Michigan went into Columbus absent an All-American caliber player and their head coach, while playing a functional play-in game that would largely determine the season.

With everything on the line, it was senior DeVante Jones that answered the bell time and time again. 

The Wolverine floor general carried the team to a rivalry win that likely punched a ticket to the Dance, while extending the tradition of regular-season finale wins over Ohio State with post-season implications at play. For that, he will live in Michigan lore. 

Jones manipulated the Buckeye defense in every way imaginable. Let's take a look at his brilliance and re-live each agonizing moment for those jokers in Columbus.

Going Under

Coming into yesterdays' game, DeVante was shooting 25% from 3 in B10 play. So Holtmann opted to have his guards go under ballscreens to the start game. That approach cost OSU, as Jones connected on a pull-up triple less than 2 minutes into the game. The Buckeyes went back to that coverage early in the second half, with the same result. Pull-up three. Going-under was put on the shelf for the remainder of the game. 

Soft Show

After going-under proved futile, OSU went with a Wisconsin-like soft show approach midway through the first half. In this coverage, the opposing big doesn't show at screen level to avoid a potential blow-by, but isn't deep enough to be considered drop coverage as there are open windows for the roll-man.

This was the most-used coverage by Holtmann against Michigan ballscreens and Jones shredded it as both a scorer and playmaker. The spatial awareness and timing here is just impeccable, as Jones served up easy buckets for Moussa.

Rejecting Screens

In the second half, during critical moments, Jones was at peak comfort level against Ohio State. He started rejecting screens with regularity to catch defenders cheating one way before shifting gears and scoring on straight-line drives.

You don't see this very much at the college level because head coaches are generally control freaks that don't want much freelancing. But you see it a ton at the NBA level where individual talent trumps coaching by a very wide margin. For a team that has lacked a perimeter closer, this sort of comfort + confidence was a welcome sight when the team needed it the most. 

[AFTER THE JUMP, Jones delivers daggers!]

After roughly a month of defensive improvement, Michigan came crashing back to earth in a loss against Illinois yesterday. Brad Underwood's team put on an offensive clinic that Phil Martelli and staff seemingly had no answer for.

You may recall Brian's column from a year ago entitled The Book, which more or less conveys a schematic/personnel adjustment to bottle up a certain player/play-type that becomes a blueprint moving forward. 

So what does The Book look like against Michigan? Let's take a look below.

Trap Coverage

Early on in the game, Michigan went with trap coverage against a side ballscreen from Frazier/Kofi. Eli makes a great low-man rotation to beat Kofi to the spot before the catch. That forces Cockburn to swing-through, allowing Diabate to give help. But it simply doesn't matter because a 5'11 low man isn't going to deter a legit seven-footer.

Icing Ballscreens

After Illinois easily handled the trap approach, the Wolverines started having their guards ice ballscreens in attempt to blow-up the ballscreen game entirely. 

As you can see in the clip above, Plummer simply blows by Eli with one dribble before pulling up and hitting a triple.

Next up, Jones attempts to ice a ballscreen. But as soon as Frazier sees DeVante commit to that strategy he uses his momentum against and shifts gears to leave Jones in the background. Illinois plays around the world before connecting on a corner three.

Drop Coverage

Late in the first half the coaching staff opted for pure drop coverage, but it didn't produce the desired outcome either. Kofi sets a great screen on Jones and he simply cannot re-engage with Frazier so Hunter is forced to deter an otherwise open layup. The result is a functional assist, as there is simply no way DeVante is going to prevent Kofi from collecting the offensive rebound + finish.

[AFTER THE JUMP, more matchup problems + what does it mean for the future?]

A shorthanded Michigan squad responded well in the aftermath of the Wisconsin fiasco. With a Q1 win over Iowa on the road and another victory over a bubble team in Rutgers, the Wolverines control their destiny down the stretch with three of four games at Crisler. 

THREE UP

The kids come to play. In perhaps the biggest game of the season, the freshman trio of Houstan/Bufkin/Collins was outstanding. Collins in particular was superb during a second half run that effectively ended the game. His defensive presence on the ball made a huge impact. He was in guys rather than next to them as reflected below.

Offensively, the euro-step in transition attracted all the headlines, but the possession below may depict the most growth. Instead of pounding the ball without creating any advantage, Frankie waited until the weakside help left the paint and fed Dickinson with the re-entry pass once he established better position. 

Individual +/- is probably the biggest fraud in basketball, but Collins going a +8 in nine minutes definitely lines up with the eye test. He turbo-charged the Wolverine 9-0 run to stretch the lead to 12. 

Bufkin joined the party with significant contributions of his own. The possession clipped below is likely the best two-way sequence of his career.

Kobe had the look of a seasoned veteran when he digs at Omoruyi to make him pick up his dribble before closing out under control and contesting the jumpshot. On the other end the lanky guard/wing is the ballhandler in Pistol action and absorbs contact before converting at the rim. 

The defensive end was also a huge plus for Bufkin, as he did a great job on the ball against Rutgers' secondary shot-creators.

Since getting roasted by Sam Sessoms on the road at Penn State, Kobe has improved a considerable amount on the defensive end. 

Michigan's most touted 2021 signee, Caleb Houstan, lead the scoring charge with 21 points and five triples.

But Houstan did more than just space the floor. He had a nice block early on and wasn't a liability defensively. Throw in a dumpoff as the ballhandler in ballscreen action and you have his most complete performance of the season. 

Collins and Bufkin going from net-negatives to neutral/slightly above-average absolutely changes the complexion for this team. Kobe being competent allows Michigan to shift Houstan to the PF spot for spurts and Frankie holding his own means the Wolverines can be a bit more aggressive in transition. Perhaps more than anything, some consistency from those two allows Jones and Brooks to get reasonable rest while not being forced to play Houstan should he struggle. 

Steady guidance from DeVante Jones. The senior PG had another good outing against Rutgers with 14 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists on 6/12 from the field. During B10 play, Jones is third in the conference in assists per game at 4.9 and fourth in assist/TO ratio at 2.7. Throw in 10.4 points and nearly 5 rebounds per contest and you have a reliable starting floor general.

His game isn't necessarily pleasing from aesthetics perspective, but it is effective. A big part of DeVante's scoring package is the ability to hit unorthodox shots as seen below.

For a team that doesn't have have someone to consistently hit tough shots from the perimeter, converting those off-balance looks compensates a bit.

Additionally, Jones has quietly strung together some quality outings on the defensive end. The rotations and activity he displayed against Rutgers was notable and he had some really good moments against Wisconsin as well.

While he may not have the perimeter shotmaking ability of a Mike Smith, DeVante is a more complete player at this point. 

[AFTER THE JUMP, please hit open shots.]