Michigan 68, Penn State 55
Michigan kept its record perfect in a sluggish, very on-brand resumption of Big Ten play against a physical Penn State squads. Both teams labored through the first half, unable to score, but Michigan’s offense stopped turning it over and outpaced the unpolished Nittany Lions in the second. Lamar Stevens and especially Mike Watkins played well for PSU, but Michigan held Penn State to 0.76 points per possession and won with its defense yet again — a style that’s well-suited to conference games like this one.
Penn State’s a quality defensive team too, and they made Michigan uncomfortable early, forcing three turnovers over the first five possessions of the game: Jordan Poole made a careless pass, Josh Reaves hounded Ignas Brazdeikis into a turnover, and they intercepted a Charles Matthews pass in traffic. Michigan’s defense also caused problems for Penn State: Matthews began possessions guarding Stevens—PSU’s star—and helped aggressively, mostly with Jon Teske, on his touches. It was almost eight minutes into the game (and the teams had combined for just 13 points) when Michigan’s offense started to click.
The run started with Poole hitting Austin Davis on a side-ball screen and Davis making the extra pass to Iggy for an open layup. Poole made highlight plays on the next two possessions: he got PSU center John Harrar on a switch and hit a step-back three, then he made a no-look, behind-the-back pass to Davis for an open dunk. A few possessions later, he baited Reaves into a three-point foul and hit all three. With Matthews and Iggy — who was blocked several times at the rim — struggling, Poole’s nine first half points kept Michigan afloat.
[Campredon]
Michigan settled into its second prolonged drought of the half, featuring a missed wide-open dunk by Teske (which would have pushed the lead back to double digits). Penn State went on an 8-0 run over that span and had a chance to tie or take the lead late in the half, but Eli Brooks jumped a passing lane and scored with a two-handed dunk, then Zavier Simpson hit Teske for a big pick-and-pop three on the next possession. Michigan carried a 25-20 lead into halftime; the two teams combined for one fewer turnover (18) than made shots (19).
Teske made a significant impact to open the second half, the decisive stretch of the game. He got good position in the middle of the paint and hit a hook on Michigan’s first possession, took it to the rim and drew a foul on the next (1-2 FT), and then helped force a steal that led to a three-point play by Iggy. Penn State turned it over twice more after that and prompted a Patrick Chambers timeout. By that point, the lead had grown to 12. It would extend to 17 and would recede to 8, but Michigan controlled the game the rest of the way.
Penn State’s size and toughness bothered Michigan’s wings early, but Matthews and Iggy each found more success in the second half after adjusting to Penn State’s size. Iggy seemed to relish the physicality he’ll often see in the Big Ten, scoring on bully-ball drives and some of his awkward shots inside. Matthews played well on both ends and made a couple of really nice moves: schooling freshman Myles Dread in the post and hitting a jab-step three over Watkins on a switch. With Isaiah Livers sidelined due to injury, even more of a burden fell on those two, and they responded well after inefficient shooting in the first half.
[Campredon]
Meanwhile, Penn State’s offense found easy looks nearly impossible to come by on the other end, due to some combination of Michigan’s fantastic defense as well as their own offensive lethargy and lack of catalysts. Stevens went on a 7-0 run of his own after some physical takes to the basket and briefly threatened to make it a game (he was rebuffed by Poole), but had an average game otherwise; Watkins was even better, protecting the rim well and scoring a very efficient 19 points with a solid post game. Those two mostly isolated though, and Michigan kept a stagnant offense playing one-on-one basketball. Penn State’s other players were essentially erased.
It wasn’t a dominant win, but the Wolverines had a large margin of error with how well they played defensively. They looked much sharper than they had through the malaise of December and held Penn State to its worst offensive showing of the season. That the Nittany Lions made only one three-pointer in 12 attempts, many of which hit the backboard, and that the only made three was banked-in off a broken play, is a pretty apt microcosm for this game.
Michigan will surely have several more ugly wins as the conference season wears on. A step up in competition is next with Indiana coming to Ann Arbor on Sunday.
[Box score after the JUMP]
January 3rd, 2019 at 10:49 PM ^
Good, if not somewhat ugly win.
January 4th, 2019 at 8:21 AM ^
I watched bits of the Wisconsin/Minnesota game after we played. That was an uuuuugly game. Badgers only put up 14 points in the first half and the Gophers had trouble putting them away. Along with Iowa (#25, loss on the road), Wisconsin (#22) will likely drop out of the top 25.
January 3rd, 2019 at 10:50 PM ^
The offense seems off.
January 4th, 2019 at 1:00 AM ^
Settling for way too many mid-range jumpers the past couple games.
January 4th, 2019 at 7:32 AM ^
And failing to finish at the rim when they get there. We’re struggling Inside the three point line but there were nice adjustments that were made when playing against the zone last night as opposed to how we attacked it against Binghamton. We settled for far fewer midrange jumpers but when we did take them, it wasn’t pretty.
January 4th, 2019 at 8:39 AM ^
We are going to have to start playing Brooks more. Simpson is an outstanding leader and defender but his inability to shoot the ball is causing root core problems in the offense the symptoms of which are spreading throughout. I am a little disappointed the Dejulius has not been able to crack the rotation because there is a blueprint forming as to how to stifle our offense and it all stems from the man with the ball in his hands the most being close to zero of a perimeter offensive threat. I'm afraid that Simpson's offensive deficiencies are causing me to recalibrate my expectations for the ceiling of this team. Don't get me wrong, it is a strong team and this has been an impressive run so far but that is certainly an issue that isn't going anywhere.
January 4th, 2019 at 9:18 AM ^
Yet the offense runs better with Simpson on the floor. He had the second highest offensive rating last night (to Poole). Add his defense and I cannot see giving him fewer minutes.
We did miss Livers on offense last night.
January 4th, 2019 at 10:23 AM ^
Yeah, it is not at all the case that Simpson is the problem on offense right now (somewhat surprisingly).
He's driving the seams, moving the zone and hitting the open guy. 10 (!!) assists against Binghampton. 5 assist against PSU and scored 8 pts on 8 shots (better than the rest of the team). He isn't taking bad shots. He's doing exactly what he should: make two defenders collapse on him and then find the open man (usually for an open three).
You're correct that the offense has been better with him on the floor.
The problems the past two games are that teams have given M the mid-range jumper by simply not even guarding the high post. And Michigan has far too often taken that shot which is a low percentage, low return shot that isn't going to draw a foul. It's a bad shot and that's why it's open: the D is begging them to take it. Michigan has obliged.
The guys taking it have been Matthews, Iggy and Teske and they've not been good at it. Matthews was 1-9 (!!!) on mid-range 2s against Binghampton. He was 1-5 against PSU. Iggy was 0-7 (!!) against Binghampton (although he did adjust and take it to the hole more against PSU but didn't finish well). Teske was 2-5 and 1-4 respectively.
Those shots need to be reduced dramatically.
January 3rd, 2019 at 11:17 PM ^
"Livers injury"? Any idea what that means?
January 3rd, 2019 at 11:22 PM ^
During the broadcast one of them said “back spasms” — he was dressed but DNP
January 3rd, 2019 at 11:29 PM ^
Coach B said in postgame radio interview that his back spasms acted up this week, got better but tightened up pre-game. Head some therapy but no dice. Hope he's good to go for IU.
January 4th, 2019 at 12:42 AM ^
The liver has four lobes or parts: the right and the left lobes, the caudate and the quadrate lobes.
The liver cells produce bile, which is released into microscopic canals between the cells called bile canaliculi. These join as they go on to form bile ducts. Bile ducts from the different parts of the liver flow together to form the right and the left hepatic ducts, which join into the common hepatic duct.
Just below the liver, tucked into its own fossa or niche, is the gallbladder which stores the intensely bitter dark green fluid called bile. Its duct, called the cystic duct, joins with the common hepatic duct to form the common bile duct that empties bile into the duodenum as required for digestion of food.
Most of the bile that arrives via the common hepatic duct, however, goes into the gallbladder for storage till needed.
Also, I'm pretty sure that half of the reason they call it Red Bull is because of Taurine, a now synthetic bull bile. So there is that.
January 3rd, 2019 at 11:27 PM ^
I would certainly say that 14-0 is not too bad at all. All wins are good wins. Very proud of these guys, and the way they find ways to win. The team will only get better as the season goes along. Hail Beilein. Hail Yaklich.
January 3rd, 2019 at 11:33 PM ^
Kinda sloppy with the ball lately. Tightening that up will make the offense look better.
January 3rd, 2019 at 11:35 PM ^
I am not going to nitpick. A win is a win.
January 3rd, 2019 at 11:45 PM ^
Everyone looks pretty well-rounded out and certainly the defense can make-up for a bad shooting night when and if that happens because it occasionally happens to every team. Charles looks off, he has always been a bit inconsistent but I'm hoping coach can work some magic with him...no assists and 4 turnovers :/ Iggy and Poole are lights out.
January 4th, 2019 at 12:50 AM ^
Iggy wasn't exactly lights out tonight and struggled last game, but yes, he is generally lights out. 6-16. Couldn't finish near the basket.
Matthews is what he is and for the life of my I can't figure out why he still has the green light for all those 12-18 foot turn around jumpers. He has to be hitting them less than 40% of the time (which is a terrible < 0.8 ppp).
No reason he should continue to be the highest usage player on the team despite having bad shots splits (49%/33%/62%), when Poole and Iggy are much more efficient.
I will say, his 4 TOs tonight were frustrating but he's been much better this year taking care of the ball in general (16% OT rate last year down to 12.7% this year).
January 4th, 2019 at 7:39 AM ^
I’ve always thought he had too much usage too but he did carry us in the tourney last year with similar usage and shot selection.
January 4th, 2019 at 10:41 AM ^
Not the same shot selection. The past two games, he's taken 14 (!!) mid-range two point jumpers compared to only 8 shots at the rim and only 1 (!!) three pointer, total. That's a terrible shot mix for him - a guy that finishes extremely well at the basket.
He didn't take more than 4 mid-range jumpers in any tourney game last year. He took more threes (19) than mid-range shots (18) as he should and he took more shots at the rim than mid-range shots in each of six games (as he should).
He needs to get back to that mix, and I'm sure the coaches will make sure that's the case. If teams are going to do what Binghampton did and keep a guy back in the restricted area, Matthews needs to take a dribble and literally dunk it on his head.
January 3rd, 2019 at 11:50 PM ^
PSU is now 7-7, but have been competitive in every game. This was actually their largest margin of defeat of the season.
January 4th, 2019 at 12:23 AM ^
I saw on Twitter that prior to tonight PSU was “tied” with Duke for the longest span since a loss of more than 11 points. Guess Duke stands alone now.
January 4th, 2019 at 10:55 AM ^
After watching this game I’m not suprised atall by that stat. PSU is physical, tough, and scrappy. They just don’t have a dynamic playmaker to put a team away or take over a game in that last 4 minutes of tough games. PSU has the makings of an up and coming B1G team though.
January 4th, 2019 at 12:29 AM ^
Mathews has a game with 27% usage and 85 ORTG, which people have figured for weeks would be the reason we finally lose... and we win by 13. I’ll take it
January 4th, 2019 at 12:56 AM ^
That's a pretty standard line for him though. Not great but definitely not bad. Almost identical usage/Ortg as Braz.
I think our losses this year will happen when the other team just shoots lights out from three and/or 2 or more of Matthews, Poole and Iggy have bad games.
January 4th, 2019 at 5:42 AM ^
Davis is starting to contribute a bit. He is looking more comfortable out there.
As the season progresses the offense will improve as it seems to every season. That is exciting. An efficient offense with this defense will be tough to stop. They will always be prone to poor offensive games though due to their overall poor shooting.
FT shooting isnt stellar but doesnt seem to be as big a problem this year as last. Matthews in particular looks to have improved.
Its gonna be a special season.
January 4th, 2019 at 8:48 AM ^
I thought the first half shift of Austin was his best work to date on the season. I don't remember the exact play but the praise Dakich gave for his D on about three straight possessions passed my eye test as well.
January 4th, 2019 at 1:28 PM ^
It's truly amazing how little one has to do to get praised around here.
January 4th, 2019 at 10:45 AM ^
FT not a problem yet, because M literally has only had one close game!!!. Haven't had a single game yet in which the other team went to fouls in the last minute to extend a game. That will happen eventually. And then we'll either be nervous about Z/Matthews at the line and hope they put in Brooks if they can't make them.
January 4th, 2019 at 7:08 AM ^
M has yet to have to play from behind late in a game. They hold leads well, even if it’s just a small one, like versus Northwestern. Livers was missed, but they didn’t need him in this game.
January 4th, 2019 at 7:47 AM ^
They were down 5 with a few minutes left against Northwestern. So there goes that theory.
January 4th, 2019 at 8:57 AM ^
Yes, but no. It's true Michigan lost the lead late, but don’t exaggerate it. Michigan was never "down 5" in that game.
Northwestern briefly took a three point lead with about five minutes to go. They led for maybe two minutes total out of forty. The end game was back and forth but Michigan held them off.
M didn’t have to play from behind and mount a comeback. Indeed, it was the opposite — M was fending off a comeback.
So I wonder what will happen when this team actually falls behind for more than a minute or two late in the game. I'm not being pessimistic, I believe they will respond well, but I'm just saying that so far they haven't needed to do so.
January 4th, 2019 at 8:06 AM ^
College weight training progam (ie Sanderson) looks like it's helping Iggy. One more year please.
January 4th, 2019 at 10:48 AM ^
He's also like 20 years old so almost 2 years older than some freshmen. He came in much more physically ready than most.
January 4th, 2019 at 8:42 AM ^
I feel like not having Livers out there was a material issue. To me he's our third most important offensive player with Matthews a little too inefficient. With him, Michigan would have looked more complete offensively.
Sure hope he is 100% (or close) vs. IU.
January 4th, 2019 at 11:20 AM ^
Yes, if the story's lead had been "Michigan Wins Handily With Livers Out" I would feel very, very good about the win. Our D is often amazing, and Jordan Poole is a GD gift from God. That doesn't mean there isn't plenty of work to do--Teske played through real exhaustion with Livers out and was sometimes less than uber-efficient. But I was especially pleased at how M was scoring from every place on the floor, especially down the stretch in the second half.
Keep everyone healthy and begin hitting a few more baskets and this team may indeed be special.
January 4th, 2019 at 9:18 AM ^
Johns looks really lost out there similar to freshman Teske.
January 4th, 2019 at 9:20 AM ^
Iggy looks pretty jacked.
January 4th, 2019 at 10:58 AM ^
Scary thing about him was he came to Michigan looking that way and Saunderson told him he had to tone down the weight lifting.
January 4th, 2019 at 5:29 PM ^
...which seems like terrible advice to me, how is getting stronger ever bad? He's not going to turn into Ronnie Coleman unless he starts eating 15k calories a day, you can get stronger without getting bigger.
January 4th, 2019 at 9:30 AM ^
I did not think Matthews shot 5/10--I thought his percentage would be much lower, he had a good game even though it didn't seem like it to me in real time.
What stuck out to me last night was that this team is still figuring out the offensive pecking order--something Brian and the guys have talked about a lot already. But, while I still think this team needs to figure out that order for the big games, the fact that Charles, Poole, Teske, and Iggy can each score points in bunches when necessary will keep this team from getting too far down in the scoring dept. Very exciting season already and the best still to come.
January 4th, 2019 at 10:50 AM ^
He had a few assisted dunks/layups that propped up the %. He was 1-5 on mid-range jumpers, those ill-advised shots that you're remembering.
January 4th, 2019 at 11:02 AM ^
I'd say this game wasn't the prettiest, but if this was ugly what was Wisconsin - Minnesota?
January 4th, 2019 at 11:23 AM ^
A home loss for a top 25 team to a non top 25 team.
Be happy with any win you get. 14-0.
January 4th, 2019 at 11:42 AM ^
They better step it up or they will get beat by Indiana..the Last 4 games have been unimpressive..Im worried they may have peaked to soon..Time will Tell but so many Missed easy bunnies and turnovers...
January 4th, 2019 at 12:56 PM ^
More like "Maizen4Life". They covered the spread without Livers. Beilein's teams never peak in January. Go away.
January 4th, 2019 at 12:15 PM ^
Yeah it wasn't a great game and they didn't play 100% up to their potential but its hard to do that every game in a long season. Plus you still saw flashes of what they're capable of and forced a ton of turnovers. Penn State might not be talented but are tough and will probably give a lot of teams problems this year.
Wasn't a great game for M, but it was still a pretty comfortable W. BEAT INDIANA.
January 4th, 2019 at 5:31 PM ^
It was great to see our defense come back. Our defense was locked in and playing hard and smart.
Davis played his best game, there were a number of times he made a good play and I was surprised to realize, 'oh thats Davis not Teske,' and I don't think he had any of those cement hand plays where he dorfs a ball out of bounds instead of finishing.
Johns is still freshman DJ Wilson.
Livers was missed.
Good lord stop taking 2 pt jumpers.
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