2023-24 st john's

After two promising buy games against lower level competition, Michigan Men's Basketball headed to Madison Square Garden to take on the St. John's Red Storm in the Gavitt Tipoff Games between the B1G and the Big East. The Red Storm, with new coach Rick Pitino, do not project to be an incredible team but as outlined in Jamie's preview, seemed to be a solid squad with a talented, transfer-laden roster. After a back-and-forth, high scoring first half led by Nimari Burnett's career day, Michigan began to pull away in the second half through better defense and continued brilliance from Dug McDaniel, blowing out St. John's on their home floor. For the third straight game, the walk-ons got to close it out and Michigan has moved to an impressive 3-0 (and into the KenPom top 25). 

The first half was the Nimari Burnett Half, as Michigan's shooting guard, who was relatively quiet offensively in the first two games, erupted and carried the Wolverine offense. He knocked down the first shot of the game on the team's opening possession (a three) and would continue to make shots at an impressive clip throughout the half. St. John's responded to the first three with a 7-0 run of their own, bottling Dug McDaniel up in the paint and swatting his shots, but it was Burnett who steadied the ship. He executed a beautiful drive and score to make it 7-5 and then converted on another a couple possessions later to make it 8-7 Michigan. The early push by St. John's was held in check. 

After that point, the first half was a back-and-forth affair. Nimari Burnett knocked down another three as the teams traded longballs to make it 11-10 and Olivier Nkamhoua's pretty pass set Burnett up for a dunk to tie it at 13. Michigan's defensive rotations were problematic in the early-going, giving up far too many open three-point attempts and the work on the defensive glass was poor too: St. John's rebounded 11 of their 22 misses in the first half, leading to 17 second-chance points, which was their big edge in the first half. By comparison, Michigan scored only four second-chance points. Chris Ledlum and Joel Soriano were problems for Michigan on the offensive glass and their dominance was the path to offensive success for a St. John's team that shot only 36% in the half. 

[David Wilcomes]

While Michigan worked on tightening up their defense and rebounding, the offense continued to click because of Burnett. He made another three to make it 18-16 and then a pair of buckets that involved Tarris Reed Jr. (the latter a pass to Terrance Williams II for a fast break dunk) gave Michigan a 20-18 edge. St. John's wasn't going away and through 13.5 minutes of basketball, the Red Storm had 10 offensive rebounds. Burnett canned a stepback 3 to make it 32-31 Michigan and that began their late half surge.

After St. John's led 31-29, Michigan closed the half on a 19-7 run. Burnett continued to be excellent, but Nkamhoua started to chip in, adding a couple three pointers, while McDaniel started to find his game as well. The ensemble effort continued as Will Tschetter's drive and runner went down to make it 46-38 before Williams finished a layup to push the lead to ten. Strong defense from Tschetter forced a miss at the horn and the Wolverines went into the locker room up 10. The first half was firmly Burnett's, scoring 21 points (already a career high!), 8/8 from the floor and 4/4 from three, his only miss being at the charity stripe. 

Michigan was the better team in the first half and you got the sense that if they tightened up the defense and defensive glass, they could pull away. That's exactly what happened. St. John's was held to just five points in the first six minutes of the second half, Michigan's defense looking sharper and on offense, McDaniel started to heat up. His underhanded scoop off the glass was either team's first score of the second half and his coast-to-coast speed was the lightning bolt Michigan needed to break the patented Pitino press that St. John's employed. The defensive intensity and its effect on the offense was highlighted by a possession in which Tarris Reed Jr. blocked two shots on the same possession, leading to a Dug McDaniel pass to Tray Jackson for a jam. That put Michigan ahead 58-43. On the very next possession, Williams swiped the ball from Simeon Wilcher and scored it himself off the fast-break. Michigan was ahead by 17 and Pitino called timeout. 

[David Wilcomes]

Whatever Pitino instructed his players to do in that timeout was not enough. St. John's got a quick and-one from Soriano to cut the lead to 14 but Michigan went right back at it, Williams snagging an OREB that eventually led to his own three from the corner to restore the 17 point edge. A couple minutes later, the lead was 20 as Will Tschetter put his offensive mark on the second half with a dunk. Tschetter's improved utility this season was crucial for Michigan in this game, as Nkamhoua picked up his third foul early (on an over-the-back in the offensive half of the court) and would do so again for his fourth foul later. Tray Jackson also battled foul trouble, so Tschetter was given responsibility and he handled it well. 

Michigan wasn't satisfied with a 20 point lead, continuing to rip apart the Red Storm defense. McDaniel drove and was intentionally fouled, Soriano grabbing him with two arms from behind, which gave Michigan two shots and the ball (McDaniel made both free throws). With the ball on the ensuing possession, Williams knocked down another three, making it a five point trip down the floor. Michigan now led 74-48 with under 10 minutes to play.

The game was more or less out of reach by this point but Michigan didn't let their guard down. The lead sat at right about 20 for the next six or so minutes until true garbage time arrived. McDaniel continued to carry play, swishing a stepback three to make it 81-57, accentuating the brilliance of his evening and he made another three not long after. On the very next trip down the floor for St. John's, Dug swiped the ball from Sadiku Ibine Ayo. With under two minutes to go, the reserves checked into the game, which included Youssef Khayat as well as walk-ons Harrison Hochberg and Cooper Smith. KenPom Time didn't dwindle the lead too much, even though Pitino continued to press even with Michigan's walk-ons in and the game out of reach. The Red Storm got it down to 16, but that was the best they could do and it was the final margin, 89-73 Wolverines. 

[David Wilcomes]

The final box score reflects a total blowout for Michigan, which it was. They shot 52% from the field and 11/26 (42%) from three. Free throws were a bit of an issue, especially for Tarris Reed Jr. and Olivier Nkamhoua, but at the end of the day, it didn't matter too much. On the flip side, St. John's shot just 36% from the floor and 33% three, continuing to feast from the offensive rebounds (though the final numbers were spiked by 6 in the final two minutes(!!) against mostly walk-ons) but with little else in the way of productive offense. 

McDaniel was the ultimate MVP for Michigan, the most consistent player across both halves. He scored 26 points on 8/16 shooting, 2/6 from three, and 8/8 from the line + 6 boards and 7 assists, 2 steals against just 2 turnovers. Dug played 38 minutes and put together a performance that feels just about optimal for Michigan's PG spot. Burnett predictably cooled off in the second half but still finished with 21. Williams chipped in 12, Nkamhoua 9, and Reed 5, though Tarris added 11 boards and 3 blocks in just 25 minutes. Tschetter added 10 points off the bench but cooled off a bit from three (1/3 on the night) and Michigan didn't add much in the way of bench scoring beyond him. Soriano scored 15 for St. John's, followed by Daniss Jenkins and Jordan Dingle, who were the only two other players to score in double figures. 

Michigan is now 3-0 on the season. They started 3-0 last year, but one of those was a near-loss to an EMU squad that would finish the year 8-23(!). This year's team has won three blowouts, all of them against teams that shouldn't be anywhere close to as bad as that EMU squad was. The vibes feel totally different and the three dominant outings have vaulted Michigan up the KenPom rankings. As of this writing, the Wolverines are 23rd in that metric and the 2nd-ranked B1G squad (behind just Purdue). Michigan will play one more game in continental North America before heading to their Thanksgiving tournament in the Bahamas, the Battle 4 Atlantis. That game is on Friday night at Crisler Center, a home meeting with Long Beach State. That game is scheduled for 7 pm EST and will be broadcast on BTN+. 

[Click the JUMP for the box score]

THE ESSENTIALS

THE OVERVIEW

The last time Michigan faced Rick Pitino, the Wolverines ended his Louisville tenure with a second round win in the 2017 Tournament. Donovan Mitchell was on his team. But we had subs. And Moe Wagner. Tonight, they face Pitino in his first big game at his latest gig with St John’s. Gus is on the call. It’s at Madison Square Garden. There will be rowdy contingents of both fanbases laced throughout the arena. I’m ready for some Monday Night Basketball.

There are early season stakes to be had. The Bracketology crowd has bought the St John’s hype. They’re on 30 of the 44 brackets in the preseason Bracket Matrix, good for a 9-seed on its consensus tracker. From a traditional media standpoint, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi seeds the Storm just ahead of the First Four as an 11-seed while CBS’ mock bracket ranks them as an 8^th seed. Let’s take a peek at some of my favorite independent mock bracketologists: Bracketville has them in a First Four game, Blogging the Bracket seeds them on the 9-line while Bracket Wag isn’t fully on board, placing the Red Storm in his First Four Out.

Michigan is on eight of those 44 preseason brackets, but for the most part isn’t on a lot of radars. A win tonight shuffles the early season pecking in their favor, takes a bite out everyone’s offseason darling, and would be a good first step towards getting back into the NCAA Tournament. It’s also a chance to see how much the beautiful play and good vibes from a pair of high scoring wins last week carries over away from home against a Power 5 team.

THE US

Seth's graphic [click to embiggen]:

faq for these graphics

Less cyan than the old us.

THE LINEUP CARD

Seth's graphic [click for big]:

Every player but Soriano and freshman Simeon Wilcher is a transfer, and they've only played one game, so we've used last year's stats above.