Category: Featured

The (#3) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played one game this week, and they won it.  On Sunday (02/14/2021), they beat (#21) Wisconsin 67-59 in Madison, WI.  The win raises Michigan’s record to 14-1 (9-1 in the Big Ten).  Michigan is still all alone in 1^st place in the Big Ten standings.

What Happened?

After over three weeks (23 days) off, Michigan finally got to play another game, and there was a little rust.  The first half was not pretty, especially on the offensive end.  The opening 11 minutes were close, and the score was tied (20-20) with 9:10 to go in the half.  That’s when UM went cold, and Wisconsin went on a 19-7 run to end the half, up 39-27 at halftime.  Fortunately, Michigan finally remembered how to play the game, and they slowly climbed back into it.  They got within 3 points (45-42) with 14:12 left, and within a point (53-52) with 6:27 to go.  They finally went ahead (54-53) at the 5:04 mark, and the game was tied up (59-59) with 2:21 to go.  That’s when Michigan got serious, and went on an 8-0 run to end the game, winning 67-59.  They held Wisconsin without a basket in the last 4:44 of the game.

Stats

The stats for the Wisconsin game are just OK.  Michigan shot decently overall (24-for-59 = 40.7%), they shot 3-pointers well enough (7-for-17 = 41.2%), and they shot free throws pretty well (12-for-16 = 75.0%).  They won the rebounding battle (36-32) and the turnover battle (6-10).  Michigan won this game with defense, holding Wisconsin to 38.9% shooting, 31.6% from deep.

Who Started?

The starters were Eli Brooks, Hunter Dickinson, Isaiah Livers, Mike Smith, and Franz Wagner.

Who Looked Good?

Livers was the leading scorer, with 20 points, on 8-for-16 shooting (4-for-7 from 3-point range).  He also had 7 rebounds.

Wagner had 14 points, on 6-for-11 shooting (2-for-4 from deep).

Dickinson had another double-double, with 11 points and 15 rebounds.  He also had a career-high 5 blocked shots.

Brooks had 9 points, but he shot terribly: 2-for-11 overall (0-for-2 from 3-point range).

Smith only had 6 points, but he had 6 assists, and only 1 turnover.

Austin Davis spelled Dickinson for 13 minutes, and chipped in 6 points, on 3-for-4 shooting.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

Brandon Johns, Jr. played for 4 minutes, but didn’t attempt a shot.

Chaundee Brown, Jr. had 1 point.

Who Else Played?

No one else played.

Who Didn’t Play?

The 4 scholarship players who aren’t part of the main rotation (Jace Howard, Zeb Jackson, Adrien Nuñez, and Terrance Williams II) didn’t play.

The scout team players (C.J. Baird, Jaron Faulds, Rico Ozuna-Harrison, Brandon Wade, and Luke Wilson) didn’t play.

What Does It Mean?

This was a huge win, since no one knew how Michigan would respond after a long break with two weeks of no practice.  As I mentioned, they looked a little rusty, especially on offense in the first half, but they shook it off in the second half, and played very well in “crunch” time.  This was Michigan’s first road win against a ranked opponent this season.

In terms of the Big Ten title race, this was a very important win for Michigan.  It keeps them all alone in 1^st place, two games ahead of Illinois and three games ahead of Ohio State in the all-important loss column.  At this point, there is still no news about when (or if) the five postponed Michigan games will be rescheduled, so win percentage might be used to determine the Big Ten champion, and Michigan is half a game ahead of Illinois and OSU in win percentage.

What’s Next?

This week, Michigan is scheduled to play two games, one at home and one on the road.  On Thursday (02/18/2021, 9:00 p.m., FS1), they are scheduled to play (#25) Rutgers in Crisler, then on Sunday (02/21/2021, 1:00 p.m. EST, CBS), they are scheduled to play at (#4) Ohio State.

Rutgers is currently 12-7 (8-7 in Big Ten), with impressive wins over Syracuse, (#13) Illinois, and Michigan State, and a less-than-impressive loss to Penn State.  They have a couple star players (Geo Baker and Ron Harper, Jr.) and some height (three 6’11” players).  This will be a challenging game.

OSU is currently 17-4 (11-4 in Big Ten), with impressive wins over Notre Dame, UCLA, (#11) Rutgers, (#15) Rutgers, (#14) Illinois, (#10) Wisconsin, and (#8) Iowa, and less-than-impressive losses to Purdue (twice), Northwestern, and Minnesota.  They have a couple star players, but they don’t have much height.  They have beaten some very good teams, but they have also lost to some mediocre teams.  This will be Michigan’s toughest game so far.

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

Go Blue!

The (#4) University of Michigan men’s basketball team didn’t play any games this week, due to the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown.  Michigan’s record stands at 13-1 (8-1 in the Big Ten).  Michigan is still all alone in 1^st place in the Big Ten standings.

What Happened?

This was week #2 of a 2-week shutdown for all University of Michigan sports.  This week, Michigan had 2 more games postponed:

02/03/2021 Northwestern (away)

02/06/2021 Michigan State (home)

Next week, they will postpone another game:

02/11/2021 Illinois (home)

Presumably, the Illinois game was postponed to give the UM team some time to practice together and get back in sync before resuming their schedule.  That would imply that the team will be allowed to start practicing again starting today (02/08/2021).

At this point, there is still no news about when the postponed games will be rescheduled.

What’s Next?

This week, Michigan was supposed to play two games: home vs. Illinois on Thursday (02/11/2021) and at (#19) Wisconsin on Sunday (02/14/2021, 1:00 p.m. EST, CBS).  The Illinois game has been postponed, but the Wisconsin game is probably going to happen.

Wisconsin is currently 14-6 (8-5 in Big Ten), with impressive wins over (#23) Louisville, (#12) Michigan State, and (#21) Minnesota, and less-than-impressive losses to Marquette, Maryland, and Penn State.  They have a couple star players on their roster, and a lot of height (two 7-footers and a 6’11” guy).  Michigan thrashed them in Ann Arbor (77-54) on 01/12/2021, but as we saw with Minnesota, beating a team the second time around, on their home floor, can be a lot trickier.

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

Go Blue!

The (#4) University of Michigan men’s basketball team didn’t play any games this week, due to the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown.  Michigan’s record stands at 13-1 (8-1 in the Big Ten).  Michigan is still all alone in 1^st place in the Big Ten standings.

What Happened?

This was week #1 of a 2-week shutdown for all University of Michigan sports.  This week, Michigan had 2 games postponed:

01/27/2021 Penn State (away)

01/30/2021 Indiana (home)

Next week, they will postpone 2 more games:

02/03/2021 Northwestern (away)

02/06/2021 Michigan State (home)

At this point, there is no news about whether or not UM sports will resume beginning 02/07/2021, and there is no news about when the postponed games will be rescheduled.  Of course, squeezing these 4 games into the last 28 days of the regular season will be a challenge, especially if Michigan or any of their opponents have to postpone further games.  The schedule is written in pencil this season.

Mid-Term Grades

It’s a little past mid-season, but this seems like a good time to hand out (near) mid-term grades:

Freshman Eligibility

• Hunter Dickinson (A) – Hunter has been the core of this team.  He leads the team in scoring (15.1 points/game), rebounding (7.2 rebounds/game), shooting percentage (68.8%), and blocked shots (20).  He scored in double figures in the first 11 games of the season, but hasn’t hit double figures in the last 3 games, now that every team is double-teaming him every time he touches the ball in the paint.  Once he figures out how to pass out of the double-teams without throwing the ball away, he’ll be just as valuable as he was when he was scoring.

• Jace Howard (Inc.) – Jace is on scholarship, but he’s not part of the main rotation of players this season.  He has played in 8 games, for a total of about 26 minutes, and has scored 7 points.  He’s learning.

• Zeb Jackson (Inc.) – Zeb is on scholarship, but he’s not part of the main rotation of players this season.  He has played in 10 games, for a total of about 62 minutes, and has scored 10 points.  He’ll get his chance at point guard next season.

• Terrance Williams II (C) – Terrance is on scholarship, but he’s not part of the main rotation of players this season.  He has played in 13 games, for a total of about 103 minutes, and has scored 30 points.  He looked good in some of the non-conference games (7 points vs. Oakland, 10 points vs. Central Florida), but he has way too many 0-point games.  He’s learning.

Sophomore Eligibility

• Brandon Wade (Inc.) – Brandon is a preferred walk-on.  He hasn’t played in a game yet this season.  He’s part of the scout team.

• Franz Wagner (B+) – Franz has been very good defensively, but inconsistent offensively.  He is 3^rd on the team in scoring (12.0 points/game), 2^nd on the team in rebounds (7.1 rebounds/game), 2^nd on the team in blocked shots (17), and 1^st on the team in steals (20).  He still hasn’t found his 3-point shot this season.

Junior Eligibility

• Jaron Faulds (Inc.) – Jaron is a preferred walk-on.  He has played in 5 games, for a total of about 18 minutes, and has scored 2 points.  He’s part of the scout team.

• Brandon Johns, Jr. (B) – Brandon has played a lot at center when Michigan plays “small ball”.  The results have been uneven.  He isn’t scoring much (4.6 points/game), and he isn’t rebounding as well as he did last season (2.5 rebounds/game).  He is shooting a nice percentage from 3-point range (5-for-8 = 62.5%).

• Adrien Nuñez (Inc.) – Adrien is on scholarship, but he’s not part of the main rotation of players this season.  He has played in 8 games, for a total of about 27 minutes, and has scored 4 points.

Senior Eligibility

• C.J. Baird (Inc.) – C.J. is a walk-on.  He has played in 2 games, for a total of about 6 minutes, and has scored 2 points.  He’s part of the scout team.

• Eli Brooks (B+) – Eli has mostly played shooting guard, with occasional stints at point guard.  He’s 5^th on the team in scoring (8.8 points/game), 2^nd on the team in steals (14), and he hustles when he’s in there.  He’s a very good defender, and he’s what’s known as a “glue guy”.

• Chaundee Brown Jr. (B) – Chaundee is the “6^th man” on the team this season, and he’s had some great games (19 points vs. Bowling Green, 18 points vs. Central Florida, 13 points at Nebraska, 14 points vs. Northwestern, and 14 points at Minnesota), and a lot of mediocre games.  He’s 4^th on the team in scoring (8.8 points/game), and 4^th on the team in rebounds (3.3 rebounds/game).

• Austin Davis (B) – Austin was the starter at center for the first 5 games, until he injured his foot.  Dickinson started in his absence, and did well enough to keep starting, even when Austin returned after missing 5 games.  Austin is very smooth and efficient scoring in the paint, and he plays good defense, but Dickinson is even better.  Still, it’s great to have a dependable backup.

• Rico Ozuna-Harrison (Inc.) – Rico is a walk-on.  He hasn’t played in a game yet this season.  He’s part of the scout team.

• Isaiah Livers (A) – Isaiah is the other MVP on this team.  He’s a senior leader, and a fierce competitor.  He’s 2^nd on the team in scoring (14.6 points/game), 3^rd on the team in rebounds (6.0 rebounds/game), 3^rd on the team in blocked shots (13), and amazing from the free throw line (34-for-36 = 94.4%).

• Mike Smith (B) – Mike has done a very nice job running the team as the main point guard.  He has had some very good games offensively (16 points vs. Bowling Green, 10 points vs. Ball State, 10 points at Nebraska, 16 points at Maryland, 16 points vs. Wisconsin, and 11 points vs. Maryland), and a lot of mediocre games offensively.  Michigan doesn’t really need him to score much, so any points he chips in are a bonus.  He leads the team in assists (78), but also in turnovers (35).  He’s 2^nd on the team in 3-point shooting percentage (16-for-34 = 47.1%).

• Luke Wilson (Inc.) – Luke is a walk-on.  He has played in 1 game, for a total of about 3 minutes, but he hasn’t scored.  He’s part of the scout team.

What’s Next?

This week, Michigan was supposed to play two games: at Northwestern on Wednesday (02/03/2021) and home vs. Michigan State on Saturday (02/06/2021).  Due to the 2-week COVID-19 shutdown, these games will need to be rescheduled.

Even though the games are postponed, this column is not.  I’ll be back next Monday with updates on the shutdown, and (hopefully) a preview of Michigan’s upcoming games.

Go Blue!