Texas Tech 63, Michigan 44
Michigan’s season ended with a whimper, as Texas Tech completely suffocated the Wolverines en route to a 63-44 win. Michigan’s defense broke the will of plenty of teams this season, but it was their turn to get shut down by an elite defense tonight: they scored just 0.71 points per possession and shot 1-19 from three-point range (CJ Baird made the last shot of the game, Michigan’s only three). Even though it took a while for Tech’s star, Jarrett Culver, to arrive, he finished with 22 points; Davide Moretti was the only bright spot in the first half, and the sharpshooter had 15. After a hideous struggle for much of the first half, Tech opened up a modest lead before halftime and then ran Michigan out of the building.
For a while, each basket felt like a tremendous accomplishment. At the first TV timeout, the under-16, Michigan led 4-2. At the under-12, the game was tied 6-6. At the under-8, which came with about five minutes left in the half, Texas Tech led 13-10. Under-4: 15-12. Michigan kept turning it over, but Tech couldn’t take advantage with transition opportunities. The starting lineup featuring Tariq Owens and Norense Odiase cramped spacing for the Tech defense. Both defenses flew around and contested shots at a high level. The breakdowns were few and far between — and rarely taken advantage of. Both teams missed their fair share of relatively decent looks. It was an evenly matched slog for most of the first half.
Jon Teske missed both free throws with three and a half minutes left in the first half, and then the game inexorably started to turn. It started with a banked-in Matt Mooney turnaround three to beat the shot clock — a truly ridiculous shot — after yet another fantastic defensive sequence by Michigan. Charles Matthews drove and found Teske for a dunk on the next possession, but Culver answered with a beautiful move to lose Matthews and knock down a long two to push the lead back to six. After the teams traded bricks, Teske knocked down both ends of a 1-and-1. Tech scored the last two baskets of the half, though — a Moretti layup after he got Zavier Simpson on his hip, and a Culver layup through Teske. An eight-point halftime lead felt massive, given how the first half had gone.
[Campredon]
After halftime, it didn’t take long for Tech to turn it into a rout. Michigan opened the half with a great play for Teske, he was fouled, and he missed both free throws. On the other end, Mooney hit a jumper in the paint over Simpson. Michigan got a few stops, but kept turning it over — and Matthews airballed an open three. Moretti split a ball screen and lost the ball, but got it back and eventually hit a wide open three to extend the lead to 13. After a Simpson turnover — and after a Culver-to-Owens alley-oop had failed on the previous possession — Moretti found Owens for a thunderous dunk on a simple pick and roll. On Tech’s next trip, Moretti knocked down another open three, and John Beilein called timeout in an effort to stop the bleeding. In three minutes, the Red Raiders had doubled their lead and were up 34-18. Another easy Owens dunk from a pick and roll shortly after prompted another timeout.
There was nothing Michigan could do to mount a comeback, especially with how poorly they were shooting from behind the arc. Tech’s switching defense bogged down the Michigan offense much like other switching defenses have over the past few years, but their ability to coerce Michigan into baseline drives, shrink the floor, and cut off passing lanes was unlike anything the Wolverines had seen in recent years. When Michigan did get to the rim, there was often a rim protector — often Owens — there to contest the shots. When Michigan managed to generate good looks from three, the shooters missed, sometimes badly. Simpson’s stat line tells the story of the game as well as anything: 0 points on 0-5 shooting, 1 assist, 4 turnovers.
In the end, Michigan finished with a 30-7 record, earned a two-seed in the NCAA Tournament, and reached the Sweet 16. They started the season with a bang, notching impressive blowout wins over Villanova, North Carolina, and Purdue — the latter two are still alive in the tournament — in the first month of the season. Big Ten play presented some adversity, but Michigan was in position to win a share of the Big Ten title and a Big Ten Tournament title — only to be rebuffed by Michigan State both times. A meek exit in the West Regional is a sad finish to what was otherwise a successful and enjoyable season.
[Campredon]
[Box score after the JUMP]
Yeah they absolutely took Simpson out of his game. He was seemingly uncomfortable from the tip. He couldn't find a passing lane, couldn't drive, couldn't run off of missed shots or turnovers, and had a hard time contesting shots on D.
We definitely need a Duncan Robinson type guy; someone who can come down and hit NBA range 3s to end scoring droughts. Thought Livers was that guy but he and everyone else couldn't hit open 3s. If we hit any, then that would've open up spacing for our pick n roll game.
Also, I think Iggys first shot is a lot like Mo's first shot last year: if it drops he's putting up 20+, if he misses he's gonna struggle and force it until he scores. Iggy missed his first couple from deep and never found his shot.
Tech played great D and ruined our offense by taking out Simpson. Great year and a painful learning experience. Need consistent scorers to beat top Ds like tech and msu.
I couldn't believe how everything--EVERYTHING--was off last night. Yeah, TT played phenomenal defense, but this was uncharacteristic for a Beilein team--missed threes, turnovers, poor offensive execution . . . it was almost as if the team was shipped three time zones away and asked to play at midnight on their body clock. Not an excuse, just maybe part of the explanation for why nothing was working last night--TT being the other part. Maybe that's why the selection committee put us in the West and MSU in the East bracket. Even though on the surface it seemed they were putting MSU in the tougher bracket when they had a better season than Mich, they were really rewarding them by keeping them closer to home. I don't know man, I don't know. Last night, tho.
There is no question that the team was tired/jet lagged. Really wanted the early game. It isn’t an excuse, I’m sure Tech played through their own adversity, but Michigan had no legs all game. Iggy and Teske were short in layups! You could tell early that it wasn’t there. The only way we were going to win that game was to make tough, deep shots and that is not our makeup. It is what it is, it was a good ride but it was getting less climactic by the game. Cannot say I am sitting here devastated like some games in the past.
Yep. And I believe fatigue played a big part in the team's late season difficulties. A short bench and a taxing, man-to-man style defense put a lot of miles on the starters. Then you have them play a tough defensive team like TT on the other side of the continent at midnight and you have a perfect storm. We saw what Michigan can do when it's fresh at the beginning of the year. Last night was not that.
It really felt like everything that could go wrong did go wrong last night. Toward the end all I could do was grimace and roll my eyes. It was like the universe was tilted against us.
Oh well. Proud of these players, and we'll have another shot next year.
Really hoping that Charles Matthews decides to return for his final season at Michigan to make a push for a National Championship. We will have some nice depth next season with this year's freshman class, and the incoming freshman. Having Matthews on our team would be monumental. Very good season overall, last night withstanding. Looking forward to next season already. Go Blue!
March 29th, 2019 at 10:35 AM ^
They would need more attrition than expected to fit everyone if Matthews came back.
He's also what he is at this point - Great defender and athlete, but a bad shooter who doesn't dribble all that well and kind of short circuits on offense. Would be nice to have as a stopper, but without him the defense is still top 5 and he doesn't fix the offense.
Yep, love Matthews for his defense and his heart, but with no shooting point guard and no stretch 5, having a third non-shooter (who also can’t dribble) on the court really stymies the offense and allows the defense to smother any player who can shoot.
Stone cold. Even X’s hook wasn’t dropping. Was a sad ending to a season filled with opportunity. Young team now has the off season to get better. Poole needs to hit the weight room and get more physical.
March 29th, 2019 at 10:08 AM ^
The CBS feature on the hook jinxed it, think he was 0-5 on them...damn CBS
3 starters with 12 points between them = loss.
This has been the story for the last 2 months.
Early season, all starters were shooting double figures every game.
Remember when anyone on the court could shoot a three?
Maybe we can ditch the pink shoes now...
Great season but lots of work to do on offense. We started seeing that as the competition improved during the year. Take this as a learning experience and come back stronger as a complete unit next year.
I just noticed Moe Wagner in that picture. Too bad we couldn't have snuck him onto the court last night in a pair of funny nose glasses, and given him number 99 or something.
Feel bad for Matthews, but the future looks bright. Trying to keep things in perspective; another Sweet 16 is nothing to scoff at. Go Blue!
Just a good year. Had two chances to hand a banner vs. Michigan State and blew them. We were an Elite 8 seed and only made it to the Sweet 16. So disappointing down the stretch for sure. Can't look past it being a 30 win season and a program record start.
Here's to a better next year! Go Blue!
It seems somewhat fortuitous Michigan played no high seeds last two years until the Death Star of Nova and Tech.
This year’s offense was capable of this kind of game and we all knew it. It just showed up on a big stage for an entire game, and not 8 minutes.
JB has no alpha shooter; he’s got an alpha but he’s so limited offensively it does little good vs teams that can play solid man.
In hindsight, maybe a PG that can actually shoot isn’t so bad afterall.
However, Teske playing so small on offensive end doesn’t really hurt teams and the low basketball IQ of the most dynamic player doesn’t help
Shooters please apply
March 29th, 2019 at 10:55 AM ^
I always bring this up about the tourney, and it's one of the reasons why I think it's dumb to suggest we should claim the 2013 title.
If Tech goes onto to dominate the rest of the tourney and win the title, that just means we got a shit draw and played them earlier in the tourney than the other teams that lost. For example, if MSU loses to tech by 30 in the FF, that just means if they had the region they originally wanted, they would have lost in the S16 just like us.
I have long said the tourney is unforgiving, brutal, and is the most exciting but not the best way to crown a champion. I wouldn't change it, but I don't like drawing too many inferences based on a single elimination tourney.
I don't want to rag on the team or season, but of all of the successful seasons M has had under Beilein this will definitely be the most forgettable in my mind. There was no definable signature moment, or even win (I guess you'd say UNC, but to have that happen so early in the season...). If anything this year was treading water, next year they'll bring almost everyone back, probably add a few more contributors via the bench and recruiting, and will hopefully be right back in business. It's not hard to identify what went wrong with this team, I'm sure the coaches/players will address those in the summer and come back ready to finish what they started!
Next year has great potential and I believe in this coaching staff that they'll get the most out of these players. If no one leaves, or even if Charles leaves, next season might see multiple banners. Coaches are just too good to not take advantage of this much potential.
I’d agree- easy season to ditch quickly and move on. It seemed every big game (loosely defined I suppose) they folded. They can hang their hats on a great start though.
Man, sports is just a big kick in the balls this last calendar year. Even the good seasons end in bitter disappointment. Maybe the Pistons will do something fun in the playoffs.
Thank you to the coaching staff, the players, and everyone else that worked so hard to make me proud to be a Wolverine. Go Blue always!
Poor shooting finally caught up to them. We all knew this wasn't a great shooting team but it sucked to see it finally dragged out and displayed. Got to hit 3's to beat a team like Texas Tech. The looks were there. The ability to make those shots was not.
The makeup of the team looks similar for 2020. A lot of the same pieces return. Not sure where they will find pure shooting. Maybe Poole takes a step forward, maybe a guy like Nunez can come off the bench to be a knock down 3 point shooter, a freshman comes out of nowhere..... Right now, 2020 looks like it could be a similar story.
Disappointing last game to a solid year.
if Matthews goes and Davis matriculates, hope we get franz Wagner. That team has final four potential
36 min 0 points, Z please learn to shoot
Big goose eggs for the two main bench guys, Livers and Brooks, made things even tougher. This team was battling uphill the whole game.
Things we've been looking at all season, poor shooting and lack of depth, all showed in spectacular fashion. It was a perfect shitstorm.
Makes me upset about DDJ, he can score. IMO Belien's biggest error was not playing him early and getting him ready.
A guard who could hit 3's or even pull up jumpers would open up sooooo much of the offense.
March 29th, 2019 at 12:42 PM ^
i have seen no evidence that DDJ can shoot, run the offense or score in his limited minutes. hopefully, he can make that soph leap. but it's obvious that brooks must outplay DDJ in practice, else he would play. to blame JB for failing to develop DDJ into a difference maker in his frosh season is a dumb take, given JB's track record of developing guys.
How cruel is it that CJ Baird finally got his "Get the walk-on a three pointer!" Three pointer in a blowout loss instead of a blowout win?
In the past six years we have been on the good side of way more of these than on the bad side. Beilein over the years has embarrassed the hell out of Tennessee, VCU, Florida, and Texas A&M while pulling off some really impressive upsets too. That's on top of an excellent three year Big Ten Tourney run. I guess I know how all of those victims felt this morning. It really sucks but it's not indicative of the long term direction of the program at least. If you're not a basketball blue blood then a S16 season where you get a 2 seed is a great season. The team should be great next year and, hopefully, a little wiser from these disappointments.
March 29th, 2019 at 11:20 AM ^
Baird hit a NBA 3 last year in the blowout win over A&M in the tournament.
Teske is a great Defender, but he has zero moves in the low post, really makes one miss Wagner.
For this team to be a championship team
Z needs to learn to shoot off the dribble and score off the drives
Poole HAS to shoot better from 3
Teske HAS to score better in the post.
Last night was a perfect example of why a player like DDJ is needed. He can create his own shot and make tough shots. Not having DDJ ready is Belien's biggest error this season and it cost him, IMO
So 63 out of 64 fan bases are going to be disappointed in March. I live in Reno and all people can talk about his how UNR peaked too early and lost their team chemistry down the stretch.
My brother and I always talk about how quality programs get to the Sweet 16 on a consistent basis and then whatever happens from there on is often a crap shoot, based on if shoot goes cold (like last night) or some one gets hot (like 1989). We've been to three Sweet 16s in a row and 5 of the last 6. Love Beilein because compared to some of our previous football coaches, he does develop the kids, improves their basketball IQ and gets more out of them.
It was a tough way to go out- we missed some open shots but TT was playing incredible defense as well. I'll be interested to see how they match up with Gonzaga.
BTW- having listed to the last few podcasts was that considered a "sad 3" at the end? We need a ruling
This team totally over acheived this year IMO, and has to find some offensive answers going into next year. Iggy and Poole are no where near what MO and MAAR were. Add in losing a shooting threat like Duncan, and here we are. The fact that we were still a 2 seed is a testament to Beilien and Simpson being a great floor general (although he fell short last night).
One of the young guys has to be an answer - DDJ, Johns, or incoming freshman.
Credit Texas Tech for playing great, but the utter inability to hit open shots as much as anything dictated the outcome. If some of those go down—and several were in the cylinder and rimmed out—we remain confident and the game remains tight. I am sure Michigan teams have shot worse at some point, but last night’s effort had to be in the tenth percentile of shooting efforts. Just brutal.
After watching the back end of that Purdue game, it was stark to see Michigan's offense, which has basically devolved into a couple of back cuts and otherwise completely dependent on the P&R or guys having to take defenders 1 on 1 in hopes of getting anything going.
Purdue was running Cline off multiple screens for catch and shoot 3s (that he buried at a clip not sustainable by anyone else), sending Edwards weaving through staggered screens, and slipping Haarms on fake screens after spending most of the night setting up other guys. They ran a dozen or so P&R sets, but they were running actual offensive sets far more and making Tennessee switch and chase and switch again. That's what Michigan's offense used to be even last year. We used to see Zack Novak run off multiple screens and curl or flare for an open 3. Morgan screen and screen and screen and then slip for a wide open dunk.
I've been saying it for months, against good defenses, your offense cannot depend on the P&R with a PG who can't shoot and a Center who can't post. Simpson was uncharacteristically horrible last night, but it was especially bad because he would dribble around and around with nowhere to go and no shot to draw TT's defenders out to him. First or second possession he got to the baseline, picked up his dribble, spun around a few times and actually had what would have been a 5-10 foot jump shot wide open when the defender bit on the first pass fake to the outside, but he can't even take those so he spun around again and kicked to someone. His hook shot is awesome when it goes in, but he's basically a layup only offensive threat. Teske finally started to post up guys and drew a couple of fouls on Moretti in the first half, but it took all season to get to that point.
Much like football, the basketball team has enough guys who are good enough to win games by just being themselves. Simpson and Teske can beat a majority of the Big Ten using the 3 legged P&R with some decent 3 point shooting between 4 other guys and the defense can stifle 9/10 of the Big Ten offenses they face on a given night. But to win championships you can't depend on a 3 legged P&R flanked by 4 shooters who can barely scrape together 1 consistent output.
Simpson is the starter and will be until he graduates, for good reason. He's great on defense and almost always handles the offense efficiently. BUT, they need to find a PG who can pull up (DDJ hopefully) and give him serious minutes in Simpson's stead or at the 2 (Poole can't run it as of today) and run the offense with him when it turns into a sludge fart (like they did with MAAR last year). Find some consistency between Poole (who had another drive to nowhere-left his feet-turnover) and Iggy (give more minutes to Livers) and develop some of the freshman and the offense will see an uptick. They'll be a top 3 Big Ten team again next year, but at this point the expectation is a conference title and deeper run that doesn't end with such a thud.
March 29th, 2019 at 10:02 AM ^
Just wish we could have closed the deal in 2013 or 2018. It’s so difficult to do.
March 29th, 2019 at 10:22 AM ^
Hey, guys! I feel asleep at halftime last night. Did we make it to the Final Four?
Guys...?
March 29th, 2019 at 10:40 AM ^
I can't say I stuck needles in my eye's it was less painful than watching another half:)
March 29th, 2019 at 10:41 AM ^
The 17-0 streak fooled us. This is a very good team that had a terrific year. But, they went as far as they could without having someone, anyone, who could score consistently, every night. No 3 point shot-maker and Matthews and Teske never developed into guys who were reliable go-to guys every night in the paint or on the drive. Z is wonderful defending and handling the ball but shooting, not so much. So the offense was sometimes yes, sometimes no. Last night it was no for everyone. To get to the Sweet 16 with that team is a solid accomplishment and no one should be surprised at the end.
March 29th, 2019 at 11:02 AM ^
They are still my team!
Can't rail on them. Gave me some great moments this year.
March 29th, 2019 at 11:18 AM ^
Great year. JB is the best coach we ever had and what a fine man to represent the U of M. If he has one weakness it certainly is recruiting. Twice we have been to national championship games and he has not taken advantage of the run to start recruiting stars. Our athletes are just not up to the caliber of the top, top teams. When is the last time JB has produced a bonafide NBA star. Never.
Too often is he scratching to find a two star that someone has overlooked and he is the BEST at developing them. See MAAR and Aubrey Dawkins. But too many times his recruits are better off playing at Detroit or another smaller school. There is one almost every year. Donnal, Davis, Brooks, Nunez, and now Bajema. (Before you say it, Bajema scored 2 points in the championship game. 2 points.) Ohio State has signed the two time Mr. Illinois. The only other player to do that was Jabari Parker. We sign Bajema and they sign a Jabari Parker. Even X has the look of a MAC guard. Quick, small, can't shoot a lick.
He has to stop this eternal search for Kevin Pittsnogle. Teske is great but he is NOT a good shooter. Teach him post moves and the sky hook.
Finally, as much as we love X, we really need a shooting option at guard and no Poole is not it. He has never been a great shooter. Looks pretty when it goes in but he is inferior to the shooters on other teams.
John, please start recruiting top talent. At least make the effort. We all know you can develop players. Lets just develop the elite, athletic ones.
But thank you for a great few years.
March 29th, 2019 at 12:19 PM ^
I think last night was an extremely mental thing. The team got stuck - which we've seen a few times earlier in the year (i.e. PSU, Iowa) - and this time had to try to develop confidence and get back into their groove against the best KenPom defense in the country other than itself. The players they have this year on offense just don't have the combination of skill and confidence to bust out of that. At one point I recall thinking that they honestly might be more efficient just letting Jordan Poole take his heat check 3s on literally every possession. Z had his worst game since making the leap by a wide, wide margin and they simply can't overcome that against a team like Texas Tech.
In general though, I think the larger problem with this team over the course of the season was simply shooting. This was, arguably, Beilein's worst shooting team since taking over. Iggy was a solid threat from outside. Livers was excellent from an efficiency standpoint as well - though some of that I think derives from what his usage expectations are. Poole was fine but nothing remarkable - on his best nights he absolutely could kill you from there, but on many more it felt like he was providing replacement level shooting from deep (or worse). And the rest of the team just was not able to efficiently shoot from the outside. Maybe you had to respect them slightly, but honestly, I don't get why more teams didn't slack off Z/Matthews/Teske more frequently.
It really held them back, particularly when an opponent plays good defense and can clog the passing lanes at the expense of a perimeter shot or two. Hopefully these guys can work on that this offseason, because absent that and/or one of the current or incoming freshman coming in and becoming a real threat like Iggy, I think this team is going to face similar limitations next season. (With that said, I'm well aware that facing similar limitations to a 30 win team that was a 2 seed in the tournament is hardly a stinging indictment of the overall quality of the team).
We don't seem to deploy our weapons properly.... Our points in the paint were strong, 3pt shooting was not and we really didn't explore the mid range game, at all.....
Use what works, until it doesn't work anymore!
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