Michigan 68, Rutgers 64
Well that's a new one. pic.twitter.com/sudwY5dEl6
— Due# (@JDue51) February 23, 2017
Let's review the keys to the game:
Win the game. A bubble team playing Rutgers has but one goal.
Mission accomplished, at least.
Whether due to the soporific venue, their fourth game in 11 days, the proximity to Rutgers basketball players, or simple bad luck, Michigan couldn't get their shooting going all evening. Only Zak Irvin managed to hit 50% from the field among the starters, and the Wolverines went only 10-for-31 from beyond the arc. Free throw shooting was an issue down the stretch for the second straight game.
Other than Rutgers also shooting poorly, this game didn't follow the script. Michigan outrebounded the Scarlet Knights, which entered the game as the Big Ten's best offensive rebounding team. Rutgers outscored the Wolverines 15-7 off turnovers. Irvin was Michigan's most reliable scorer. Derrick Walton struggled with his shot.
The final Rutgers possession was sufficiently Rutgers—an airballed three, a missed putback, and a Michigan rebound—for the Wolverines to survive. It's a conference road win, so the ugly nature of this game won't hurt Michigan in the eyes of the tournament committee. The Wolverines will get one last chance at a statement win on Saturday in the home finale against Purdue. Let's hope their shots are a little more homed in at the friendly confines of Crisler.
February 25th, 2017 at 1:47 AM ^
Vegas has us favored by 1, some books by 1.5.
February 22nd, 2017 at 9:43 PM ^
February 22nd, 2017 at 9:07 PM ^
Not sure how anybody can say that's categorically true right at the moment. If we lose out the rest of the season and BIG tournament, games like this ain't gonna help.
February 22nd, 2017 at 9:10 PM ^
February 22nd, 2017 at 9:23 PM ^
we definitely can't lose out. Have to win one more in regular season. Two to be sure. Let's just win all three for seeding though.
February 22nd, 2017 at 9:11 PM ^
The selection committee will see the score in three weeks for the first time in their lives and only care about the W.
February 22nd, 2017 at 9:30 PM ^
Sure, but if that's the case nobody will give a crap about how they played Rutgers.
February 22nd, 2017 at 9:07 PM ^
February 22nd, 2017 at 9:11 PM ^
I will never not post this after a rutgers game
February 22nd, 2017 at 9:24 PM ^
The old guy turning around to take a picture of that.
The dude is holding a poster with his face sketched like in those Obama Hope posters.
The dad moving his kid away from that disaster.
Only thing to make the picture better is if that dude was in jhorts.
February 22nd, 2017 at 9:27 PM ^
That's...not even the right kind of white trash! Jersey trash is the guy in black behind him- thinks he's a New Yorker because he goes to Manhattan once a year, is 5-generation Italian buy still flies the flag around, and looks down on the Midwest despite living in a POS dinky town.
Source: it me, I grew up there.
February 22nd, 2017 at 9:56 PM ^
February 22nd, 2017 at 9:13 PM ^
February 22nd, 2017 at 9:15 PM ^
February 22nd, 2017 at 9:26 PM ^
February 22nd, 2017 at 9:30 PM ^
February 22nd, 2017 at 9:33 PM ^
Ugly win. But I guess that was expected. I'm thinking Purdue at Crisler is a toss up. At Northwestern is probably a loss.
At Nebraska? Probably another toss up. They're bad. But they're at home and Michigan is the only B1G team they have never beaten since they joined the conference, so they'll be very motivated. Plus, us playing on the road = eye cancer.
February 22nd, 2017 at 9:56 PM ^
February 22nd, 2017 at 9:58 PM ^
It's pretty clear we need to go back to the fling-the-ball-around-the-perimeter-for-30-seconds-and-let-Walton-create offense. It worked with Stu and Zach. Sort of.
February 22nd, 2017 at 10:47 PM ^
Yeah, if only John Beilein could coach offense.
February 23rd, 2017 at 12:28 AM ^
wide open threes. They were so open we got psyched out and missed them. Terrible coaching.
February 22nd, 2017 at 10:12 PM ^
February 22nd, 2017 at 10:38 PM ^
February 22nd, 2017 at 10:48 PM ^
Barney?
February 22nd, 2017 at 10:57 PM ^
February 22nd, 2017 at 11:42 PM ^
February 23rd, 2017 at 12:29 AM ^
Could have been. Should have been...but you are absolutely right.
February 22nd, 2017 at 11:10 PM ^
This is the most blah game I've ever watched. It's not nearly at this level, but it does kind of remind you of the all time blah games in Michigan Athletics, M00N being the top of that mountain.
February 23rd, 2017 at 10:01 AM ^
I don't know what the RAC looks like in person but on TV it always looks like a dump. The shitty BTN production quality probably didn't help, either.
February 23rd, 2017 at 10:22 AM ^
Anyone else notice that Zak Irvin plays his better games against teams wearing red? I think this is a good omen for our season ender at Nebraska. Check this out (opponent, pts scored):
Maryland, 15
Nebraska, 21
Wisconsin, 20
Wisconsin, 18
Rutgers, 16
He had a little blip against OSU and @ Indiana, but those teams wear scarlett and crimson, not red.
February 23rd, 2017 at 11:44 AM ^
College basketball referees work under a national umbrella and officiate games for many conferences. It is not like in football. This notion that Michigan will begin to get favorable calls once they start playing NCAA Tournament games because it will not be Big Ten refs is inaccurate. Michigan may get a ref they haven't seen before but I bet they will also see someone that routinely calls Big Ten games. The more consistent whistle will probably come from the games being played a neutral site where home crowd emotion isn't a factor.
February 23rd, 2017 at 3:20 PM ^
Officials were fine, they let us get away with a lot of rough stuff too. This game was close because we got massively outshot from three and from the free throw line by a team that is incredibly awful at both while we are supposed to be good at both. What the hell is wrong with our shooting of wide open threes and free throws?
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