david demicrowave

Maryland's Senior Day took on a game of destiny feel from the early going. The afternoon's primary honoree, Anthony Cowan, scored the first points. Jalen Smith gave Michigan's big men a difficult challenge. Most difficult to overcome, the Terp shooters—who've been wayward for most of the season—kept connecting on three-pointers.

David DeJulius did his damndest to keep the Wolverines in the game anyway, scoring a career-high 20 points on 12 shooting possessions in 20 minutes on the floor. His contributions plus strong offensive games from Franz Wagner (15 points on 11 shooting possessions) and Zavier Simpson (13 points, six assists) kept Michigan hanging around until the end. The third bad outing in four games from Isaiah Livers, however, made it tough to keep pace—he mustered six points on 2/8 shooting from the floor.

Scoring wasn't really the issue, though. Maryland scored 1.30 points per possession, the fourth-worst mark Michigan has allowed this season. While star center Jalen Smith only made 1/5 three-pointers, the mere threat of his outside shot changed the way the Wolverines defended, and the extra attention paid to him opened up opportunities for others. Eric Ayala and Aaron Wiggins, both languishing near 30% as three-point shooters this season, each made 3/4 shots from beyond the arc to score 19 and 15 points, respectively. Cowan hit 7/9 two-pointers with Michigan's big men often drawn away from the hoop, finishing with 20 points and eight assists.

Smith, for his part, was a nightmare when he wasn't shooting from the outside. He scored 18 points, with his lone triple a deflating 35-foot runner to beat the first-half buzzer. He pulled down three offensive rebounds among his 11 boards. On defense, he added four blocks and a steal. Michigan only made five shots in the restricted area; Maryland hit 12.

Eric Ayala, presumably after sinking an unlikely dagger [Sherman]

Some of the defensive issues for the Wolverines were communication breakdowns. Some were personnel problems borne from having to match up with Smith. Some were just bad luck; seemingly every time Michigan made a push, Ayala canned a tough jumper to kill the momentum.

In fact, the box score shows a remarkably even game with a critical difference. Maryland pulled down only two more offensive rebounds and committed one fewer turnover than Michigan, and their three-point advantage on five extra attempts at the free-throw line only occurred because of late intentional fouling. Both teams attempted 20 three-pointers; the Terps hit eight to Michigan's six. Both teams attempted 30 two-pointers; Maryland made 20 to the Wolverines's 18.

Meanwhile, Simpson became the first player I can remember to foul out between free-throw attempts when a DJ Carstensen-led crew reviewed his fall after getting hammered at the rim by Smith with under 30 seconds left in a game that was functionally over. Simpson helped break a hard fall by grabbing Smith's jersey, which tugged the mesh but did nothing to put Smith in harm. Despite, you know, the conference going over this very play with this very ref to correct this very problem, Simpson got called for a flagrant that fouled him out of the game. Jon Teske had to sub in to take the second free throw. His miss was initially credited to Simpson, presumably because StatBroadcast isn't prepared for officials to be this incompetent.

At least that one didn't impact the outcome of a rivalry game.

Anyway, Michigan was locked into the 8/9 game against Rutgers regardless of this game's outcome, while Maryland gets to celebrate a shared Big Ten title that nearly slipped out of their grasp down the stretch. You'll probably forget any details from this game within a week. Except the Carstensen fiasco. Good lord, man. Get it together.

[Hit THE JUMP for the box score.]

I needed a new name for a regular hoops column because Brian and I had both been using "Basketbullets" (originally Brian's column, lest anyone think this is on him) for different purposes. Nobody vetoed "Around the Horns" so here we are.

Early Bracket Watching

Yes, we're still a couple months away from Selection Sunday, but it's time to at least glance sideways at the bracket projections. While there's going to be a ton of movement before they truly matter, they at least give a decent idea of how much wiggle room teams have to drop games. Going by the Bracket Matrix, here's how the Big Ten shakes out:

Michigan State: 3-seed
Maryland: 4-seed
Iowa: 5-seed
Ohio State: 6-seed
Michigan: 6-seed
Wisconsin: 7-seed
Rutgers: 7-seed
Penn State: 8-seed
Illinois: 9-seed
Indiana: 9-seed
Purdue: 11-seed
Minnesota: 11-seed (last four in)

Yes, that's 12 teams in the consensus projected field. This is the murderconference. The two teams behind MSU at the top of the Big Ten standings are Rutgers and Illinois at 5-2. Minnesota, the team closest to dropping out, has clawed out a solid 4-4 conference record. Michigan and Ohio State have the worst B1G records among the projected tourney teams and they both did heavy lifting in nonconference play.

Despite Michigan's recent slide, The Athletic's Eamonn Brennan doesn't seem concerned about their current standing in his signature Bubble Watch column:

Michigan (11-6, 2-4; NET: 29, SOS: 50): Like almost everyone else in the Big Ten, the Wolverines have yet to get much of note done on the road, which is to say they’ve lost all four of their road trips and are thus 2-4 in their first six league games. A homestand against Penn State and Illinois awaits this week, so it’ll be easier to reassess any extant concerns about the Wolverines this time next week. In the meantime, recall that this team beat Gonzaga on a neutral floor in November, which is to say it will take a lot more than a few road losses to good Big Ten teams to damage their chances.

That doesn't even note Isaiah Livers's injury, something the tournament committee will take into account when evaluating resumés. Unless Livers misses a good deal more time—which seems unlikely given he went through full warmups before the Iowa game—it's too early for concern until the Wolverines drop a home game or two.

[Hit THE JUMP for women's bracketology, a look at the upcoming schedule, and DDJ showing signs of taking another step forward.]

When Zavier Simpson had evidently established his three-point shot so that a pump-fake got him past a defender and he could finish a left-handed hook shot over a Gonzaga big man, I started cackling in my living room, surrounded by all my friends, just out of frame.

I don't know how else to react. After falling behind by as many as five points in the early going, Michigan dominated the last 33 minutes and change; unlike yesterday's victory over North Carolina, the lead only grew for most of the second half, and every time the outcome felt in doubt, the Wolverines would hit a shot.

After running through Iowa State, UNC, and the Zags in three days, Juwan Howard and his 7-0 Wolverines are dancing into a B1G/ACC Challenge matchup at should-be #1 Louisville next Tuesday. Literally.

[Hit THE JUMP for Juwan dancing, the rest of the recap, and the box score.]