Michigan 74, Ohio State 62
December was a long time ago.
When Michigan played Ohio State on December 4, everyone expected Ohio State to be a mediocre-at-best Big Ten team. The Buckeyes’ were coming off a 17-15 season and a disastrous offseason, and hadn’t shown anything particularly noteworthy in the early non-conference season. So when Michigan built, and subsequently blew, a 20-point in Columbus, it looked to be a terrible loss and the sign of a team that might struggle to make the NCAA tournament. Now, ten weeks later, a home win over that same team being (rightly) seen as a massive résumé win.
Moe goes up, Moe goes down (Campredon)
Ohio State’s turnaround has been keyed by Big Ten Player-of-the-Year frontrunner Keita Bates-Diop, and Michigan’s resurgence has been led by its defense. On this day, the defense won the battle. Bates-Diop finished with 17 points, but he required 17 shots to get there, and turned the ball over 4 times in the process. Overall, the Wolverines forced 14 turnovers, largely the result of excellent perimeter defense that resulted in numerous transition opportunities. Ohio State’s offensive success was largely predicated on offensive rebounding, as the Buckeyes grabbed 15 offensive boards.
Offensively, Michigan was sluggish out of the gate, trailing 14-10 midway through the first half. That was when Jordan Poole did Jordan Poole things. Michigan went on a 12-4 run, nine of which were Poole’s, including a four-point play. Michigan never relinquished the lead. Poole finished with 15 points on 5-8 shooting, including 4-5 from deep. He was the only Wolverine who shot well from outside (the rest of the team was 3-15 from three), and equally importantly, he provided a notable boost of energy.
Sir, is your microwave running? Well then you’d better try to catch it (Campredon)
The other palpable source of energy was Moritz Wagner. Wagner scored an efficient 12 points, but also spent a large portion of the afternoon scrambling for loose balls and generally being an hyperactive pest. He also benefited from a (generally) laissez-faire approach from the officials, which allowed him to stay on the court despite being involved in some very physical encounters.
In other positive performances, Jaaron Simmons played extended minutes for the third consecutive game, including a solid stretch along side Jordan Poole during Poole’s first half explosion. The highlight of his first half was a pretty feed to Wagner in the post for an easy. It seems pretty clear at this point that he has supplanted Eli Brooks. Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman and Zavier Simpson combined for 20 points in the second half. On the downside, Charles Matthews continued to struggle. He was abused by JaeSean Tate (though Michigan struggled to defend him down low all game), and he was held to six points on six shots while turning the ball over four times. However, he did have a couple of nice takes to the bucket in the second half, and he generally stayed within the flow of the offense.
Adieu, gentlemen (Campredon)
This was Senior Day, and Michigan said farewell to three active players; Muhammad Ali Abdur-Rahkman, Duncan Robinson, and Jaaron Simmons all played significant minutes in this one, and generally played well. But the star of the festivities was Austin Hatch. Hatch, who wasn’t allowed to play because of NCAA rules (he took a medical redshirt a couple of years ago) was announced as a starter, and warmed up with the team. Crisler’s greeting was reminiscent of that Brock Mealer when the Michigan football team opened the season against UConn in 2010.
For the second year in a row, a former Michigan grad transfer played Michigan's Senior Night an a different color jersey. But unlike Spike Albrecht, who received a relatively warm reception, Andrew Dakich was booed every time he touched the ball. Such is the nature of rivalry. Dakich finished with 0 points, 0 assists, and a turnover in 22 minutes.
This win removes what little doubt remained about Michigan’s tournament status. They still have a chance to play their way out of a second-round matchup with a 1- or 2-seed, though Michigan has recently been projected anywhere from a 3-seed to a “launched-by-trebuchet-into-the-sun,” so your guess is as good as mine. For the moment, we will have to be satisfied with a hearty round of “NOT LIKE FOOTBALL <clap> <clap> <clap clap clap>.”
[Hit THE JUMP for the box score.]
February 19th, 2018 at 12:48 PM ^
Morgan was always a good post defender, and good on the pick and roll on offense. Calling him "Donnal without the shot" is crazy. The guy was our starting 5 on teams that almost 3-peated as B1G champs.
February 18th, 2018 at 5:29 PM ^
impressed again by the team defence. Think about it. The Michigan fellas are just as good as the top team's record wise in the conference. What is sad about this conference is the four team's added to the conference. There will not be a true conference champion again. No sport in the conference will have that again. Scheduling is unbelievable. It's stupid.
February 19th, 2018 at 8:11 AM ^
February 18th, 2018 at 5:36 PM ^
his body reminds me of Michael Jordan's. Long and lanky. If he continues to work I don't see him lasting four years in Ann Arbor.
February 18th, 2018 at 7:40 PM ^
February 18th, 2018 at 10:28 PM ^
February 18th, 2018 at 5:40 PM ^
tOSU crashed the offensive boards with several heavy set dudes - one listed at 270 lbs. Lot's of forearms and elbows. Seems they went out and hired a coach, Holtmann, with the same basketball philosophy as Izzo. We'll be shouting "box out" for years to come.
February 18th, 2018 at 5:50 PM ^
Yea their biggest offense today was chunking at the hoop and having Tate go get a 2nd chance put back. It was infuriating. Also...it worked as our Defense locked them down otherwise. But yes, that style of Sparty ball is shit, boring, unskillful, etc.. I don't "think" Ohio St. has been that way all season, obviously Bates-Diopp has been a scorer, but today that was their best chance at scoring and was keeping them in the game.
February 18th, 2018 at 6:05 PM ^
Most of it was from Tate, who is 6'4" but a great rebounder. He was a problem last year in our loss to them, too.
February 19th, 2018 at 5:11 AM ^
That is a basketball basic that should be shouted every time an opponent shoots the ball. OSU has great offensive rebounders, and we made a great effort to limit them.
February 18th, 2018 at 5:59 PM ^
John Beilein quietly remains the best coach the university has had this century
February 18th, 2018 at 6:39 PM ^
February 18th, 2018 at 7:06 PM ^
February 18th, 2018 at 7:16 PM ^
Don't know if I'd rank him above Red and Hutch, but he's certainly a good one.
February 19th, 2018 at 5:08 AM ^
You don't have to make the over-top-best ever comparisons to recognize him as a quiet, classly, excellent basketball coach, and mentor to his players.
Very unlike win-at-all-costs whiner boy in Couch City.
February 18th, 2018 at 6:00 PM ^
I think their offensive rebounding was evened out by our fast break offense. With their guys crashing the boards, we were able to run fast breaks a lot when we got defensive rebounds.
February 18th, 2018 at 6:04 PM ^
February 18th, 2018 at 6:10 PM ^
in a few short weeks, we will no longer have MAAR and Robnson. MAAR is by far my favorite player over the last few years and it will be strange not seeing him on the court next year.
February 19th, 2018 at 2:45 AM ^
so yeah, it will be crazy not to see him on the court next year. We've known nothing else since Caris went down in 2015!
I wonder how high he is in all-time minutes played a Michigan. He's gotta be up there.
February 19th, 2018 at 9:51 AM ^
But just wait til you see DeJulius and Johns!
February 18th, 2018 at 6:16 PM ^
February 18th, 2018 at 6:21 PM ^
February 18th, 2018 at 6:52 PM ^
February 18th, 2018 at 6:54 PM ^
played for a combined 68 minutes and had zero turnovers. Let that sink in.
February 18th, 2018 at 10:21 PM ^
February 19th, 2018 at 5:04 AM ^
Outstanding! Guards are stepping up at the right time,that simple.
February 18th, 2018 at 6:56 PM ^
February 18th, 2018 at 7:37 PM ^
February 18th, 2018 at 8:05 PM ^
I don't know if it's that simple. He's a very good defender and rebounder.
February 19th, 2018 at 2:59 AM ^
today despite matching up with Tate and Tate is a load to handle.
I thought the coaches had the minutes just about perfect today. 25 min for Charles, 20 for Poole. Maybe in certain games that could be flipped. Poole still makes some bad mistakes like the easy backdoor he gave up in the first half, and IIRC he gave up a ton of OREBs to Tate (even more difficult matchup for him since he's shorter and lighter than Matthews).
I actually thought live that Matthews had a really nice game. There was a stretch in the second half after OSU cut it to 55-52 that he scored like three straight layups/short jumpers. That he was far more selective and went 3-4 from two and took 2 wide open threes was much, much better shot selection than his last game.
I was surprised to see in the box score he had 4 TOs as I only remembered the one in the middle of the zone that he got collapsed on. His outing was encouraging to me because I liked the role he took on as a guy that deferred more to MAAR (MAAR took 16 shot equivalents to Matthews 6).
February 18th, 2018 at 8:51 PM ^
Matthews is too integral. Have to live with the mistakes he makes.
February 18th, 2018 at 9:48 PM ^
Yeah, let's play our most athletic wing less. He defends, rebounds and is better than the others at getting to the hoop off the dribble. He could definitely be better with TOs, but he is a positive.
February 18th, 2018 at 7:49 PM ^
It's really not nice for the UM crowd to troll the Michigan football program.
February 18th, 2018 at 8:10 PM ^
cause being tied for 4th place in the B1G is NOTHING like football. . .
February 18th, 2018 at 11:39 PM ^
February 19th, 2018 at 3:00 AM ^
4th in the division and 6th in the conference?
February 19th, 2018 at 9:02 AM ^
February 18th, 2018 at 8:41 PM ^
I know I know. Football is the real kicker. But we’d been hard pressed to beat OSU in anything lately. Let alone beating good OSU teams in anything. Knocking off a top-10 OSU basketball team is a great accomplishment. Hats off to Beilein and Co.
I’d say as long as we win one more and win a game in the BTT, we should be fully clear of the 8/9 line. If we can beat PSU and Maryland, and win one in the BTT, we may even make it down to the six line.
February 19th, 2018 at 5:02 AM ^
I never thought I would see the day when Duncan Robinson's defense made a POSITIVE difference in a basketball game, but I saw it with my own eyes.
It just goes to show you the truth of that old basketball adage. Defense is 90% effort and desire, 10% talent. DR will never out-athletic his match-up, but he also probably was never ridden by his coach/mentor to value defense or defensive effort over offense.
UM asst evidently got through to him, and today, I salute Duncan Robinson's defense, a prime reason why we beat OSU. (I like saying the last three words BTW)
February 19th, 2018 at 11:18 AM ^
I hope Matthews can find his game soon. We need him to step it up and contribute. Driving to the basket is fine if you can make your free throws...
Matthews and Simpson both need to keep praticing their free throws. If Matthews can find his game in time for the tourney then we'll be a hard out for any team. Go Blue!!
February 19th, 2018 at 12:24 PM ^
So who is this bitch-doowap guy? I hear he's supposed to be the best player in the big 10, did he miss the game yesterday? I didn't notice him. BWAHAHAHAHA
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