The (#2) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games last week, and they won them both. At the same time, (#1) Duke got hammered on the road by (#25) Miami (FL), so it sure looks like Michigan is going to be ranked #1 in the AP Poll this week!

The two games that Michigan played last week were good, solid wins against middle-of-the-pack Big Ten teams. On Thursday (01/24/2013), they beat Purdue 68-53 in Crisler Arena, then on Sunday (01/27/2013), they beat Illinois 74-60 in Champaign. The two wins raise UM’s record to 19-1, 6-1 in Big Ten play. They are tied for 1^st place in the Big Ten.

In both games, Michigan fell behind early, but didn’t panic. In fact, Purdue actually had a 1-point lead (33-32) at halftime, the only time UM has trailed at halftime at home this season. However, in both games, Michigan slowly but surely erased the deficit and built a lead, then protected it. In the Purdue game, Michigan was still behind (40-39) with 15 minutes left, then they went on a quick 10-0 run to get a lead that they never lost. In the Illinois game, Michigan led for most of the game, but it was close (2-4 points) for most of the 1^st half. In the 2^nd half, UM pushed the lead out to double digits, and mostly kept it there. They did let Illinois get within 4 points (41-37) with 16:41 left in the game, but that’s when Michigan pulled away.

The stats for the Purdue game are much nicer than the ones for the Illinois game. In the Purdue game, Michigan shot pretty well overall (27-for-55 = 49.1%), and pretty well from 3-point range (7-for-16 = 43.8%). They shot free throws pretty well (7-for-10 = 70.0%), and they won the rebounding battle (35-29) and the turnover battle (10-12). Michigan shot pretty well overall in the Illinois game (31-for-59 = 52.5%), but not so well from 3-point range (5-for-15 = 33.3%). They were mediocre from the free-throw line (7-for-13 = 53.8%), they lost the rebounding battle (35-36), but they won the turnover battle (12-15). Overall, they played well enough to win, but not up to the level they set in some of their more impressive victories. Still, a win is a win. Just ask Duke.

Individually, 3 players hit double figures in both games:

• Trey Burke – 15 points vs. Purdue, and 19 vs. Illinois.
  
• Tim Hardaway Jr. – 13 and 12 points.
  
• Glenn Robinson III – 12 and 10 points.
  
• Nik Stauskas – 12 and 16 points.

The 5^th starter, Jordan Morgan had 6 points vs. Purdue, but 0 points vs. Illinois. He only played 91 seconds in the Illinois game before he injured his ankle. He didn’t return to the game. His status isn’t known at this time.

The bench players had mixed success scoring:

• Spike Albrecht – 0 and 0 points.
  
• Max Bielfeldt – DNP and 4 points. Max had to play a lot more minutes in the Illinois game, with Morgan out, and he did fine.
  
• Jon Horford – 2 and 7 points. Jon also had to play a lot more minutes in the Illinois game, with Morgan out, and he also did fine.
  
• Caris LeVert – 2 and 0 points.
  
• Mitch McGary – 6 and 6 points.

Michigan only got 10 points from the bench in the Purdue game, but they got 17 points vs. Illinois, which is more like it.

This Week

After a couple games against lower-division teams, Michigan has one more relatively easy game, then they start a brutal 4-game stretch. This week, they play Northwestern on Wednesday (01/30/2013, 6:30 p.m., BTN) in Crisler Arena, then on Saturday (02/02/2013, 9:00 p.m. EST, ESPN) they play at (#7) Indiana. They should beat Northwestern fairly easily, but the game at IU will be Michigan’s toughest test yet. If they can win that one, they’ll be in the driver’s seat for the Big Ten title.

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

Go Blue!

The (#5) University of Michigan men’s basketball team won a big game on the road last week, after looking terrible in the beginning of their previous game, a 56-53 loss to Ohio State. On Thursday (01/17/2013), they beat (#9) Minnesota 83-75. The win raises UM’s record to 17-1, 4-1 in Big Ten play. They are tied for 2^nd place in the Big Ten.

In their loss to OSU, Michigan started the game playing terribly, and they dug themselves into a hole that they spent the next 30 minutes digging out of. Not so in the Minnesota game. They came out playing hard from the opening tip, and never let Minnesota get very far ahead. Minnesota’s biggest lead was 6-2, in the opening minutes. They were still ahead, 13-10, with about 14 minutes left in the 1^st half, when Michigan got it going. The Wolverines went on a nice 16-3 run, to open up a 10-point lead (26-16) with 8 minutes left in the 1^st half, and they never trailed again. Minnesota managed to cut the deficit to 2 points a couple times, including 30-28 with about 4 minutes left in the half, but Michigan managed to counter every Minnesota run. Michigan led by 6 (36-30) at halftime, and pushed the lead right back to 10 points (42-32) in the first 1:20 after halftime. From there, they got the lead up as high as 19 points (58-39) with 12:30 left in the game, then they held off Minnesota down the stretch to win by 8.

It was an impressive win, and it showed that Michigan does have the ability to win a big game on the road against a Top-10 opponent in a (very) hostile environment. Minnesota really wanted this one, and they played hard, but Michigan had the weapons to beat them.

The stats are pretty impressive as well, especially for a Big Ten road game. Michigan shot very well overall (28-for-51 = 54.9%), and they shot well from 3-point range (10-for-20 = 50.0%). They shot free throws well enough to win (17-for-25 = 68.0%), but they lost the rebounding battle (25-33). They did win the turnover battle (12-15), but 12 turnovers is a lot for this season’s Michigan team.

Individually, 3 players hit double figures:

• Trey Burke – 18 points (and 9 assists, just missing a double-double).
• Tim Hardaway Jr. – 21 points (on only 8 shots!).
• Nik Stauskas – 11 points. Back in the “double figures” club again, after missing it last game.

The other 2 starters almost hit double figures:

• Jordan Morgan – 9 points (all in the 2nd half).
• Glenn Robinson III – 9 points.

Coach Beilein played more bench players than usual for a close game. They had mixed success scoring:

• Spike Albrecht – 2 points.
• Max Bielfeldt – 0 points.
• Caris LeVert – 5 points.
• Mitch McGary – 8 points.
• Blake McLimans – 0 points.
• Matt Vogrich – 0 points.

Michigan got 15 points from the bench, which is a little better.

This Week

After only playing one game last week, Michigan has two games this week. On Thursday (01/24/2013, 7:00 p.m., ESPN), they play Purdue in Crisler Arena, then on Sunday (01/27/2013, 6:00 p.m. EST, BTN), they play at (#23) Illinois. These are both games that Michigan should win, but the Big Ten is very unpredictable this season, and a road game at Illinois is always tough.

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

Go Blue!