Category: Basketball

It was an ugly week for the (#13) University of Michigan men’s basketball team last week.  They played two games, and they won one and lost one, but the win was ugly, and the loss was even uglier.  On Wednesday (01/11/2012) they beat Northwestern 66-64 in overtime in Crisler Arena, then on Saturday (01/14/2012) they lost at Iowa 75-59.  This brings Michigan’s record to 14-4 (4-2 in the Big Ten).

OK, I’ll admit that Michigan’s narrow victory over Northwestern looks a little better after NU beat (#7) Michigan State convincingly in their next game.  MSU came into the game unbeaten in Big Ten play, and NU handled them, so I guess NU is better than their record would suggest.  So, maybe the UM win over NU wasn’t quite as ugly as it looked in person.  Michigan played very poorly for most of the game, and were trailing by 8 points (44-36) with 13 minutes to go.  They fought their way back into the game, but they still trailed by 3 (54-51) with less than 3 minutes left.  They managed to tie it up and force overtime, where they scratched out a 2-point win.

Continue reading “Nothing But ‘Net – Week #12 – 01/16/2012 – An Ugly Week”

It’s a cliché: “Anything can happen in the Big Ten”.  However, this week proves it: Michigan State lost at Northwestern, Ohio State lost at Illinois, and Indiana lost at home to Minnesota.  Oh, and Nebraska finally won a league contest.  It was quite a week.

 

Standings

Here are the current Big Ten standings:

 

Team	Big Ten			Overall
	Wins	Losses	Percent	Wins	Losses	Percent
Illinois	4	1	0.800	15	3	0.833
Michigan State	4	1	0.800	15	3	0.833
Ohio State	4	2	0.667	16	3	0.842
Michigan	4	2	0.667	14	4	0.778
Purdue	3	2	0.600	13	5	0.722
Indiana	3	3	0.500	15	3	0.833
Wisconsin	3	3	0.500	14	5	0.737
Iowa	3	3	0.500	11	8	0.579
Northwestern	2	3	0.400	12	5	0.706
Minnesota	2	4	0.333	14	5	0.737
Nebraska	1	5	0.167	9	8	0.529
Penn State	1	5	0.167	9	10	0.474

 

Results

Here are the results from last week’s games (Week #3):

Continue reading “Big Ten Report – Week #03 (01/16/2012)”

The (#16) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games last week, and they won one and lost one, to bring their record to 13-3 (3-1 in the Big Ten) on the season.  On Thursday (01/05/2012) they lost at (#12) Indiana 73-71, then on Sunday (01/08/2012) they beat (#18) Wisconsin 59-41, in Crisler Arena.  They came very close to winning the game at IU, and keeping their Big Ten record perfect.  So, they were “almost perfect”.

The IU game was exciting, and frustrating.  Michigan never got the lead, but they battled back from a couple double-digit deficits to get within a point or two, or even tie the game up.  In fact, they tied the game at 68-68 with 3:00 left, and got within one point (72-71) with 4 seconds left, but they just couldn’t quite “get over the hump”.  UM just started a little too slowly, and had to play from behind the whole game.  Not so in the Wisconsin game, where UM jumped out to an early 10-2 lead, fell behind 14-13, regained the lead at 16-14, and never looked back.  They led by 6 (25-19) at halftime, pushed the lead up to double digits midway through the 2^nd half, and kept it there the rest of the way.  It was a good, convincing win against a quality opponent.

Continue reading “Nothing But ‘Net – Week #11 – 01/09/2012 – Almost Perfect”

Standings

Here are the current Big Ten standings:

 

Team	Big Ten			Overall
	Wins	Losses	Percent	Wins	Losses	Percent
Michigan State	3	0	1.000	14	2	0.875
Indiana	3	1	0.750	15	1	0.938
Ohio State	3	1	0.750	15	2	0.882
Illinois	3	1	0.750	14	3	0.824
Michigan	3	1	0.750	13	3	0.813
Purdue	3	1	0.750	13	4	0.765
Iowa	2	2	0.500	10	7	0.588
Northwestern	1	2	0.333	11	4	0.733
Wisconsin	1	3	0.250	12	5	0.706
Penn State	1	3	0.250	9	8	0.529
Minnesota	0	4	0.000	12	5	0.706
Nebraska	0	4	0.000	8	7	0.533

Continue reading “Big Ten Report – Week #02 (01/09/2012)”

Happy New Year!

The (#18) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games last week, and they won both of them, to improve their record to 12-2 (2-0 in the Big Ten) on the season, including 7 wins in a row.  On Thursday (12/29/2011) they beat Penn State 71-53, then on Sunday (01/01/2012) they beat Minnesota 61-56.  Both games were in Crisler Arena.  This is a very promising start to the Big Ten schedule.

The Penn State win was easy and convincing, but Minnesota put up quite a fight.  PSU really only has one good player (Tim Frazier), and he got his points, but the rest of the team is pretty weak.  After PSU took an early 5-4 lead, UM went on a quick 7-0 run to go ahead 11-5, and they never trailed again.  The lead got as large as 16 points in the 1^st half, and 22 points in the 2^nd half, before PSU got a little closer (18 points) at the end.  It was an easy win.  Not so in the Minnesota game.  At the first media timeout, Minnesota was up 6-1.  That’s one point in 4+ minutes of “action” for Michigan.  Not good.  Michigan tied the score at 6-6, then again at 11-11, before they finally got their first lead, 13-11, with 9:16 left in the 1^st half.  Once again, Michigan never trailed again, although Minnesota did tie the game at 35-35 in the 2^nd half, and get within one point (57-56) with 2:08 left in the game.  Michigan made some clutch shots and grabbed some crucial rebounds, and managed to hang on for the win.  It was very exciting.

Continue reading “Nothing But ‘Net – Week #10 – 01/02/2012 – A Promising Start”