Merry Christmas, to all who celebrate it.

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played one game this past week, and they lost it.  On Tuesday (12/19/2023), they lost to Florida 106-101 in double overtime.  The game was played in Charlotte, NC, as part of the Jumpman Invitational.  The loss lowers Michigan’s record to 6-6 (1-1 in Big Ten).

What Happened?

Michigan has lost six games this season, and five of them have been close enough that either team could have won.  The lone exception was the game against Texas Tech in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas before Thanksgiving.  All the other losses have been by 8 points or less, or in overtime (or double overtime):

• 11/17/2023 – Long Beach State: 94-86.  Michigan was only down 2 points (87-85) with 30 seconds left.
• 11/22/2023 – Memphis: 71-67.  Michigan was only down 2 points (69-67) with 10 seconds left.
• 12/02/2023 – Oregon:  86-83 (overtime).  The game was tied (83-83) with 25 seconds left in overtime.
• 12/05/2023 – Indiana:  78-75.  Michigan was only down 1 point (75-74) with 35 seconds left.
• 12/19/2023 – Florida: 106-101 (double overtime).  Michigan was only down 4 points (105-101) with 18 seconds left in the second overtime.

Those are all games that Michigan could have won.  They have to get better at winning “crunch time”.

Game Flow

Michigan had the lead for most of the 1^st half.  UM was up 8 points (15-7) with 13:53 to go in the half, and kept the lead in the 5-7 point range for the next 10 minutes.  At the 3:32 mark, Florida went up 31-30, and the lead went back and forth until halftime, when Florida led 38-37.  Michigan should have led at halftime, and they had a 2 point lead and the last shot, but they threw a lousy alley-oop pass that was intercepted, and Florida hit a half-court 3-pointer at the buzzer to lead by one.  Sigh.

Once again, Michigan led for most of the 2^nd half.  With 17:19 left in regulation, the game was tied, 44-44.  Michigan went on an 11-2 run, and they were up 9 points (55-46) at the 15:06 mark.  They kept the lead in the 4-6 point range for the next 5 minutes, but Florida slowly clawed back into it, and the game was tied (63-63) with 9:57 to go.  The lead went back and forth for the rest of regulation, with neither team able to get more than 4 points ahead.  The game was tied at 65-65, 69-69, 72-72, 74-74, and 81-81.  Florida took the last shot in regulation, but missed it.  The score was 81-81 at the end of regulation.

Michigan led for most of the first overtime, but never by more than 3 points.  The game was tied at 83-83, 84-84, and 89-89.  This time, Michigan had the last shot, but missed.  On to the second overtime, tied up at 89-89.

Michigan finally ran out of gas in the second overtime.  The score was tied at 91-91 and 93-93, then Florida went on a 9-0 run to go up 102-93, and that was the ball game.  It’s a shame, because Michigan played well enough to win, but they just couldn’t hit the key buckets.

Stats

The game stats            were pretty good.  Michigan shot decently overall (34-for-76 = 54.4%), they shot 3-pointers very well (10-for-22 = 45.5%), and they shot free throws well (23-for-29 = 79.3%).  They lost the rebounding battle badly (54-43), and tied in the turnover battle (16-16).  They lost this game with poor rebounding and too many turnovers.  They gave up 21 offensive rebounds.  Ouch.

Who Started?

The starters were Nimari Burnett, Dug McDaniel, Olivier Nkamhoua, Tarris Reed, Jr., and Terrance Williams II.

Who Looked Good?

McDaniel had another monster game, with 33 points and 8 rebounds.  33 points ties his career high, which he set back on 12/02/2023 vs. Oregon, in another road loss in overtime.

Nkamhoua also had a very good game, with 24 points.  He also had 11 rebounds, for a double-double.

Williams continued his recent improved play, with 17 points on good shooting (7-for-12 overall, 3-for-5 from deep).

Reed had a pretty good game, with 14 points.

Burnett had a decent game, with 10 points.  His shooting was off: 3-for-11 overall, 0-for-5 from deep.

Jaelin Llewellyn played for 5 minutes, and scored 3 points, going 1-for-2 from deep.  This was all the bench scoring for Michigan: 3 points.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

Tray Jackson played for 11 minutes, but didn’t attempt a shot.

Will Tschetter played for 8 minutes, but didn’t attempt a shot.

Who Else Played?

No one else played.  That was a big problem.  The starters played 45, 47, 44, 45, and 45 minutes, and the 3 bench players played 5, 11, and 8 minutes.  The starters were out of gas by the end of the second overtime.

Who Didn’t Play?

The scholarship players who didn’t play: Youssef Khayat and George Washington III.

The Scout Team players who didn’t play: Ian Burns, Harrison Hochberg, Jackson Selvala, and Cooper Smith.

Jace Howard is still recovering from an injury, and not playing yet.  He’s expected back “later in the season”.

What Does It Mean?

In a season where Michigan stood a chance of getting into the NCAA Tournament, this loss would have been a huge disappointment, since it would have been a missed opportunity for a “quality win” on their resume.  Since Michigan is just hoping to get to 0.500 and sneak into the NIT, this loss was just another loss, in a season sure to be full of them.  Until they prove they can win a close game, they are looking more like a 10-21 team than a 16-15 team.

What’s Next?

This week, Michigan only plays one game.  On Friday (12/29/2023, 7:00 p.m., B1G+), they play McNeese in Crisler Arena.  This is their last non-conference game.

McNeese is currently 10-2, with an impressive win over Southern Mississippi, and embarrassing losses to Western Carolina and Louisiana Tech.  They do have an interesting win over Mississippi University For Women, 92-23.  That must have been something.  They don’t have any noteworthy players, and they also don’t have much height: no one over 6’9”.  This game could be more challenging than expected, but Michigan should win it if they play a solid game.

Check back next week to find out what happened and why.

Go Blue!

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played one game this past week, and they won it.  On Saturday (12/16/2023), they beat Eastern Michigan 83-66 in Crisler Arena. The win raises Michigan’s record to 6-5 (1-1 in Big Ten).

What Happened?

For the first time this season, Michigan played an uneventful game, and they won it.  Part of what made it uneventful was that it was the first game this season with Juwan Howard as head coach, now that he is sufficiently recovered from his heart surgery.  The other part of what made it uneventful was that Michigan played a “typical” game for them.  Not a great game, not a bad game, a typical game.  They were about 17 points better than EMU, and that’s what the scoreboard said at the end.

It may have been an uneventful game, but it was hardly an uneventful week, with all kinds of rumors flying around about a verbal altercation involving Jace Howard, an unidentified student trainer, Jon Sanderson (the strength and conditioning coach), and Juwan Howard.  It resulted in an HR complaint filed by Sanderson, and no disciplinary actions taken by Warde Manuel, the Athletic Director.  The team didn’t appear at all affected by the outside distractions.

Game Flow

Michigan led for almost the entire game.  EMU was up 4-2 early, but UM went up 5-4 at the 18:17 mark, and never trailed again.  They pushed the lead up to 10 points (16-6) with 14:14 to go, and kept the lead in the 7-9 point range for the next 10 minutes.  The lead was still 10 points (37-27) at the 3:46 mark, when Michigan went on a 12-5 run to end the half, up 49-32 at halftime.  Michigan kept the lead in the 14-16 point range for most of the 2^nd half, although EMU did creep closer every now and then.  With 10:00 to go, the lead was down to 10 points (59-49), when a flurry of activity in just 22 seconds put the game back out of reach: EMU missed a 3-pointer (9:33 mark), UM made a 3-pointer (9:27), EMU missed a dunk (9:17), and UM tipped in an alley-oop pass (9:11) to push the lead back up to 15 points.  EMU never got closer than 12 points the rest of the way.  It was a solid win against a feisty opponent.

Stats

The game stats were pretty good.  Michigan shot well overall (31-for-57 = 54.4%), they shot 3-pointers very well (12-for-27 = 44.4%), and they shot free throws decently (9-for-15 = 60.0%).  They won the rebounding battle (37-30), but lost the turnover battle (11-5).  They won this game with good shooting and good 3-point defense: EMU shot 2-for-15 from deep, including 0-for-7 by their leading scorer.

Who Started?

The starters were Nimari Burnett, Dug McDaniel, Olivier Nkamhoua, Will Tschetter, and Terrance Williams II.

Who Looked Good?

Nkamhoua was the leading scorer, with 17 points.  He also had 9 rebounds, for an almost-double-double.

Burnett had a good game, with 14 points on 5-for-7 shooting (3-for-5 from deep).

Williams continued his recent improved play, with 13 points on decent shooting (4-for-10 overall, 3-for-7 from deep).

McDaniel was limited by foul trouble, but he still managed to score 11 points.

Tarris Reed, Jr. didn’t start this game, for the first time this season.  He played well off the bench, with 13 points, and he did start the 2^nd half.

Tray Jackson played well off the bench, with 7 points.

Tschetter had a decent game, with 5 points and 6 rebounds.

Jaelin Llewellyn played for 15 minutes, and scored 3 points, going 1-for-2 from deep.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

All the mainstream players looked good this week.

Who Else Played?

Ian Burns played, but didn’t attempt a shot.

Harrison Hochberg played, but didn’t attempt a shot.

Youssef Khayat missed his only shot attempt.

Jackson Selvala missed his only shot attempt.

George Washington III played, but didn’t attempt a shot.

Who Didn’t Play?

Cooper Smith didn’t play.

Jace Howard is still recovering from an injury, and not playing yet.  He’s expected back “later in the season”.

What Does It Mean?

This was a game that Michigan was expected to win, and they took care of business.  If they can continue to play some solid, “typical” basketball, they might stand a shot at a better-than-0.500 record.

What’s Next?

This week, Michigan only plays one game.  On Tuesday (12/19/2023, 7:00 p.m., ESPN), they play Florida in Charlotte, NC, as part of the Jumpman Invitational.

Florida is currently 7-3, with impressive wins over Florida State and Pittsburgh, and no embarrassing losses.  They have one noteworthy player: Tyrese Samuel, a transfer from Seton Hall. They also have a lot of height: two 6’10” players, a 6’11” player, and a 7’1” player.  This game will be a big challenge for Michigan, and they will have to play their best game so far this season to win it.

Check back next week to find out what happened and why.

Go Blue!

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games this past week, and they lost one and won the other.  On Tuesday (12/05/2023), they lost to Indiana 78-75 in Crisler Arena, then on Sunday (12/10/2023), they won at Iowa 90-80.  Both games were in the Big Ten.  The loss and win leave Michigan with a record of 5-5 (1-1 in Big Ten).

What Happened?

These were two games that Michigan could have easily lost, so winning one of them is a bonus.  Winning a road game in the Big Ten is no easy feat, and Michigan has had a tough time winning at Iowa, so this win is doubly surprising, and doubly sweet.  The Indiana game was close and exciting, and Michigan could have won that one as well.

Game Flow

The Indiana game was close for the whole game, with neither team leading by more than 7 points.  IU led for most of the 1^st half, but Michigan kept it close.  With 1:12 left in the half, it was all tied up (37-37).  Michigan scored with 43 seconds to go, and led by 2 points at halftime, 39-37.  The 2^nd half was more of the same, except that Michigan led for most of the time.  With 8:59 to go, Michigan led by 6 points, 59-53.  IU went ahead, 60-59, and then the lead went back and forth, with several ties (60-60, 62-62, 64-64, 66-66, 69-69, 71-71, and 73-73).  It was 73-73 with 1:23 to go, when IU went ahead by 2, and Michigan never quite caught up.  As in the Oregon game last week, Michigan missed some key free throws and had some silly turnovers in the last couple minutes.  If they can clean that up, they might win one of the close ones.

The Iowa game was also close for the first 22 minutes, with neither team leading by more than 5 points.  Michigan led for most of the 1^st half, but Iowa kept it close.  It was all tied up, 33-33, with 1:52 left in the half, and Michigan made 2 free throws with 22 seconds left to lead by 2 points (35-33) at halftime.  Iowa opened the 2^nd half with a quick 4-0 run, for their last lead of the game, 37-35, with 19:13 to go.  Michigan went on an 11-0 run to get a 9-point lead that they never surrendered, 46-37, with 16:38 left.  Michigan pushed their lead to 11 points (53-42) at the 13:36 mark, and then they put the game away with a brilliant 9-0 run over the next 71 seconds.  With 12:25 left, Michigan led by 20 points (62-42), and the game was over.  Before Michigan emptied the bench and let the Scout Team play, Iowa never got closer than 14 points.  The Scout Team played for the last 90 seconds, and they let Iowa make the score look more respectable, but that was a 20-point victory masquerading as a 10-point victory.

Stats

The game stats for the Indiana game were mediocre.  Michigan shot decently overall (26-for-55 = 47.3%), they shot 3-pointers poorly (4-for-17 = 23.5%), and they shot free throws pretty well (19-for-24 = 79.2%).  They tied in the rebounding battle (30-30), and barely lost the turnover battle (14-13).  They lost this game with poor 3-point shooting.

The game stats for the Iowa game were only a little better.  Michigan shot decently overall (29-for-60 = 48.3%), they shot 3-points fairly well (9-for-24 = 37.5%), and they shot free throws          well (23-for-28 = 82.1%).  They won the rebounding battle (41-32), but lost the turnover battle (13-10).  They won this game with shooting and rebounding.

Who Started?

The starters were Nimari Burnett, Dug McDaniel, Olivier Nkamhoua, Tarris Reed, Jr., and Terrance Williams II.

Who Looked Good?

Nkamhoua was the leading scorer vs. Indiana (18 points), and he had 12 points and 10 rebounds vs. Iowa, for another double-double.

McDaniel hit double figures in both games (13 and 11 points), but he had a terrible week shooting: 3-for-14 overall (0-for-4 from deep) vs. Indiana, and 4-for-12 overall (1-for-5 from deep) vs. Iowa.  After his brilliant shooting in the Oregon game, it was painful to watch him shoot and miss so much this week.

Williams was the only other starter to hit double figures in both games, with 10 points vs. Indiana and 13 points vs. Iowa.  He had a pretty good week shooting 3-pointers: 2-for-5 vs. Indiana and 3-for-6 vs. Iowa.  He’s been playing the best basketball of his career lately, and I hope he keeps it up.

Reed was the undisputed star of the Iowa game, with a career-high 19 points, on 7-for-10 shooting.  He even shot free throws well (for him): 5-for-7.  Add in 6 rebounds and 3 blocked shots, and that’s the kind of game Michigan needs from him consistently.  Unfortunately, he only had 5 points vs. Indiana, which is closer to his average.

Burnett had one mediocre game (4 points vs. Indiana) and one good game (14 points vs. Iowa).  He shot poorly vs. Iowa: 4-for-11 (2-for-8 from deep).

Will Tschetter came in off the bench and played very well in both games, with 17 and 10 points.  He was red-hot vs. Indiana (6-for-7 overall, 1-for-2 from deep), and he shot pretty well vs. Iowa (3-for-6 overall, 1-for-2 from deep).

Tray Jackson played pretty well off the bench, with 5 and 8 points.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

All the mainstream players looked good this week.

Who Else Played?

Ian Burns played in the Iowa game, but didn’t attempt a shot.

Youssef Khayat played in the Iowa game, and scored 2 points on free throws.

Jaelin Llewellyn played in the Indiana game, but not the Iowa game.  He hit his only shot attempt vs. IU, a 3-pointer.

Jackson Selvala played in the Iowa game, but didn’t attempt a shot.

Cooper Smith played in the Iowa game, but didn’t attempt a shot.

George Washington III played in the Iowa game, and hit one of his two free throws.

Who Didn’t Play?

Harrison Hochberg didn’t play in either game.

Jace Howard is still recovering from an injury, and not playing yet.  He’s expected back “later in the season”.

What Does It Mean?

It’s great that Michigan won one of their two December Big Ten games, especially on the road against one of the teams they’re expected to battle with in the lower half of the Big Ten standings.  It’s a shame that they let the upset bid vs. Indiana slip away.  Still, they’re looking like the 10-21 team I predicted.  They have yet to win a close game, and they’re likely to see many close games the rest of the season.

What’s Next?

This week, Michigan only plays one game.  On Saturday (12/16/2023, 2:30 p.m., BTN), they play Eastern Michigan in Crisler Arena.

Eastern Michigan is currently 5-4, with no impressive wins, and a few embarrassing losses: Butler (94-55), (#10) Florida Atlantic (100-57), North Dakota, and Oakland.  They don’t have any noteworthy players (Emoni Bates was there last season, but he’s in the G-League now), but they do have some height: a 6’11” player and a 7-footer.  This is a game that Michigan should win, but so was Long Beach State.  If UM plays a good clean game, they should beat EMU, but if they start turning the ball over and missing free throws, who knows.

Check back next week to find out what happened and why.

Go Blue!