The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games last week in the Big Ten Tournament, and they won one and lost the other. They were the #9 seed. On Thursday (03/12/2015), they beat (#8 seed) Illinois 73-55, then on Friday (03/13/2015), they lost to (#1 seed) Wisconsin 71-60. Both games were played in Chicago. The win and the loss leave Michigan with a final record of 16-16 (8-10 in the Big Ten). Michigan was not invited to the NIT, so their disappointing season is over.

The Illinois game was very impressive. UM played very well, and beat Illinois convincingly. The game started with a few runs by each team, with Illinois leading 19-17 with 8:12 to go in the 1^st half, when Michigan went on a 23-4 run to end the half. That made the score 40-23, and UM never looked back. They started the 2^nd half with an 8-2 run, and that put the game out of reach. Michigan kept the lead up over 20 points for most of the rest of the game, and were never challenged.

Playing the #5 team in the nation on one day’s rest is a tall order, but UM gave Wisconsin all they could handle for most of the game, before running out of gas down the stretch. UM actually led 44-41 with 12:28 left in the game, and had the score tied up (54-54) with 6:09 left. Wisconsin was just too big, too well-rested, and too talented. It was a noble effort, but UM couldn’t come up with the stops on defense in the last 6 minutes.

Time to look at the game stats. First, the Illinois game: UM shot pretty well overall (29-for-59 = 49.2%), then shot 3-pointers very well (7-for-15 = 46.7%), and they were perfect from the free-throw line (8-for-8 = 100.0%). They lost the rebounding battle (32-36), but they won the turnover battle, barely (9-10). The 3-point shooting won the game.

On to the Wisconsin game: UM shot very well overall (27-for-52 = 51.9%), they shot 3-pointers pretty well (6-for-15 = 40.0%), but they didn’t make a single free throw (0-for-2 = 0.0%). They got crushed on the boards (19-34), but they did win the turnover battle (5-7). They lost the game at the free-throw line, since Wisconsin went 14-for-16 (87.5%).

Individually, only one player hit double figures in both games: Zak Irvin, with 14 vs. Illinois, and 21 vs. Wisconsin. He also pulled down 11 rebounds vs. Wisconsin, for a double-double.

The other starters all hit double figures in one of the two games. Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman had 15 and 8, Spike Albrecht had 8 and 10, Max Bielfeldt had 10 and 4, and Aubrey Dawkins had 18 and 5.

Only one bench player hit double figures in one of the games: Ricky Doyle had 12 points (on 6-for-6 shooting) vs. Wisconsin. He scored most of them with Big Ten Player of the Year Frank Kaminsky all over him. He only played 5 minutes vs. Illinois, scoring 2 points (on 1-for-1 shooting; he was 7-for-7 in the tournament).

The rest of the bench didn’t contribute much. Andrew Dakich had 2 points vs. Illinois, but didn’t play in the Wisconsin game. Mark Donnal had 4 and 0 points. Kameron Chatman played in both games, but failed to score. Sean Lonergan played in the Illinois game, but failed to score.

This Week

There is no “this week”. The season is over for Michigan.

Check back here 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 two games last week, and they lost one and won the other. On Tuesday (03/03/2015), they lost at Northwestern 82-78 (2 overtimes), then on Saturday (03/07/2015), they beat Rutgers 79-69 in Crisler Arena. The loss and the win leave Michigan with a final regular season record of 15-15 (8-10 in the Big Ten). They finished in 9^th place.

The loss to Northwestern was one of the most frustrating and heartbreaking sporting events I have ever seen. Yes, including the UM/Appalachian State football game and the UM/NJIT basketball game. Michigan had not one, but two excellent chances to win the game, and NW managed to defy incredible odds to tie the game up twice, then finally win in the 2^nd overtime. Each of the three highly-improbable 3-pointers that NW made in the closing seconds of regulation and the 1^st overtime were 1-in-1000 chance shots, and all three of them went in, making the odds 1-in-1,000,000,000 (that’s one in a billion). Of course, Michigan could have put the game out of reach if they had hit one more free throw, or if they had fouled NW instead of allowing any of the 3-pointers, but that’s another matter. Let’s just say that everything that could go wrong for Michigan did. That’s the kind of season this has been.

The Rutgers game was much better. It was Senior Day, and Michigan only has one “senior”, who’s really a redshirt junior: Max Bielfeldt. Max had himself quite a day, getting his first career start, then his first career double-double, with 14 points and 11 rebounds (also a career-high). Michigan pulled away from Rutgers early, built up a comfortable lead at halftime (47-28), built the lead up to 29 points (79-50) with 8 minutes left, and watched Rutgers score the last 19 points to make it look like a close game. It was a 30-point win disguised as a 10-point win.

Let’s look at the stats. First, the miserable Northwestern game. Michigan actually shot well overall (25-for-56 = 44.6%), shot very well from 3-point range (11-for-24 = 45.8%), and shot free throws very well (17-for-21 = 81.0%). They (barely) lost the rebounding battle (35-36) and the turnover battle (8-11). They should have won this game.

The stats for the Rutgers game are even better. UM shot very well overall (29-for-57 = 50.9%), they shot very well from 3-point range (14-for-31 = 45.2%), and they shot free throws pretty well (7-for-10 = 70.0%). They did lose the rebounding battle (25-33), but they won the turnover battle (6-12).

Individually, only 2 players hit double figures in both games: Aubrey Dawkins and Zak Irvin. However, they didn’t just hit double figures in both games, they did it in impressive fashion. Dawkins had 21 points vs. NW, which was a new career high, then he followed it up with 31 points against Rutgers, which was obviously another new career high. Irvin had 28 points vs. Northwestern, which was a new career high for him, and he also had 11 rebounds, for an impressive double-double. He only had 12 points against Rutgers, but it was still a good week for him.

Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman and Spike Albrecht were the other 2 players to start both games. MAAR had a quiet week, with 6 points vs. NW and 2 points vs. Rutgers. Albrecht had 16 and 7 points, but he did dish out 9 assists in the Rutgers game.

Ricky Doyle started in the NW game, but didn’t play in the Rutgers game, due to “a stomach illness”. He didn’t look very good in the NW game, scoring only 1 point. In his place in the Rutgers game, Max Bielfeldt had his big game (14 points, 11 rebounds), but he didn’t do much when he came off the bench in the Northwestern game (4 points, 0 rebounds).

The bench didn’t chip in much in the Northwestern game, with the 4 points from Bielfeldt and 2 points from Mark Donnal. Donnal played, but failed to score, in the Rutgers game. Kameron Chatman played in the NW game, but failed to score, then he exploded for a career-high 13 points in the Rutgers game. Andrew Dakich played in both games, but failed to score. Austin Hatch and Sean Lonergan both played in the closing moments of the Rutgers game, but failed to score, although Hatch almost hit a 3-pointer.

Finally, two of the student managers (Ryan Kaputstka and Jon Rubenstein) were added to the roster for the Rutgers game, and they both played in the final minute, but failed to score. Rubinstein did attempt a free throw, but he missed it.

This Week

This week, the Big Ten Tournament is being held in Chicago. This is the first season with 14 teams. To accommodate the extra 2 teams, the tournament has been extended from 4 days to 5 (Wednesday – Sunday). The first day (Wednesday 03/11/2015), the bottom 4 teams play, the next day (Thursday), the middle 6 teams, along with the 2 surviving teams from Wednesday, play. Finally, on Friday, the top 4 teams play, along with the surviving 4 teams from Thursday. The semifinals are on Saturday, and the championship game is on Sunday.

As the #9 seed, Michigan starts play on Thursday, against the #8 seed, Illinois. The game is at noon on BTN. If Michigan beats Illinois, they’ll play the #1 seed, Wisconsin, on Friday at noon on ESPN.

Michigan played Illinois twice in the regular season, winning at home (73-65 in overtime on 12/30/2014), and losing on the road (64-52 in overtime on 02/12/2015). It should be another tight, exciting game. If UM beats Illinois on Thursday, they will have a tough time vs. Wisconsin on Friday.

If UM wants to have any chance of playing in the NIT, they need to beat Illinois. After the predictable loss to Wisconsin in the next round, that would leave them with a record of 16-16. While the NIT doesn’t have an actual rule that a team needs to be at or above 0.500 to be selected, no team with a losing record has ever been invited.

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

Go Blue!

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played one games last week, and they lost it. On Saturday (02/28/2015), they lost at (#14) Maryland, 66-56. The loss lowers Michigan’s record to 14-14 (7-9 in the Big Ten).

This wasn’t a surprising loss, or a particularly depressing loss. Maryland is ranked, and playing for position in the Big Ten Tournament and NCAA Tournament. They were playing at home in front of a sold-out arena for Senior Day. No one expected Michigan to beat Maryland, and no one should be surprised that Maryland won. It would have been a major upset if Michigan had snuck out a win.

That said, Michigan actually played pretty well, especially considering their depleted roster. Sure, they had a couple of their now-familiar scoring droughts, and they shot terribly from 3-point range until the game was out of reach, but they played hard and hung with an obviously superior opponent for most of the game.

The stats tell it all: Michigan shot terribly overall (19-for-52 = 36.5%), they shot even worse from 3-point range (5-for-21 = 23.8%), although they did shoot a wonderful percentage from the free throw line (13-for-15 = 86.7%). They lost the rebounding battle, barely (32-30), and they won the turnover battle (10-12). It was 3-point shooting that cost them the game. Maryland shot 11-for-22 (50.0%) from 3-point distance, and those 6 extra 3-pointers more than make up the final deficit. When Michigan shoots 3-pointers well (>40%), they look good, and they usually win, but when the 3-point shooting is off, they look terrible. This was one of those terrible games.

Individually, only 2 players hit double figures: Spike Albrecht and Zak Irvin both had 15 points. The other starters didn’t score many points: Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman had 7, Aubrey Dawkins had 2, and Ricky Doyle had 4.

The bench didn’t chip in many points either: Max Bielfeldt had 6, and Kameron Chatman had 7. Andrew Dakich, Mark Donnal, and Sean Lonergan all played, but failed to score. In fact, only Dakich even attempted a shot, and that was blocked.

This Week

This is the final week of the regular season, and it can’t come soon enough. Michigan has two games left; one on the road, and one at home. On Tuesday (03/03/2015, 9:00 p.m. EST, BTN), they play at Northwestern, then on Saturday (03/07/2015, 2:15 p.m., BTN), they play Rutgers in Crisler Arena. These are both winnable games, although it’s always tough to win on the road. If Michigan can win them both, they should be in good shape for an NIT bid. If they lose either of them, I suspect they’ll miss post-season play.

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

Go Blue!

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games last week, and they lost one and won one. On Tuesday (02/17/2015), they lost to Michigan State 80-67 in Crisler Arena, then on Sunday (02/22/2015), they beat (#24) Ohio State 64-57, also in Crisler Arena. The loss and the win leave Michigan with a record of 14-13 (7-8 in the Big Ten).

The two games were as different as night and day. In the MSU game, UM started out slow, fell behind early, and never got close for the rest of the game. In the OSU game, UM started out hot, opened a comfortable lead early, and never trailed. Michigan didn’t show much spark in the MSU game, but they were hustling and diving all over the floor in the OSU game. The loss was depressing, but the win was encouraging. This is a hard team to figure out.

Surprisingly, the stats for both games are pretty similar. In the MSU game, UM didn’t shoot very well overall (19-for-48 = 39.6%), they didn’t shoot 3-pointers very well (8-for-22 = 36.4%), but they did shoot free throws pretty well (21-for-28 = 75.0%). They lost the rebounding battle (33-25), but won the turnover battle (6-8). They lost this game on defense, allowing MSU to shoot 62.0% (31-for-50) overall.

The stats for the OSU game are a little better. Michigan shot decently overall (26-for-55 = 47.3%), they shot 3-pointers pretty poorly (7-for-19 = 36.8%), and they shot free throws pretty poorly (5-for-8 = 62.5%). As usual, they lost the rebounding battle (36-28), but they won the turnover battle (9-14). They won this game because OSU shot 3-pointers even worse than UM: 5-for-19 = 26.3%.

Individually, only Spike Albrecht and Zak Irvin hit double figures in both games. Spike had 12 points in the MSU game, and 16 points vs. OSU. Zak had 16 and 15. Two of the other three starters hit double figures in the MSU game: Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman had 12 points in the MSU game, but only 2 in the OSU game, and Aubrey Dawkins had 12 and 5. The fifth starter, Ricky Doyle, had 4 and 8 points.

The bench contributed more than usual this week. Max Bielfeldt had 5 and 7, Kameron Chatman scored 2 and 6, Andrew Dakich had 0 and 3 (yes, he hit attempted one shot, a 3-pointer, and he hit it!), and Mark Donnal scored 4 and 2. Sean Lonergan played in both games, but didn’t attempt a shot in either game.

This Week

The regular season is almost over. Michigan has three games left; two on the road, and one at home. This week, Michigan only has one game, but it’s a tough one. On Saturday (02/28/2015, Noon, ESPN), they play at (#16) Maryland. This will be the first time Michigan has played Maryland in men’s basketball since they joined the Big Ten. It’s always tough to win on the road in the Big Ten (just ask OSU), and it will be especially difficult against a ranked team fighting for position in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. It would be quite the upset if Michigan managed to win this one. Oh yeah, we get to see our old buddy, Evan Smotrycz again. He’s playing for Maryland, not starting, but averaging 19.6 minutes and 4.9 points a game.

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

Go Blue!

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played one game last week, and they lost it. On Thursday (02/12/2015), they lost at Illinois 64-52, in overtime. The loss drops Michigan’s record to 13-12 (6-7 in the Big Ten).

This was a particularly frustrating loss, since UM had a 7-point lead (50-43) with about 3 minutes left in the game, and didn’t score again until they hit 2 free throws in the final minute of the OVERTIME! That’s right, they got outscored 7-0 in the last 3 minutes of regulation, to force overtime, then they were outscored 14-2 in the overtime. Coming so soon after a similar overtime disaster vs. MSU a couple weeks ago, where they were outscored 10-0 in overtime, it was almost too much to handle. How can a team play well enough to take (#6) Wisconsin to overtime in Ann Arbor, and force overtimes in East Lansing and Champaign, then fall apart so thoroughly in their last 3 overtime periods? It’s just so frustrating. The basketball gods hate Michigan this season.

The stats for the game are a little deceptive, since they include the horrible overtime. Michigan shot terribly overall (21-for-57 = 36.8%), including 0-for-5 in overtime. They shot 3-pointers even more terribly (4-for-17 = 23.5%), including 0-for-3 in overtime. The only thing they did well was shoot free throws (6-for-6 = 100.0%). They lost the rebounding battle (39-34) and the turnover battle (12-7). It was just a miserable game.

Individually, only one starter (Spike Albrecht) hit double figures, with 13 points. The other starters didn’t do much: Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman (6 points), Kameron Chatman (2 points), Ricky Doyle (2 points), and Zak Irvin (8 points).

The only other UM player to hit double figures was Max Bielfeldt, with 12 points. The rest of the bench didn’t help much: Aubrey Dawkins had 9 points, and Andrew Dakich and Sean Lonergan both played, but didn’t attempt a shot. Mark Donnal and Austin Hatch didn’t play.

This Week

The beat goes on. Michigan has now lost 4 games in a row, and 5 of their last 6 games. This week, Michigan plays two games. On Tuesday (02/17/2015, 9:00 p.m., ESPN), they play Michigan State, then on Sunday (02/22/2015, 1:00 p.m., CBS), they play Ohio State. Both games are in Crisler Arena. They played MSU tough in East Lansing a couple weeks ago, before collapsing in overtime, so they stand a fighting chance in the game in Ann Arbor. On the other hand, they got blown out when they played at Ohio State earlier this season, so that game doesn’t look as promising. At this point, UM needs every win they can get in an effort to make it to the NIT. Forget the NCAA Tournament.

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

Go Blue!