Michigan 77, Houston Baptist 55

Apologies for the delay, technical difficulties

Michigan struggled early against Houston Baptists's size and changing defense, but a barrage of three pointers led by DeShawn Sims started a 22-9 point run for Michigan to end the half up 12.  The HBU starting big men, 6'11" Damian Lewis and 6'9" Mario Flaherty, used their length and size to slow down the Michigan offensive attack as well as get second chance opportunities for themselves.  Flaherty, matched up early on with Zack Novak, had offensive rebounds in the game. Novak fought hard, but did not have the size or strength to defend Flaherty in the post or seal him on the shot.

Early on, Michigan appeared confused with the defense and struggled to get quality shots. Even when they got a good shot, they were not shooting well, having a lot of shots rattle out. HBU regularly switched up their defense at one point using a version of the 1-3-1 that Beilein had never seen before.  LLP loosened the lid on the rim with Michigan's first 3pt FG, which started a quick spurt. All within 4 minutes of gameplay, DeShawn Sims hit four 3pt FGs from the exact same spot on the floor. Both Harris and Novak added a three as well to help Michigan run out to a big halftime lead.  Just before halftime with only 4 seconds on the clock, Manny stole the inbound pass and made the layup as the buzzer sounded.

The second half saw Michigan play better on defense and play with a good mix of patience and opportunism. The rotation has sort of come together with Stu Douglass coming in for Morris at the 13 minute mark and Vogrich and Gibson coming in to spell LLP and Novak respectively. Wright subs almost exclusively for Harris.

BULLETS:

• Cronin played the last 2:11 of the game. Beilein said he doesn't have 100% of his bounce back from his injury. Also, with how well Gibson is playing, it would be tough to take away minutes to give to Cronin.
• Beilein seemed more excited than usual to break down the film. He was glad that they had a challenge and had to fight through. Beilein said this was challenge since the team lost from Oklahoma last year.
• Stu Douglass is getting used to coming off the bed bench. He likes coming in and making plays for his teammates.
• The 1 and 2 on the team are basically interchangeable on offense. Douglass said that gives a lot of flexibility coming up the court against pressure.
• DeShawn Sims tallied his 500th rebound this game. He's hoping to get up to at least 700 for his career.
• Beilein said every practice they work with DeShawn Sims on his individual skills in order to allow him to play basketball professionally. It is very important to Beilein to have his players succeed after their college careers are over.
• Manny Harris missed 3 FTs  this game. The team as a whole only shot 68% from the FT line on 22 shots. So far both games have featured poor FT shooting for a team that was one of  the best in country last year.