Category: Basketball

Standings

Here are the current Big Ten standings, after Week #7:

 

 

Results

Here are the results from last week’s games (Week #7):

 

Tuesday (02/11/2014)

Michigan won at Ohio State, 70-60

 

Wednesday (02/12/2014)

Penn State won at Indiana, 66-65

Illinois lost at Nebraska, 67-58

 

Thursday (02/13/2014)

Northwestern lost at Michigan State, 85-70

Minnesota lost at Wisconsin, 78-70

 

Saturday (02/15/2014)

Iowa won at Penn State, 82-70

Indiana lost at Purdue, 82-64

Ohio State won at Illinois, 48-39

 

Sunday (02/16/2014)

Wisconsin won at Michigan, 75-62

Nebraska won at Michigan State, 60-51

Minnesota won at Northwestern, 54-48

 

The home teams did terribly this week, going 4-7. There were 2 surprises this week:

 

• Penn State won at Indiana on Wednesday. Indiana has been unpredictable this season, but they’re usually tough to beat at home.
  
• Nebraska won at Michigan State on Sunday. This may be the biggest surprise of the season. MSU knew that Michigan had already lost, so they were playing for sole possession of 1^st place, at home.
  

 

The Upcoming Week

Here are the games scheduled for the upcoming week (Week #8):

 

Tuesday (02/18/2014)

Iowa at Indiana

 

Wednesday (02/19/2014)

Northwestern at Ohio State

Illinois at Minnesota

 

Thursday (02/20/2014)

Michigan State at Purdue

Penn State at Nebraska

 

Saturday (02/22/2014)

Minnesota at Ohio State

Indiana at Northwestern

Wisconsin at Iowa

 

Sunday (02/23/2014)

Purdue at Nebraska

Michigan State at Michigan

 

There are 2 big games this week:

 

• Wisconsin at Iowa on Saturday – Both teams are trying to stay in the hunt for the Big Ten title.
  
• Michigan State at Michigan on Sunday – A battle for 1^st place.
  

 

Full Schedule

Here’s the entire Big Ten schedule, with the teams in alphabetical order. I’ll include this table every week, with the wins and losses filled in:

 

The (#15) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games this week, and they won one and lost one. On Tuesday (02/11/2014), they beat (#22) Ohio State 70-60 in Columbus, then on Sunday (02/16/2014), they lost to (#21) Wisconsin 75-62 in Crisler Arena. The win and the loss leave Michigan with a record of 18-7 (10-3 in the Big Ten). Michigan is still tied for 1^st place in the Big Ten. More about that later.

In both games, Michigan started out slowly, but they only recovered in one of them. In the OSU game, they were down by 8 points (13-5) in the first 6 minutes, and 10 points (28-18) with 3:22 left in the 1^st half. They managed to get the deficit down to 4 points (30-26) by halftime, and finally took the lead (44-43) with 10:56 left in the game. Once they got the lead, they never trailed again, although it was still a one-point game (51-50) with 6:22 left. At that point, UM went on a 13-2 run to make it 64-52, and that was the ballgame.

The Wisconsin game was so sad. Michigan had already lost the game by the first media timeout (down 14-4 with 15:09 left). Sure, there were still 35 minutes left, but the early UW blitz left Michigan looking dazed and beaten, and took the crowd out of the game. Michigan sleep-walked through one of the most listless halves of basketball they’ve played at home in a couple years, and trailed by 15 points (34-19) at the break. That’s less than a point a minute. Disgusting. In the 2^nd half, UM got back on track offensively, but the defense was just as bad as the 1^st half, and they never got any closer than 3 points (52-39, with 6:16 left). They were still in it, down 5 points (56-51) with 4:07 left, when Wisconsin went on an 11-1 run to put the game out of reach.

The Wisconsin game was the worst home loss by Michigan since two seasons ago (2011-2012), when they lost to Purdue, 75-61. That was their only home loss that season. Last season (2012-2013), UM only lost one home game, 72-71 to Indiana. This season, they’ve already lost 2 home games: to #1 Arizona (72-70) and the abovementioned mess against Wisconsin.

The stats are surprisingly similar between the 2 games, but I’m not going to go into them in any detail. Michigan didn’t shoot very well in either game, but they did shoot 3-pointers pretty well against OSU. Not so much vs. Wisconsin. Michigan is a team that looks good when they hit their 3-pointers, and looks terrible when they miss them.

Individually, Nik Stauskas was the only UM player to hit double figures in both games (15 vs. OSU, 11 vs. UW), although he didn’t have a very good game vs. Wisconsin. Caris LeVert was the only player who had a good game against Wisconsin, with a new career-high 25 points. He had 9 points vs. OSU. Zak Irvin hit some big baskets against OSU (10 points), but he was ineffective in the UW game (6 points, 3 of them in “garbage time”). The other freshman, Derrick Walton Jr., played well down the stretch vs. OSU (13 points), but was terrible against Wisconsin (0 points). Then there’s the Endless Enigma, Glenn Robinson III: as usual, he played in spurts. When he got involved in the game, he was a force, but for long stretches he was content to stand around in the corner and watch. He had 9 points vs. OSU, and 10 vs. Wisconsin. The two-headed center (Jon Horford/Jordan Morgan) played hard in both games, but only produced in the OSU game (8 for Horford, 6 for Morgan). In the Wisconsin game, Horford had 3 points, and Morgan had 5. Finally, Spike Albrecht tried to spark the team, but didn’t accomplish much: 0 points vs. OSU, and 2 free throws in the UW game.

All in all, it was a mediocre week. After the big win at OSU (their first since 2003), Michigan had a chance to set themselves up to play Michigan State for sole possession of 1^st place in the Big Ten next Sunday. All they had to do was beat Wisconsin, who they had already beaten in Madison earlier this season. Fortunately, right after Michigan lost to Wisconsin, Michigan State somehow managed to lose to Nebraska in East Lansing, so Michigan and Michigan State are still tied for 1^st place.

This Week

Michigan only plays one game this week. On Sunday (02/23/2014, noon, CBS) they play Michigan State in Crisler Arena. MSU has one other game this week (Thursday at Purdue), so they will probably come into the game on Sunday with a half-game lead, but Michigan can pull into sole possession of 1^st place by beating them.

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

Go Blue!

The (#10) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games this week, and they won one and lost one. On Wednesday (02/05/2014), they beat Nebraska 79-50 in Crisler Arena, then on Saturday (02/08/2014), they lost to (#17) Iowa 85-67 in Iowa City. The win and the loss leave Michigan with a record of 17-6 (9-2 in the Big Ten). Michigan is still tied for 1^st place in the Big Ten.

Both games were butt whippings, with the home team winning both of them. It’s tough to win on the road in the Big Ten, but Nebraska made it much too easy for Michigan, and Michigan made it much too easy for Iowa. Nebraska came into the game vs. Michigan on a high, having won 3 out of their last 4 games, including a win over then-#17 Ohio State in Lincoln. The first game between Michigan and Nebraska, in Lincoln on 01/09/2014, had been close and tense, with Michigan surviving 2 missed shots by Nebraska in the closing seconds to win by 1, 71-70.

The high didn’t last long. Michigan raced out to a fast start (8-0) in the first 2 minutes, Nebraska hung around (within 4 points, 16-12, with 11:49 to go in the 1^st half), then Michigan just crushed them with a 29-3 run over the next 9 minutes to put the game out of reach before halftime. At that point, it was 45-15, and the rest of the game was academic. UM led 49-21 at halftime, and pushed their lead up to 41 points (75-34) with 10:34 to go, then cruised home for the easy win.

As good as UM looked vs. Nebraska, they looked that bad vs. Iowa. Open shots that have gone in most of the season clanked off. Silly turnovers. Lost “50-50” balls. It was a nightmare. Michigan did lead once (2-0), before Iowa got going. Iowa jumped out to an early lead (13-4) with 14:43 left in the 1^st half, then pushed it up to a 16-point lead (27-11) with 9:17 left. Michigan fought back, and got within 7 points (36-29) with 2:39 left in the half, but that was as close as they got. Iowa pushed the lead back up to 14 points (43-29) at halftime, and got it as high as 27 points (72-45) with 7:02 left in the game. Michigan was never really in the game the whole 2^nd half, and they didn’t put up much of a fight.

So, another road game, another listless loss. The Iowa game was just the first of four games that make up “The Gauntlet, Part 2”. If they can win the next 3, they’ll be in good shape to win the Big Ten title, but they can’t afford to play any more games like they did at Iowa. They still control their own destiny with respect to the Big Ten title.

The stats look like you’d expect them to look: fine vs. Nebraska, lousy vs. Iowa. Michigan shot pretty well overall vs. Nebraska (26-for-52 = 50.0%), they shot 3-pointers pretty well (13-for-31 = 41.9%), and they shot free-throws perfectly (14-for-14 = 100.0%). They won the rebounding battle handily (35-26), but they lost the turnover battle (13-11).

Against Iowa, Michigan shot poorly overall (22-for-52 = 42.3%), they shot 3-pointers poorly (9-for-25 = 36.0%), and they shot free-throws adequately (14-for-18 = 77.8%). They lost the rebounding battle badly (38-29), and they lost the turnover battle badly (12-7). It was a bad game.

Individually, 2 Michigan players hit double figures in both games this week:

• Zak Irvin – 16 points vs. Nebraska, and 19 points vs. Iowa. Zak is finally starting to show some consistency, and provide some much-needed bench scoring.
  
• Caris LeVert – 16 and 22 points. Caris also led the team in rebounding (7) and had 5 assists vs. Nebraska.

2 players hit double figures in one game this week:

• Glenn Robinson III – 23 and 2 points. That’s not a typo. GR3 had a brilliant game vs. Nebraska, tying his career-high, then he went 1-for-7 against Iowa.
  
• Nik Stauskas – 9 and 10 points. Nik had a quiet week, scoring-wise. He did have 8 assists vs. Nebraska.
  

4 players scored in at least one game, but didn’t hit double figures:

• Spike Albrecht – 0 and 2 points.
  
• Max Bielfeldt – 0 and 3 points. Max hit another 3-pointer vs. Iowa.
  
• Jon Horford – 7 and 4 points.
  
• Derrick Walton Jr. – 8 and 5 points.

Brad Anlauf, Andrew Dakich, Sean Lonergan, and Jordan Morgan all played in at least one game, but failed to score. Anlauf, Dakich, and Lonergan are all practice players, so it’s not too surprising that they failed to score, but Morgan is the starting center, and he played a total of 35 minutes.

 

This Week

Michigan plays two games this week. On Tuesday (02/11/2014, 98:00 p.m., ESPN) they play at Ohio State, then on Sunday (02/16/2014, 1:00 p.m. EST, CBS) they play Wisconsin in Crisler Arena. These are both tough games, and Michigan will have to get back to their “A” game to win either of them. Columbus is another tough place to win, and this is Michigan’s only game against OSU this season, but they have already beaten Wisconsin in Madison, so they stand a good chance against them in Ann Arbor.

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

Go Blue!

Standings

Here are the current Big Ten standings, after Week #6:

 

 

Results

Here are the results from last week’s games (Week #6):

 

Tuesday (02/04/2014)

Ohio State won at Iowa, 76-69

Wisconsin won at Illinois, 75-63

 

Wednesday (02/05/2014)

Nebraska lost at Michigan, 79-50

Minnesota lost at Purdue, 77-74 (3 overtimes)

 

Thursday (02/06/2014)

Penn State lost at Michigan State, 82-67

 

Saturday (02/08/2014)

Nebraska won at Northwestern, 53-49

Michigan lost at Iowa, 85-67

Purdue lost at Ohio State, 67-49

Indiana lost at Minnesota, 66-60

 

Sunday (02/09/2014)

Michigan State lost at Wisconsin, 60-58

Illinois won at Penn State, 60-55

 

The home teams did pretty well this week, going 7-4. There was only one surprise this week:

 

• Ohio State won at Iowa on Tuesday. Iowa has been tough at home this season, and Ohio State has been underperforming.
  

 

The Upcoming Week

Here are the games scheduled for the upcoming week (Week #7):

 

Tuesday (02/11/2014)

Michigan at Ohio State

 

Wednesday (02/12/2014)

Penn State at Indiana

Illinois at Nebraska

 

Thursday (02/13/2014)

Northwestern at Michigan State

Minnesota at Wisconsin

 

Saturday (02/15/2014)

Iowa at Penn State

Indiana at Purdue

Ohio State at Illinois

 

Sunday (02/16/2014)

Wisconsin at Michigan

Nebraska at Michigan State

Minnesota at Northwestern

 

There are 2 big games this week:

 

• Michigan at Ohio State on Tuesday – Ohio State is tough at home, and Michigan is trying to stay in the hunt for the Big Ten title.
  
• Wisconsin at Michigan on Sunday – A tough week for Michigan.
  

 

Full Schedule

Here’s the entire Big Ten schedule, with the teams in alphabetical order. I’ll include this table every week, with the wins and losses filled in:

 

The (#10) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games this week, and they won one and lost one. On Thursday (01/30/2014), they beat Purdue 75-66 in Crisler Arena, then on Sunday (02/02/2014), they lost to Indiana 63-52 in Bloomington. The win and the loss leave Michigan with a record of 16-5 (8-1 in the Big Ten). Michigan is now tied for 1^st place in the Big Ten.

They had it all within their grasp. They not only survived, but thrived during a tough 3-game stretch (“The Gauntlet, Part 1”) of games against Top-10 teams, two of them on the road in some of the toughest venues in the country. They won the “trap game” vs. Purdue, when they could have suffered a let-down after those 3 tough games. They fought their way up to a Top-10 ranking, and saw 4 teams ahead of them all lose over the weekend. They could have moved up as high as #6 in the country if they could have beaten Indiana. All they had to do was play their normal game, and they would have beaten IU. Instead, they played their worst game in 6 weeks. They missed open jumpers. They didn’t hustle after “50-50” balls. They didn’t block out. They looked like they expected another strong “miracle” finish to happen all by itself, regardless of how they played. That’s not how it works.

Hopefully, UM learns a valuable lesson from this game. They still control their own destiny with respect to the Big Ten title. They have already beaten the other contenders once, and they can beat them again, if they play their normal game. They don’t need to play the best game of the season, they just need to play their normal game. They can’t play their worst game.

The Purdue game was workmanlike. UM played their normal game, and they won convincingly. They out-hustled Purdue, and wanted to win the game more than the Boilermakers.

The IU game was embarrassing. A few UM players played hard, like they wanted to win, but some of them just “phoned it in”. It didn’t help that IU played their best game of the season, way over their heads. Still, it was a game UM could have won, if they had just played like they cared.

Here’s the quick version of the stats: against Purdue, UM shot very well, rebounded OK, but lost the turnover battle. In the Indiana game, UM shot terribly, got crushed on the boards, but won the turnover battle (whoopee!). The stats reflect the results.

Individually, Caris LeVert and Derrick Walton Jr. played well this week, with double figures in both games. Caris even had his first career double-double vs. Purdue (14 points and 11 rebounds). Derrick is blossoming. Jordan Morgan played hard in both games, and had double figures in the Purdue game and 10 rebounds in the IU game. Nik Stauskas had a good game vs. Purdue, but he was disappointing vs. IU. He missed several wide-open jumpers early, and once he had a bad start, he let it turn into a bad game. Glenn Robinson III had a bad week. He looked lost out there, especially in the Indiana game. He just drifted around, and stood still watching a lot. He’s got massive potential, but he doesn’t seem to know how to turn it into production.

That’s the starters, and the bench didn’t contribute much. Spike Albrecht, Jon Horford, and Zak Irvin all had their moments, but not enough of them.

 

This Week

Michigan plays two games this week. On Wednesday (02/05/2014, 6:30 p.m., BTN) they play Nebraska in Crisler Arena, then on Saturday (02/08/2014, 2:00 p.m. EST, ESPN) they play at Iowa. Michigan should be able to handle Nebraska, especially since they’ve already played them in Lincoln and beaten them. The game at Iowa is another matter. Before they played so poorly at Indiana, I would have said that “UM has been playing at a consistently high level, which should help them go into Iowa City and steal a win”, but after the IU game I’m not so sure any more. The Iowa game is the start of a 4-game tough sequence (“The Gauntlet, Part 2”) that continues with games at Ohio State, then home vs. Wisconsin and Michigan State. For “The Gauntlet, Part 1” (at Wisconsin, home vs. Iowa, at MSU), most observers would have been happy with a 2-1 record, but understood 1-2. For “The Gauntlet, Part 2”, a 2-2 record will be acceptable, but a 1-3 record won’t be surprising.

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

Go Blue!