Wisconsin 68, Michigan 57
Michigan went 0-for-2 on these shots. [Patrick Barron/MGoBlog]
For the first 30 minutes or so, Michigan engaged in a back-and-forth battle against Wisconsin. When all-too-familiar issues plagued the Wolverines late, however, the Badgers pulled away, and Michigan's NCAA Tournament fate remains in serious question.
Zak Irvin tallied 14 points and eight rebounds to lead Michigan in both categories. He did the bulk of his damage in the first half, however, and his missed transition layup—on the heels of Derrick Walton leaving a fast break lay-in achingly short—was a lowlight among a series of backbreaking errors by the Wolverines down the stretch.
Irvin also got bullied by Nigel Hayes down the stretch, but he was far from alone in his struggles on that end. Duncan Robinson and Aubrey Dawkins were each victimized way too easily off the dribble. Mark Donnal couldn't avoid foul trouble for the second straight game. Half-hearted doubling in the post opened up the perimeter for a parade of threes by Bronson Koenig (19 points, 3/6 3P) and Vitto Brown (14, 4/6) and didn't do much to slow Wisconsin's bigs; Hayes and Ethan Happ combined for 28 points and made 10/18 two-pointers.
When Michigan's defensive shortcomings caught up to them, the offense faded, too. Irvin had just four points and two turnovers in the second half. Walton went 3/13 from the field, 0/6 in the second half. Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, the team's most reliable player of late, had only two points on 1/5 shooting. Robinson and Dawkins made 3/6 three-pointers but struggled to find open looks. Only Ricky Doyle, who made all five of his field goal attempts for ten points, had a notably good offensive performance.
The Wolverines played like a bubble team facing a clear-cut tourney team. They've got a week to practice before welcoming an Iowa squad to the Crisler Center on Saturday that's lost four of their last five and must face Indiana on Tuesday. With a victory, Michigan can still feel confident about their tourney chances. A loss would make for a stressful Big Ten Tournament.
February 28th, 2016 at 8:31 PM ^
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February 29th, 2016 at 11:10 AM ^
Tale of two halves....first half, was competitive and showed promise...
Second half...not so much....
I have said before, this has been a season of "almosts". I'm starting to fear our tourney hopes will fall under that category too. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm afraid it's headed in that direction.
Now I have to hope my alma mater beats my current employer in the last game...
February 28th, 2016 at 8:31 PM ^
We are a football school. We have Harbaugh. We will be fine.
February 28th, 2016 at 8:52 PM ^
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February 28th, 2016 at 8:55 PM ^
OSU is a tiny bit better than us at bball in the past. MSU has always beeen better than us but has not been a football school until recently. I don't like the logic either but, our rival schools are very recently good at both.
February 28th, 2016 at 9:00 PM ^
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February 28th, 2016 at 9:43 PM ^
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February 28th, 2016 at 11:15 PM ^
February 28th, 2016 at 10:16 PM ^
MSU has always beeen better than us
You must be pretty young. Pre-Izzo, they were rarely better than us. Even now we still lead the all-time series by about 20 games.
February 29th, 2016 at 9:00 AM ^
February 28th, 2016 at 10:21 PM ^
Michigan has gone to the national championship game in the '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s and '10s. Any notion that we can't compete with the big boys is absurd.
February 28th, 2016 at 10:42 PM ^
February 29th, 2016 at 6:38 AM ^
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February 28th, 2016 at 10:19 PM ^
It's great that we have Harbaugh, but that doesn't mean we can't also be great in basketball. It's not a zero-sum game.
February 29th, 2016 at 12:51 AM ^
dumb dumb dumb. Why would anyone say this. Being good at football doesn't preclude being good at other sports. This is especially true at a well resourced school like Michigan. How do you explain being good at swimming, softball and gymnastics?... I mean, we're a football school we can't be good at anything else right?
February 28th, 2016 at 8:36 PM ^
February 28th, 2016 at 8:36 PM ^
The one game away from home we come out not-flat we lose anyways, so much for that. It's unbelieveable that Walton and Irvin missed those layups, just stupid, those are freshman mistakes, especially down the stretch. Maybe we should have taken more threes...or played defense. Doyle looked promising, maybe he can build on that and be a solid back-up big coming down the end of the year. Hopefully we just get into the dance. #can'twaitfornextyear.
February 28th, 2016 at 8:40 PM ^
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February 28th, 2016 at 8:48 PM ^
February 28th, 2016 at 8:57 PM ^
fresh start...clearly. We've learned what we can from this season.
February 28th, 2016 at 9:17 PM ^
February 28th, 2016 at 9:34 PM ^
out of our current players? Donnal hasn't improved since last year? Chatman hasn't improved since last year? MAAR hasn't imiproved since last year?
February 28th, 2016 at 11:17 PM ^
February 29th, 2016 at 1:05 AM ^
I dont disagree but I think the hope would be that Irvan and Walton become stars as seniors, Robinson/Dawkins round out their games, and Wagner or maybe Wilson bulk up and make a leap enabling them to be effective at the 5 spot. Who knows maybe the bulb goes on in Chatmans head. Point is there will be a lot experienced depth on the team and if some individuals make the signature Beilein development leaps there is a lot for Coach B to work with. Michigan will never be a great defending team under coach Beilein but it's possible they return back to being the ultra efficient offensive machine required for a Beilein team to be great.
February 28th, 2016 at 8:39 PM ^
Really encouraging first half. Frustrating second half.
I want to see Duncan shoot over that outstretched defensive hand. He needs to take more shots.
February 28th, 2016 at 9:45 PM ^
February 28th, 2016 at 8:40 PM ^
February 28th, 2016 at 9:25 PM ^
I still think we play in the first four.
Lose to Iowa, go 1-1 in the conference tournament.
February 28th, 2016 at 8:40 PM ^
How about a rational dialouge? Great coach who has not been great this year. Should he be fired if they miss the tourney? Hell no. Does he need to do a better job next year? Hell yes. This has been a disappointing season from a relatively young team. The team needs to be much better defensively next year and play with passion. If next season mirrors this season then Beilein's seat should be very very warm.
February 28th, 2016 at 8:50 PM ^
February 28th, 2016 at 8:50 PM ^
February 28th, 2016 at 8:51 PM ^
Unfortunately, his defenders sound like the same defenders of Lloyd Carr (this includes Dave Brandon). Lloyd was untouchable because he won a mythical NC. Some people here are giving Beilein a pass just because he took us to a NC game.
He should be recruiting much better players, it's not like we're Montana State.
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February 28th, 2016 at 9:01 PM ^
I think the comparisons to Carr are valid. If JB were to retire after this season I would not shed any tears. Great coach, but not sure how much he has left in the tank
February 28th, 2016 at 10:35 PM ^
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February 28th, 2016 at 9:29 PM ^
to some extent I get it but at the same time, most of the players in the rotation saw extensive time before this year. Robinson being the lone exception, and possibly Donnal but Donnal is a jr and an upperclassmen.
February 28th, 2016 at 9:55 PM ^
February 28th, 2016 at 10:11 PM ^
February 28th, 2016 at 11:27 PM ^
February 29th, 2016 at 1:52 AM ^
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February 28th, 2016 at 10:34 PM ^
I don't know what to make of this year.
On the one hand, we've won at least 20 games (10 in conference) without LeVert and Albrecht for almost all of league play. That superficially sounds pretty solid. OTOH, the massively unbalanced Big Ten schedule makes it pretty easy to post a winning record. And while Donnal is obviously much improved, other players don't seem to have come along. I felt like we saw more in-season improvement from guys last year than this. We have done a good job of never getting upset, which is something, I guess.
The thing that concerns me most is the recruiting. Next year's class needs to pan out. If it doesn't, we've got problems.
February 29th, 2016 at 8:35 AM ^
February 28th, 2016 at 8:48 PM ^
February 28th, 2016 at 8:55 PM ^
More energy is needed in every aspect of the program. I'm not in the fire Beilein camp, but it is definitely time to start a succession plan. Coach aint gettin any younger, and I doubt anyone is that excited about the outlook for the next couple years.
February 29th, 2016 at 8:36 AM ^
February 28th, 2016 at 8:52 PM ^
but we are not a tournament team. Not enough depth, inconsistent play from the bigs, poor D, etc. Caris would be a huge help, but he's not showing up any time soon.
I don't see how we make it unless we make a big run in the BTT.
February 28th, 2016 at 8:53 PM ^
If the box score is right, Doyle, Robinson, Donnal, and Wilson combined for two rebounds in 69 minutes.That's unbelievably bad.
February 28th, 2016 at 8:58 PM ^
Had 0 rebounds in 16 mins. How is that even possible.
February 28th, 2016 at 9:01 PM ^
February 29th, 2016 at 8:18 AM ^
Rebounding is largely about effort and desire. And those guys show neither of those on a regular basis. Walton is the shortest guy on the floor for Michigan and he often gets the most rebounds. Those 4 bigs need someone to light a big bonfire under their asses.
February 28th, 2016 at 8:55 PM ^
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