season.  Every Big Ten team is better than CMU.  Then they came out blazing vs. Maryland and won by 35 points.  Go figure!  So, now they have a convincing win over a good team, which is nice, but they have a lot of work to do before they can think about the Big Dance. They still look a lot like an NIT team, not an NCAA Tournament team.

What’s Next?

This week, Michigan plays two games.  On Wednesday (01/04/2023, 7:00 p.m., BTN), they play Penn State in Crisler Arena, then on Saturday (01/07/2023, 2:30 p.m., Fox), they play at Michigan State.

Penn State is currently 11-3 (2-1 in Big Ten), with impressive wins over (#17) Illinois and Iowa, and unimpressive losses to Virginia Tech and Clemson.  They have a noteworthy player (Myles Dread) and some height (a couple 6’10” players).  This is exactly the kind of team that Michigan has to beat to finish in the top half of the Big Ten this season.  PSU is playing better than predicted, and this looks to be a very challenging game.

Michigan State is currently 9-4 (1-1 in Big Ten), with impressive wins over (#4) Kentucky, Villanova, and Oregon, and unimpressive losses to Notre Dame (by 18 points) and Northwestern.  After the Kentucky and Villanova wins, they were ranked for a couple of weeks, as high as #12, but they are currently in the “also receiving votes” list.  They have a few noteworthy players (Joey Hauser, A.J. Hoggard, and Malik Hall), but not much height (one 6’11” guy).  It’s tough to win on the road, especially in the Big Ten, and especially in an intense rivalry game like this.  MSU will be very pumped up to beat Michigan, and Michigan will have to play like they did against Maryland to beat the Spartans.

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 lost it.  On Wednesday (12/21/2022), they lost to North Carolina 80-76 in Charlotte, NC.  The loss lowers Michigan’s record to 7-4 (1-0 in Big Ten).

What Happened?

This was a game that Michigan wasn’t expected to win, and they met expectations.  However, like the two games earlier this season against stiff competition (Virginia and Kentucky), Michigan was in the game with 100 seconds to go.  In this case, they were only down 2 points (73-71) with 1:23 to go, but they played very poorly in the last 83 seconds, falling behind by a many as 7 points (80-73) before hitting a 3-pointer with 3 seconds left to make the score look closer than it was.  On the one hand, it’s encouraging that Michigan can stay close against the big boys, but “close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades”, and a loss is a loss.

Game Flow

Michigan actually led for much of the 1^st half, building an 8-point lead (20-12) with 11:51 to go.  UNC got closer, but Michigan still led by 5 points (28-23) with 6:36 left in the half.  That’s when UNC went on a demoralizing 18-9 run to end the half, up by 7 (41-34).  UNC kept the lead in the 5-7 point range for the rest of the game, except for a couple times when Michigan got within 2 points in the last 2 minutes.  UNC made the clutch baskets they needed in “crunch time” and Michigan choked, and that was the ballgame.

Stats

The game stats were decent.  Michigan shot poorly overall (26-for-62 = 41.9%), they shot 3-pointers fairly well (9-for-23 = 39.1%), and they shot free throws decently (15-for-21 = 71.4%).  They lost the rebounding battle (40-38), but won the turnover battle (10-12).  They lost this game with poor overall shooting.

Who Started?

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

Who Looked Good?

Bufkin was the hero of the game again, tying his career high from the last game with 22 points again.  Once again, he had great shooting: 7-for-10 overall, 2-for-3 from deep.  He’s on a roll.

Jett Howard also had a good game, scoring 17 points.  He shot pretty well: 6-for-12 overall, 3-for-7 from 3-point range.

Williams scored 8 points, but he shot very poorly: 2-for-9 overall, 2-for-6 from deep.  He was the leading rebounder, with 11 boards.

McDaniel scored 7 points again, but he still isn’t shooting very well: 3-for-10 overall, 0-for-3 from 3-point range.  He ran the offense pretty well, with 5 assists against 2 turnovers.

Joey Baker finally contributed in a big game.  He scored 9 points, on good shooting: 3-for-5 overall, 2-for-3 from deep.

Tarris Reed, Jr. did pretty well backing up Dickinson, getting his standard 4 points.  He also had 7 rebounds.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

Dickinson had a lousy game.  It’s rare for him to show up in the “not-so-good” list, but this was one of his worst games.  He almost hit double figures (9 points), and he had 8 rebounds, but he shot poorly (3-for-9 overall), he had 3 turnovers, he fouled out, he had a technical, and he let the guy he was guarding (Armando Bacot) run wild: 26 points on 11-for-15 shooting.

Who Else Played?

Jace Howard played 5 minutes, and failed to score.

Will Tschetter played 4 minutes, and failed to score.

Who Didn’t Play?

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

Ian Burns, Jackson Selvala, and Cooper Smith were the practice squad players who didn’t play.

What Does It Mean?

This was a game that Michigan was expected to lose, and they did.  Once again, they were in it the whole way, and they could have pulled off the upset on a (supposedly) neutral court, but they didn’t get it done.  If they could have won this one, it would have helped their post-season resume.  They still haven’t proven that they can beat a good team, which they will need to do several times to get to the Big Dance.  At this point, they still look a lot like an NIT team, not an NCAA Tournament team.

What’s Next?

This week, Michigan plays two games.  On Thursday (12/29/2022, 7:00 p.m., B1G+), they play Central Michigan, then on Sunday (01/01/2023, 4:30 p.m., FS1), they play Maryland.  Both games are in Crisler Arena.

Central Michigan is currently 4-8, with no impressive wins, and unimpressive losses to High Point, California Baptist, Robert Morris, Missouri State, and Youngstown State.  They don’t have any noteworthy players, but they do have some height: two 6’10” guys and two 6’11” guys.  This is a game that Michigan should win handily, but it’s also the type of game that Michigan has struggled with.  They’ve won all the games that they should have won, but most of those games have been closer and more competitive than expected.  Don’t be surprised if CMU is in the game at the end.

Maryland is currently 9-3 (1-1 in Big Ten), with an impressive win over (#16) Illinois, and an unimpressive loss to Wisconsin.  Maryland started the season 8-0, and was ranked as high as #13, before they lost 3 in a row.  They have one notable player (Donta Scott), and they have some height (a 6’10” guy and a 6’11” guy).  Before the season, this looked like a relatively positive game for Michigan, but Maryland has exceeded expectations and Michigan has not looked as good as expected.  Michigan can win this game, but they need to play as well as they have against their ranked opponents AND win the last 100 seconds.

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 (12/17/2022), they beat Lipscomb 83-75 in Crisler Arena.  The win raises Michigan’s record to 7-3 (1-0 in Big Ten).

What Happened?

This was a game that Michigan was expected to win, and they won it.  That’s the good news.  The not-so-good news is that Michigan didn’t look very good winning it.  It turns out that Lipscomb was better than expected, and they played a good game while Michigan was playing a less-than-inspired game.  That made the contest a lot closer than expected, closer than the final score would indicate.  Still, Michigan took care of business in the end.

Game Flow

The first 7 minutes were back-and-forth, with Michigan going ahead 18-17 at the 13:21 mark.  They pushed their lead to as high as 13 points (34-21) with 6:32 to go in the half, then they let Lipscomb get as close as 7 points (46-39) with 1:04 left.  Michigan led by 8 points (49-41) at halftime, but they let Lipscomb get within 5 points (49-44) early in the 2^nd half.  Michigan pushed the lead up to 12 points (56-44) with 16:38 to go, and it looked like they would cruise to a comfortable victory.  Wrong.  Lipscomb kept chipping away at Michigan’s lead, and finally got back on top, 63-62, at the 8:17 mark.  For the next 4 minutes, the teams traded baskets, and the game was close.  With 4:27 left, Lipscomb had a 4-point lead (73-69), and things looked gloomy for Michigan.  That’s when Michigan finally woke up and ended the game on a 14-2 run to win by 8.  It was discouraging to see Michigan play so poorly for most of the 2^nd half, but encouraging to see them play so well in “crunch time”.

Stats

The game stats were mediocre.  Michigan shot well overall (31-for-62 = 50.0%), they shot 3-pointers decently (7-for-19 = 36.8%), and they shot free throws poorly (14-for-23 = 60.9%).  They won the rebounding battle (38-36) and the turnover battle (10-12).  They won this game with overall shooting.

Who Started?

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

Who Looked Good?

Bufkin was the hero of this game, with a career-high 22 points, on brilliant shooting: 8-for-9 overall, 4-for-5 from deep.  He stepped up and carried the team on his back when they were drifting aimlessly on offense.

Jett Howard also had a good game, scoring 19 points, along with 4 assists.  He shot pretty well: 8-for-16 overall, but only 1-for-6 from 3-point range.

Dickinson wasn’t as effective as usual, scoring only 15 points.  He shot well though: 6-for-9 overall, 1-for-1 from deep.  He also grabbed 7 rebounds.

Williams chipped in 11 points, along with 6 rebounds.  The best part: 0 turnovers and 0 fouls.

McDaniel played well in only his 2^nd start, scoring 7 points.  He didn’t shoot very well (2-for-8 overall, 0-for-1 from deep), but he was the leading rebounder with 8 boards.  He also had 3 assists against only 1 turnover.  Not bad for a true freshman point guard.  He may have only scored 7 points, but they were all in the last 3:32, when Michigan needed them the most.

Tarris Reed, Jr. did pretty well backing up Dickinson, with 4 points on 2-for-2 shooting, and 4 rebounds.  On the downside, he was 0-for-5 from the free throw line.  Oops.

Jace Howard scored 3 points, on his only 3-point attempt.  As usual, he played rock-solid defense.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

Joey Baker didn’t do much, scoring 2 points (on 1-for-4 shooting) in 12 minutes.

Who Else Played?

Isaiah Barnes played 5 minutes, and failed to score.

Youssef Khayat played 5 minutes, and failed to score.

Who Didn’t Play?

Gregg Glenn III  and Will Tschetter were the scholarship players who didn’t play.

Ian Burns, Jackson Selvala, and Cooper Smith were the practice squad players who didn’t play.

What Does It Mean?

This was a game that Michigan was expected to win, and they did.  It sure doesn’t help their post-season resume much.  They still haven’t proven that they can beat a ranked team, which they will need to do several times to get to the Big Dance.  At this point, they still look a lot like an NIT team, not an NCAA Tournament team.

What’s Next?

This week, Michigan plays just one game.  On Wednesday (12/21/2022, 7:00 p.m., ESPN), they play North Carolina in Charlotte, NC.  Technically, this is a “neutral site” game, but Charlotte is a lot closer to Chapel Hill (137 miles) than Ann Arbor (611 miles).  You can be sure that it will feel like a road game.

North Carolina is currently 8-4 (1-1 in ACC).  They started the season ranked #1, and they won their first 5 games against lesser opponents.  Then they lost 4 in a row, 3 of them by 8 points or more, and they dropped out of the Top 25.  Their only impressive win was against (#23) Ohio State, and their losses were to Iowa State, (#18) Alabama, (#10) Indiana, and Virginia Tech.  They have several noteworthy players, especially Armando Bacat, but also including RJ Davis, Caleb Love, and Pete Nance (transfer from Northwestern).  Bacat and Nance are both 6’11”, and UNC has a couple 6’10” players as well.  Bacat will be quite a challenge for Dickinson.  This is a game that Michigan can win, but only if they play their best game so far this season.  They played well enough to almost beat Virginia and Kentucky, and they’ll need to play that well, and a little better, to beat UNC on an almost-home floor.

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 Thursday (12/08/2022), they beat Minnesota 90-75 in Minneapolis.  The win raises Michigan’s record to 6-3 (1-0 in Big Ten).

What Happened?

On the one hand, any Big Ten win is a good win, especially on the road.  On the other hand, Minnesota isn’t very good, so we shouldn’t get too excited.  It was encouraging to see Michigan handle Minnesota so easily, and it was nice to see so many Michigan players get in the game and score.

Game Flow

No “slow start” in this one.  Michigan came out firing, and hit their first five 3-pointers in a row.  Just like that, Michigan was up 24-9 at the 12:36 mark, and they never looked back.  They got up by as many as 24 points in the 1^st half (37-13 with 7:42 to go in the half), and led by 16 (47-31) at the half.  They got the lead up around 20 points early in the 2^nd half, and kept it there until the 10:18 mark, when they started to pull further ahead.  They got the lead as high as 32 points (81-49) with 8:24 to go, then they took their foot off the gas, emptied the bench, and coasted to a 15-point win.

Stats

The game stats were pretty good.  Michigan shot well overall (33-for-63 = 52.4%), they shot 3-pointers very well (10-for-18 = 55.6%), and they shot free throws decently (14-for-22 = 63.6%).  They lost the rebounding battle (36-33), but they won the turnover battle (9-16).  They won this game with hot shooting.

Who Started?

The starters were Kobe Bufkin, Hunter Dickinson, Jett Howard, Dug McDaniel, and Terrance Williams II.  McDaniel started in place of Jaelin Llewellyn, who injured his knee in the Kentucky game in London last week.  Llewellyn needs surgery on his knee, and he is done for the season.  This is a real shame for Jaelin, and a significant loss for the team.  McDaniel is the only pure point guard left on the team, although a couple other guards can back him up.

Who Looked Good?

As usual, Dickinson was the leading scorer, with 19 points.  He even hit his only 3-point attempt.

McDaniel was the real star of this game, in his first start.  He had 15 points on fabulous shooting: 5-for-6 overall, 3-for-3 from 3-point range, and 2-for-2 from the free throw line.  He also had 3 steals, and 7 assists against only 2 turnovers.  He ran the offense very well, and he had a great all-around game.  If he can keep up this level of play, the team might survive the loss of their original starting point guard.

Bufkin also had 15 points, and he also shot very well: 7-for-11 overall, 1-for-1 from deep.  He had 3 steals, and 4 assists against only 1 turnover.  He played some point guard when McDaniel was resting, and he did a nice job.

Jett Howard was the only other Michigan player to hit double figures, with 14 points.  He didn’t shoot particularly well: 4-for-9 overall, 2-for-5 from deep, and 4-for-7 from the free throw line.

Williams only scored 4 points, on lousy shooting (2-for-7), but he was the leading rebounder with 8.

Tarris Reed, Jr. did pretty well backing up Dickinson, with 6 points on 3-for-6 shooting, and 6 rebounds.

Will Tschetter finally got to play a decent amount of time (12 minutes), and he made the most of the opportunity, scoring 6 points on 2-for-4 shooting, 1-for-3 from deep.

Youssef Khayat had his best game so far, scoring 6 points on 2-for-3 shooting, all from 3-point range.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

Joey Baker didn’t do much, scoring 3 points (all free throws) in 14 minutes.

Jace Howard played for 7 minutes, and scored 2 points.

Who Else Played?

Isaiah Barnes only played 3 minutes, and failed to score.

Ian Burns only played 3 minutes, and failed to score.

Gregg Glenn III only played 3 minutes, and failed to score.

Jackson Selvala only played 2 minutes, and failed to score.

Who Didn’t Play?

Cooper Smith was the only player who didn’t get into the game.

What Does It Mean?

It’s great that Michigan started the Big Ten portion of their season with a solid win, but we have to keep in mind that Minnesota will probably finish 13^th or 14^th in the league this year.  Still, the win has got to be good for Michigan’s confidence, especially for the younger players who finally got to play a little more.

Looking at the big picture, Michigan is still looking for a signature win to point to in March.  They only have 3 non-conference games left before the main part of the Big Ten schedule starts up, and they still have lots to work on.

What’s Next?

This week, Michigan plays just one game.  On Saturday (12/17/2022, 4:00 p.m., B1G+), they play Lipscomb in Crisler Arena.

Lipscomb is currently 6-4, with no noteworthy wins or losses.  They don’t have any noteworthy players, but they do have a couple 6’10” players.  This is a team that Michigan should handle pretty easily, but they’ll have to stay focused.

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 both of them.  On Tuesday (11/29/2022), they lost to (#3) Virginia 70-68 in Crisler Arena, then on Sunday (12/04/2022), they lost to (#19) Kentucky 73-69 in London, England.  The two losses drop Michigan’s record to 5-3.

Incidentally, the UVa game was part of the final ACC/Big Ten Challenge.  Since the Big Ten is parting ways with ESPN after this season, ESPN decided to cancel future ACC/Big Ten Challenges.  It’s a shame; it was a good series.

What Happened?

Michigan hung in there with the big boys, even if they didn’t get either win.  In the UVa game, Michigan was actually up by one point (66-65) with 1:42 left in the game, with the ball.  In the UK game, UM was within 2 points (68-66) with 1:40 left in the game.  Michigan could have won either of those games.  Michigan just has to play tougher in the clutch, but they did hang in there for most of both games.

Game Flow

Michigan had yet another slow start in the UVa game.  UVa led for the first 7:14, by as many as 7 points, but UM finally got ahead 15-13 at the 12:46 mark.  They led for the rest of the half, usually by 4-6 points, but they had a flurry in the last 44 seconds to lead by 11 at halftime, 45-34.  They were still up by 11 points (48-37) with 18:40 to go, when UVa started their slow, methodical comeback.  They cut the UM lead down to the 3-5 point range, and got within 1-2 points a couple times, but UM still led.  They finally tied the game up (58-58) with 8:09 left, and led for most of the rest of the game.  Michigan tied it up a couple times, and actually had the one-point lead mentioned above, but UVa played better in the last 100 seconds and won.  It was a shame, because Michigan played well enough to win, but just made a couple dumb mistakes in key situations.

The UK game wasn’t as close as the UVa game.  Michigan led for a decent portion of the 1^st half, but never by more than 6 points.  The game was all tied up (36-36) with 1:06 left in the half, and UK led by one (37-36) at halftime.  UK pushed their lead up into the 4-6 point range for the first 7 minutes of the 2^nd half, but Michigan fought back, and took the lead (50-49) at the 12:42 mark.  That was the last time they led.  UK went up by 1-3 points, then by 6 points (60-54 with 9:09 to go), and Michigan got within 2 points (60-58 with 7:53 to go), but that was it until they got within 2 points (68-66) with 1:40 to go.  Once again, Michigan was outplayed in the last 100 seconds, and let a golden opportunity for an upset slip away.

Stats

The game stats for the UVa game were surprisingly good.  Michigan shot well overall (26-for-49 = 53.1%), they shot 3-pointers pretty well (8-for-19 = 42.1%), and they shot free throws very well (8-for-10 = 80.0%).  They won the rebounding battle (29-25), but lost the turnover battle (12-7).  They lost this game because of turnovers, especially in key situations.

The game stats for the UK game aren’t quite as good.  Michigan shot pretty poorly overall (25-for-64 = 39.1%), they shot 3-pointers pretty well (8-for-20 = 40.0%), and they shot free throws pretty poorly (11-for-17 = 64.7%).  They lost the rebounding battle badly (46-33), but they won the turnover battle handily (7-14).  They lost this game with mediocre shooting and poor 3-point defense (UK shot 9-for-15 from 3-point range).

Who Started?

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

Who Looked Good?

Dickinson was the leading scorer in both games, with 23 points each game.  He also had 7 and 9 rebounds and 5 and 3 blocked shots.  On the downside, he didn’t shoot particularly well: 9-for-17 vs. UVa and 10-for-22 vs. UK.  He could have scored a lot more points if he would just DUNK THE $^%& BALL!  In all the games this season he has passed up several dunk opportunities for short (2-3 foot) jumpers, which he hasn’t hit consistently.  He often plays like he’s bored or disinterested.  Maybe it’s just a good “game face”, but when he drives and dunks, he fires up the Michigan crowd and his teammates.

Jett Howard hit double figures in both games, with 15 and 16 points.  He also didn’t shoot particularly well: 6-for-11 vs. UVa and 5-for-12 vs. UK.

Bufkin was the only other Wolverine to hit double figures this week, with 11 points each game.  He also didn’t shoot particularly well: 4-for-8 vs. UVa and 3-for-10 vs. UK.

Williams didn’t hit double figures in either game, with 8 and 3 points, but he did grab some key rebounds, with 4 and 7.

Llewellyn chipped in some offense (6 and 4 points) and ran the offense pretty well.

Isaiah Barnes didn’t play in the UVa game, but he provided instant offense in the UK game, with 6 points on 2-for-2 shooting (both 3-pointers).

Dug McDaniel continues to improve.  He didn’t do much vs. UVa (0 points), but he had 5 points vs. UK.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

No one looked not-so-good.

Who Else Played?

Joey Baker didn’t do much, scoring 3 and 0 points.

Jace Howard played in both games, but didn’t score.

Tarris Reed, Jr. didn’t do much, scoring 2 and 1 points.

Will Tschetter played in the UK game, but failed to score.

Who Didn’t Play?

Gregg Glenn III and Youssef Khayat were the scholarship players who didn’t play in either game.

Ian Burns, Jackson Selvala, and Cooper Smith were the practice squad players who didn’t play in either game.

What Does It Mean?

While it was encouraging that Michigan managed to hang with the big boys this week, they need to find a way to start winning those kind of games.  They still have one more non-conference game against a ranked team (North Carolina), and many of the teams in the Big Ten will be as tough to beat as Virginia and Kentucky.  If Michigan wants to go to the Big Dance, they’ll need to figure out how to win the last 100 seconds of a close game against a good team.

At this point, UM is looking a lot like an NIT team, not an NCAA team.

What’s Next?

This week, Michigan plays just one game.  On Thursday (12/08/2022, 9:00 p.m. EST, BTN) they play at Minnesota.

Minnesota is currently 4-4 (0-1 in Big Ten).  They have no impressive wins, and unimpressive losses to DePaul, UNLV, and Virginia Tech.  They don’t have any noteworthy players, but they do have some height: 6’10”, 6’11”, and a 7-footer.  Minnesota is picked for near the bottom of the Big Ten this season, and if Michigan can’t beat them, even in Williams Arena (The Barn), they are looking at a very gloomy year.

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

Go Blue!