Michigan 61, Purdue 56
Eric Upchurch/MGoBlog
Derrick Walton had taken nine shots. None of them had gone in. With Michigan improbably within three points in the waning minutes against Purdue, however, he crossed over PJ Thompson and charged into the paint, laying his first bucket in off the glass as AJ Hammons knocked him to the floor.
While Walton missed his chance to tie the game at the line, he more than redeemed himself, pulling down two signature high-flying defensive rebounds and making 4/4 free throws in the final 15 seconds to seal the victory.
On the afternoon Caris LeVert finally returned to the court, only to play 11 scoreless first-half minutes before sitting out the second half, Zak Irvin also played out a redemption tale. Coming off an ugly 1/8 performance against Minnesota, Irvin went 2/7 in the first half and had his first shot of the second swatted by Hammons. Then he heated up from the outside and turned around his battle with burly Purdue forward Caleb Swanigan, scoring 16 of his 22 points in the second half, including the winning points on a pull-up from the free-throw line with 1:09 remaining that barely crested over Hammons' fingertips.
Despite inconsistent performances from their stars, foul trouble for Mark Donnal, and Rapheal Davis once again eliminating Duncan Robinson (4 points, 0/1 3P) from the offense, Michigan found a way to win. To earn it, they had to lean on defense and rebounding.
No, really.
Against the best rebounding team in the conference on both ends of the floor, Michigan won the battle of the boards, pulling down 28% of their misses to Purdue's 20%. While Swanigan (14 points, 6/9 FG) proved tough to handle, the bigs collectively slowed the two-headed center monster of Hammons and Isaac Haas (combined 21 points on 24 shots) with help from timely double-teams by the guards.
That's how Michigan could go 5/20 from three and still beat a team that presents major matchup issues. Purdue went 6/12 from beyond the arc but only 15/41 within it, and the second chances they normally rely upon weren't available very often. Days removed from one of the most demoralizing weeks in recent memory, Michigan is 9-4 in the Big Ten, all alone in fourth place and needing only two wins in their final five games—which includes a home matchup against Northwestern—to feel very good about their NCAA Tournament chances.
Perhaps—just perhaps—we were too quick to bury a John Beilein team. It wouldn't be the first time.
February 14th, 2016 at 7:54 AM ^
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February 14th, 2016 at 12:27 AM ^
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February 14th, 2016 at 8:48 AM ^
Head coach one day. Spike too.
February 14th, 2016 at 8:39 PM ^
February 14th, 2016 at 7:13 AM ^
February 14th, 2016 at 8:14 AM ^
Go Blue! Maybe they have turned a corner on defense. If so, they might make it to the sweet 16. As far as all the critcism of this team and Beilein:
So far Beilein has rarely gotten the very top basketball players that Kentucky, Duke, and MSU (to a lesser extent) get. All his players have some strengths but they also have some glaring weakness (Burke--too small, Stauskis--faced poor competition & a bit slow, Levert--thin, thiner, and still thinner). This means he has to succeed like Wisconsin succeeded: developing his players over the course of four years to become a highly competitive team. As we know Wisconsin had troubles come March because of a lack of physical talent. I think Beilein's teams have, as a general rule, more chance in March because he recruits better in general, recruits shooters more successfully and then tries to teach them defense. He also is a better coach in my opinion
The Burke-Stauskis years were an aberration in that two sophomores took their games far beyond any reasonable expectation. The role of a true 5 star McGarry and also Robinson (if only he had stayed--but that's selfish thinking) skewed our perceptions. This year we have a young team and a team hurting from the injury bug. I firmly believe that Walton would be an all-star if he hadn't been hurt last year. As it is, he's been very good but not great because of shooting woes/court awareness against good teams that defend him better.
The rest of the team is very young. They need to stay around. Some (Chatman) have been a disappointment on the court so far, but MAR is a surprise as is Dawkins, but it is only their second year. If they could get a physical big man--high 4 or 5 star recruit who really can play his first year--or if Donnell or Doyle or Wilson or Wagner could make a big leap, next year could be another sweet sixteen or more. Expectations are too high for this team with all the injuryies, although we do expect the best--not at the cost of another scandal, however.
February 14th, 2016 at 9:43 AM ^
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February 14th, 2016 at 9:51 AM ^
no - he'd probably played too much of the season pre-injury, but even if he hadn't then, by playing today, he's definitely not eligible for a medical redshirt (game action late in the season).
February 14th, 2016 at 9:59 AM ^
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February 14th, 2016 at 10:19 AM ^
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February 14th, 2016 at 11:28 AM ^
February 14th, 2016 at 12:12 PM ^
even if it came down to clutch.
I posted in a previous thread that we're better than rising / falling to our opponent's expected level (with some complacency / despair to boot, finishing us off at times).
I was wrong.
We are -- and always have been -- a team that seems to need to find its back against the wall to rise to its full potential. (Note to the doubters: support & faith in the team -- and its coach -- are crucial to this working out this way.)
Maybe in time we can achieve consistent excellence,
but for now I'll take it. Plus, the team developed muscle/cajones/whatever, through the process, a real turning point I think...
This is good.
February 14th, 2016 at 12:16 PM ^
Caris.
February 14th, 2016 at 10:37 PM ^
At best
February 15th, 2016 at 6:56 AM ^
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