The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games this week, both as the #11 seed in the East Region of the NCAA Tournament, and they won the first and lost the second. On Wednesday (03/16/2016), they beat the other #11 seed, Tulsa, 67-62 in a play-in (“First Four”) game in Dayton, then on Friday (03/18/2016), the lost to the #6 seed, Notre Dame, 70-63 in Brooklyn. The win and the loss leave Michigan with a final overall record of 23-13 (10-8 in the Big Ten).

While it was great for Michigan to win an NCAA Tournament game, even if it was a “First Four” game, it was a shame that they lost the Notre Dame game. They showed that they were the better team, and they could have made a good run in the Big Dance, but they just ran out of gas in the 2^nd half. Between the 3 games in the Big Ten Tournament last week, and the 2 games in the NCAA Tournament, they played 5 games in 8 days in 3 different cities. It finally caught up with them.

The Tulsa game was close and exciting, but it shouldn’t have been. Michigan was clearly the better team, but once again they “played down to the opposition”. They fell behind early, then finished the 1^st half on a long (9 minute) 19-4 run to lead 28-20 at halftime. It only took Tulsa 2:30 in the 2^nd half to tie the game up, then it was a seesaw battle for the rest of the game. UM outplayed Tulsa in the last 2:00, and earned the win.

The Notre Dame game was very similar to the Tulsa game, except that Michigan built an even bigger halftime lead (12 points: 41-29), and held onto it longer in the 2^nd half (8 minutes). Once ND tied it up (48-48) with 12:18 left, it was another seesaw game, with ND pulling ahead by 5 points (66-61) with 1:36 left. UM got within 3 points (66-63), and had a shot at tying it up with 13 seconds left, but a 3-pointer rattled out, and that was the ball game.

Stats

The stats for the Tulsa game are not very impressive. UM shot pretty poorly overall (24-for-59 = 40.7%), they shot 3-pointers terribly (6-for-25 = 24.0%), and they shot free throws well (13-for-16 = 81.3%). They won the rebounding battle (38-36) and the turnover battle (8-11). They won the game at the free throw line, since Tulsa was only 9-for-15.

The stats for the Notre Dame game are actually a little better than the Tulsa game. UM shot a little worse overall (25-for-63 = 39.7%), but they shot 3-pointers better (10-for-27 = 37.0%). They didn’t get to the line enough (3-for-5 = 60.0%), they got hammered on the boards (33-25), but they did win the turnover battle (7-16). They lost the game at the free throw line, since ND was 12-for-15.

Individually, here’s how the starters did this week:

• Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman – MAAR was the leading scorer in both games, with 16 and 15 points.
  
• Mark Donnal – 2 and 9 points. Donnal just wasn’t very effective in either game.
  
• Zak Irvin – 16 and 9 points. Irvin didn’t shoot very well against ND, going 1-for-9 from 3-point range. He’s the one who took, and missed, the shot to tie the game up with 13 seconds left.
  
• Duncan Robinson – 13 and 9 points. Robinson had his first (UM) career double-double in the Tulsa game, with 13 points and 11 rebounds. The also shot 50% from 3-point range for the tournament (2-for-5 and 3-for-5).
  
• Derrick Walton Jr. – 12 and 10 points. Walton was the player who looked the most “out of gas” in the 2^nd half of the ND game.
  

The bench didn’t chip in very many points this week:

• Kameron Chatman – 0 points and DNP. Chatman fired up 5 shots vs. Tulsa, and none of them went in. He sat for the ND game.
  
• Andrew Dakich –0 and 0 points. Dakich didn’t take a shot in either game.
  
• Aubrey Dawkins –0 and 5 points. The team really could have used a spark from Dawkins, especially in the ND game.
  
• Ricky Doyle – 4 and 0 points. Doyle wasn’t very effective in either game.
  
• Moritz Wagner – 4 and 6 points. Moe also had 8 rebounds in the Tulsa game, and was the most effective big man for UM in the tournament.
  
• DJ Wilson – DNP in both games.
  

This Week

Michigan’s season is over, but there’s still one more week of Nothing But ‘Net. Check back next week for the Season Wrap-Up, Final Grades, and a look ahead to next season.

Go Blue!

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played three games this week, all as the #8 seed in the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis, and they won the first two and lost the third one. On Thursday (03/10/2016), they beat the #9 seed, Northwestern, 72-70 (in overtime), on Friday (03/11/2016), they beat the #1 seed, (#10) Indiana, 72-69, then on Saturday (03/12/2016), they lost to the #4 seed, (#13) Purdue, 76-59. The 2 wins and 1 loss leave Michigan with an overall record of 22-12 (10-8 in the Big Ten).

Michigan came into the Big Ten Tournament needing two wins to get into the NCAA Tournament, and they got them. Michigan earned a First Four berth as a #11 seed in the East regional, playing the other #11 seed, Tulsa. More about Tulsa and the play-in game below. Michigan played a decent game against an underrated Northwestern team on Thursday, but they played a great game against a powerful Indiana team on Friday. They were tired by the time they played their third game in three days against Purdue on Saturday, and that did them in. Still, it was a good run, and Michigan played better than they have in a month.

The Northwestern game was frustrating. Michigan is obviously a better team, but they kept shooting themselves in the foot any time they had a chance to build a comfortable lead and put Northwestern away. UM started the game on fire. Northwestern hit a quick 3-pointer to lead 3-0, then Michigan rattled off 16 straight points in 5 minutes to go up 16-3 with 15:00 left in the 1^st half. They traded baskets with Northwestern for the next few minutes, and still led by 12 points (23-11) with 10:38 to go in the half. Instead of putting Northwestern away, they allowed them to go on a quick 12-2 run, and suddenly UM only led by 2 points (25-23) with 5:44 left in the half. Fortunately, UM went on a nice 9-2 run to end the half, leading 34-25. Michigan pushed the lead back up to 12 points (37-25) early in the 2^nd half, but let the lead slip back down to 3 points (37-34) at the 15:59 mark. UM kept the lead, around 4-6 points, until the 5:49 mark, when Northwestern tied it up (52-52). The teams traded baskets down the stretch, and Northwestern tied it up at the buzzer (60-60). In overtime, UM went up by 4 early (67-63, with 2:59 left), fell behind late (70-67, with 1:02 left), and scored the last 5 points to win, 72-20. It wasn’t a very impressive win, but it was an important one.

The Indiana game was close and exciting the whole time. The lead seesawed back and forth all game, with 12 ties and 18 lead changes. Neither team led by more than 6 points, and the game was tied with 46 seconds left, 69-69. IU had the ball, but UM stole it with 21 seconds left and held for the last shot. Kameron Chatman was the unlikely hero who buried a contested corner 3-pointer with 0.2 seconds left, and Michigan had the win they needed.

Even though Michigan was tired, playing their third game in three days, they hung with Purdue pretty well, EXCEPT for the first 3 minutes of each half. Purdue jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first 2:42 of the 1^st half, and led by 8 points at halftime (38-30). The start of the 2^nd half was even worse, as Purdue started with a 9-0 run in the first 2:41, to make the deficit 17 points (47-30). That was the final margin of victory. Other than those two scoring runs, Michigan played Purdue dead even.

So, what did we learn about this season’s UM team this week? We learned that they still had one more big win up their sleeves. We’ll see how they do in the Big Dance.

Stats

The stats for the Northwestern game aren’t very impressive. UM shot pretty poorly overall (22-for-58 = 37.9%), they shot 3-pointers pretty well (12-for-29 = 41.4%), and they shot free throws well (16-for-20 = 80.0%). They lost the rebounding battle (45-39) and the turnover battle (8-7). They won the game at the free throw line. Northwestern was only 9-for-12 at the line. Those 7 extra points made the difference.

The stats for the Indiana game are surprisingly mediocre for a win over a Top-10 team. UM shot pretty well overall (26-for-56 = 46.4%), they shot pretty poorly from 3-point range (6-for-21 = 28.6%), and they shot very well at the free throw line (14-for-16 = 87.5%). They lost the rebounding battle again (37-25), but they won the turnover battle (10-15). UM won because IU shot even worse: 24-for-53 (45.3%) overall, 4-for17 (23.5%) on 3-pointers, and 17-for-21 (81.0%) from the free throw line.

The stats for the Purdue game are sad. UM shot poorly across the board: 23-for-61 (37.7%) overall, 6-for-25 (24.0%) from 3-point range, and 7-for-12 (58.3%) from the free throw line. They got hammered on the boards (41-26), but they did win the turnover battle (8-12). It was ugly.

Individually, here’s how the starters did this week:

• Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman – 14, 15, and 15 points. MAAR had a great tournament, and was the most consistent player this week.
  
• Mark Donnal – 2, 12, and 7 points. Donnal had foul trouble in all 3 games, with 5, 4, and 4 fouls.
  
• Zak Irvin – 19, 17, and 11 points. Irvin also had a great tournament, and hit the game-winning basket vs. Northwestern.
  
• Duncan Robinson – 21, 12, and 3 points. Robinson broke out of his late-season shooting slump vs. Northwestern (4-for-6 shooting 3-pointers), but started a new slump in the next 2 games (1-for-6 vs. IU, and 1-for-5 vs. Purdue).
  
• Derrick Walton Jr. – 2, 2, and 14. Walton had a baffling tournament. He shot 0-for-7 vs. Northwestern and 0-for-3 vs. Indiana, then scored 14 points vs. Purdue. He did set a new Big Ten Tournament record with 12 assists vs. Indiana.
  

The bench chipped in some important points this week:

• Kameron Chatman – 3, 5, and 4 points, including the amazing game-winning 3-pointer vs. Indiana.
  
• Andrew Dakich – 3, 0, and 0 points. Dakich took 1 shot in each game, making a 3-pointer vs. Northwestern.
  
• Aubrey Dawkins – 2, 0, and 2 points. The team really could have used a spark from Dawkins, especially in the Purdue game.
  
• Ricky Doyle – 6, 0, and 0 points. Doyle tweaked his ankle in the last second of the Northwestern game, and was hobbled in the other two games.
  
• Moritz Wagner – 0, 9, and 3 points. After not playing much in the Big Ten regular season, Wagner played a key role in the win over IU, including an unexpected 3-pointer.
  
• DJ Wilson – 0, DNP, and 0 points. Wilson only played 4 minutes total.
  

This Week

On to the Big Dance. As I mentioned above, Michigan is playing in a First Four game on Wednesday (03/16/2016, 9:10 p.m. EDT, truTV) vs. Tulsa, in Dayton (OH). If they win that game, they’ll move on to play as the #11 seed in the East regional vs. the #6 seed, Notre Dame. That game is on Friday (03/18/2016) at 9:30 p.m. EDT in Brooklyn (NY), on CBS. Finally, if they win that game, they’ll play the winner of the (#3 seed) West Virginia vs. (#14 seed) Stephen F. Austin game. That game is on Sunday (03/20/2016), time and TV information TBA.

The full NCAA Tournament bracket is here.

Tulsa finished the regular season 20-10, and lost to Memphis in the 1^st round of the AAC Tournament. They have a few good wins (Oklahoma State, UConn, and SMU), and a few bad losses (Little Rock, Oregon State, and Houston). They’re not particularly tall, but they do have a lot of juniors and seniors on the team. It should be a good matchup, and UM needs to play their “A” game to win this one.

Notre Dame also finished the regular season 20-10, but they won one game in their conference (ACC) tournament. They beat Duke in overtime, then got hammered by North Carolina. They have some impressive wins (at Duke, North Carolina, Louisville, and Duke in the ACC Tournament), and some not-so-impressive losses (Monmouth, Alabama, and Florida State). They don’t have much height at all, but they do have a decent number of upperclassmen. They’re a #6 seed for a reason, and UM will have their hands full if they get that far.

You’re on your own checking out the rest of the teams that UM could potentially play.

Tune by on Wednesday (and hopefully, beyond), then check back next week to see what happened, and why.

Go Blue!

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played one game this week, and they lost it. On Saturday (03/05/2016), they lost to (#16) Iowa 71-61 in Crisler Arena. The loss drops Michigan’s record to 20-11 (10-8 in the Big Ten).

It’s always sad to lose on Senior Night, and it’s even sadder when all your seniors are in street clothes due to injuries. It was a terrible way for Spike Albrecht and Caris LeVert to end their Michigan careers.

The game itself was actually pretty entertaining, as long as you weren’t rooting for Michigan to win. It was fast-paced and sloppy, with lots of acrobatic moves and wild loose balls. Other than a brief 3-0 and 3-2 lead for Michigan, Iowa led the whole way. They kept the lead around 10 points for most of the game, occasionally pushing it as high as 15, with Michigan getting as close as 1 point (once) and 2 points (a few times) in the first half. The key moment in the game came with 6:13 left in the 2^nd half, when UM cut a 15-point deficit (59-44) down to 5 points (59-54) in 4 minutes. UM was playing hard and smart, Iowa was starting to look rattled, and the sell-out crowd was getting into it. Just when it looked like Michigan might claw its way back into the game, Michigan went cold again, and Iowa pushed the lead back up to 11 points (69-58). That was the game.

So, what did we learn about this season’s UM team this week? Nothing new. This is not an NCAA Tournament team. Maybe next year.

Stats

The stats for the game are pretty dismal. UM didn’t shoot well overall (23-for-64 = 35.9%), they didn’t shoot well from 3-point range (8-for-34 = 23.5%), and they didn’t shoot free throws well (7-for-12 = 58.3%). They did a great job rebounding (43-35), including 12 offensive rebounds, but they lost the turnover battle (11-8).

Coach Beilein went with his regular starting lineup: Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman (MAAR), Mark Donnal, Zak Irvin, Duncan Robinson, and Derrick Walton Jr. Three of the starters hit double figures: MAAR with 10 points, Irvin with 11 (and 8 rebounds), and Walton, with 14. The other two starters did OK: Donnal had 9 points (and a career-high 10 rebounds), and Robinson had 8 points (and 8 rebounds). Robinson played his best all-around game of the season, but is still deep in his 3-point shooting slump (1-for-6 this game).

The bench didn’t contribute many points in this game:

• Kameron Chatman had 5 points.
  
• Andrew Dakich had 0 points.
  
• Aubrey Dawkins had 2 points.
  
• Ricky Doyle had 2 points.
  
• Moritz Wagner didn’t play.
  
• DJ Wilson had 0 points.
  

This Week

The regular season is over; on to the Big Ten Tournament, in Indianapolis. Michigan is the #8 seed, and they get a bye into the 2^nd round on Thursday (03/10/2016, 12:00 p.m. EST, BTN) vs. the #9 seed, Northwestern. If they win that one, they get to play the #1 seed (Indiana) on Friday (03/11/2016, 12:00 p.m. EST, ESPN). The complete bracket is here.

Michigan should be able to beat Northwestern, but beating Indiana on a nearly-home-court is going to be a tall order. The big question is: will one more win be enough to get UM into the NCAA Tournament. I’d put the odds at about 30%.

Tune by on Thursday (and hopefully, beyond), then check back next week to see what happened, and why.

Go Blue!

Happy Leap Day.

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games this week, and they won one and lost the other. On Wednesday (02/24/2016), they beat Northwestern 72-63 in Crisler Arena, then on Sunday (02/28/2016), they lost at Wisconsin 68-57. The win and the loss leave Michigan with a record of 20-10 (10-7 in the Big Ten).

With one game left in the regular season, Michigan is limping to the finish line. They have lost 3 of their last 4 games, and are teetering on the edge of the bubble for the NCAA Tournament.

The win over Northwestern was hard to watch. It was ugly. Michigan started out slow, missing their first 8 shots, along with 2 turnovers, and trailed 10-0. When they finally got going, they managed to get within 2 points a couple times (19-17 and 23-21), but they always failed to score when they had the chance to tie or take the lead. They missed their first nine 3-point attempts before finally making one at the halftime buzzer to pull within 1 point (29-28). They got the ball to start the 2^nd half, and promptly threw it away. They let Northwestern go on another 8-0 run, this time with 2 missed shots and 3 turnovers, before they finally got going again. They got back within 1 point again (42-41) with 12:30 left, and finally tied the game up 44-44 with 11:10 to go. They got their first lead (45-44) with 9:15 left, and played even with Northwestern for the next 4 minutes. With 5:01 left, Michigan tied it up 54-54, then went ahead for good on a nice 3-pointer. Michigan should have handled Northwestern easily, but they struggled to get any offensive flow.

The game at Wisconsin was also hard to watch, but for a different reason. Michigan actually played pretty well for most of the game, and led for a lot of the way. They had a 7 point lead (9-2) early, and led by 1 point at halftime (30-29). They still led by 1 point (40-39) with 13:13 to go when the roof fell in. UM missed 4 shots in a row, and let UW go on an 8-0 run to make it 47-40. Wisconsin pushed the lead as high as 13, and Michigan got as close as 5 points, but that 8-0 run was the big difference. Michigan isn’t good enough to come from behind against a good team on the road. They need to manage the game better. They need to have a few “go to” plays that they can run when they really need a basket to stop a crippling run.

So, what did we learn about this season’s UM team this week? We learned that they probably aren’t an NCAA Tournament team. If they can beat Iowa this Saturday, or win a couple games in the Big Ten Tournament, maybe they’ll sneak in, but they’ll be lucky to win a game in the Big Dance. This is a team in disarray.

Stats

The stats for the Northwestern game aren’t as bad as you’d expect for such an ugly game. Michigan shot fairly well overall (24-for-49 = 49.0%), they shot 3-pointers terribly (4-for-15 = 26.7%), and they shot free throws pretty well (20-for-25 = 80.0%). They won the rebounding battle handily (33-24), and they tied in the turnover battle (9-9). UM won the game at the free throw line. Northwestern was 5-for-9 shooting free throws, so Michigan outscored them by 15 points at the line.

The stats for the Wisconsin game aren’t bad either. Michigan shot fairly well again overall (24-for-50 = 48.0%), they shot a decent percentage from 3-pointer range (5-for-13 = 38.5%), but they shot free throws pretty poorly (4-for-7 = 57.1%). They got clobbered on the boards (33-20), and they barely won the turnover battle (11-12). Just as they beat Northwestern at the free throw line, Wisconsin beat Michigan at the free throw line. They shot 12-for-15. Those 8 extra points go a long way towards explaining an 11 point loss.

I know this is sounding like a broken record, but once again Caris LeVert didn’t play this week. So far, he has played one full Big Ten game (Illinois on 12/30/2015) and 11 scoreless minutes vs. Purdue on 02/13/2016, and that’s been it. With one regular season Big Ten game left and the Big Ten Tournament and (maybe) the NCAA Tournament, there aren’t many games left for him to play in. Sigh.

With LeVert unavailable again, Coach Beilein went with his regular starting lineup: Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman (MAAR), Mark Donnal, Zak Irvin, Duncan Robinson, and Derrick Walton Jr. Only one of the starters hit double figures in both games: Walton, with 16 and 10 points. MAAR had a great game against Northwestern, with 19 points, but he had a lousy game against Wisconsin, with 2 points. Donnal was in foul trouble in both games, and only scored 7 and 6 points. Irvin had a quiet game against Northwestern, with 6 points, but was UM’s best offensive threat in the 1^st half at Wisconsin. He ended up with 14 points. Robinson had 5 and 10 points.

The bench contributed more points than usual this week:

• Kameron Chatman had 2 and 0 points.
  
• Andrew Dakich had 0 and 2 points.
  
• Aubrey Dawkins had 11 and 3 points.
  
• Ricky Doyle had 6 and 10 points. He did a great job filling in for Donnal in both games.
  
• Moritz Wagner didn’t play in either game.
  
• DJ Wilson didn’t play in the Northwestern game, and played but failed to score in the Wisconsin game.
  

This Week

This week, Michigan plays one Big Ten game, the last regular season game. On Saturday (03/05/2016, 8:00 p.m., BTN), they play (#8) Iowa in Crisler Arena. Michigan already played Iowa once this season, and lost 82-71 in Iowa City back on 01/17/2016. Iowa is currently 20-8 (11-4 in the Big Ten), but they have lost 4 of their last 5 games, mostly on the road. They are beatable, but UM must play their “A” game to stand a chance. They can’t allow any of the long scoreless droughts that have cost them so many games this season.

Since this is the last home game of the season, it’s Senior Night. At the start of the season, there were 2 seniors in the lineup: LeVert and Spike Albrecht. Now there are none. Albrecht had double hip surgery in the off-season, and never got back into playing shape. He finally retired on 12/11/2015. LeVert injured his “lower left leg” near the end of the Illinois game on 12/30/2015, and that was the end of the senior class. I don’t know if either of them will try to play for even a minute on Saturday, but I doubt it. Albrecht would qualify for a medical redshirt if he wanted to come back next season, or use the grad transfer rule, but I suspect he could get permission to play on Senior Night without endangering his medical redshirt. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Come on down to Crisler on Saturday, then check back next week to see what happened, and why.

Go Blue!