tarris reed

Matched up with the #2 team in college basketball this afternoon, Michigan Men's Basketball strung together a decently valiant effort but came up short with another short-handed roster, a loss chalked up to defensive rebounding and foul trouble, some legitimate and some suspicious. Like most games, Michigan led for a large swath of the first half before trailing for much of the game thereafter, but never let Purdue bury them, even with excessive fouling hamstringing a roster already missing the injured big man Olivier Nkamhoua. Michigan hung around and hung around but ultimately couldn't make enough of a charge late and lost by high single digits. The Wolverines are now 8-20 (3-14), with three games left in the regular season. 

Before the game, Michigan got word that they would be without guard Jaelin Llewellyn, who was originally listed as questionable (in addition to the injured Nkamhoua). Will Tschetter was back after missing the Northwestern game, but a Michigan roster that wasn't deep to begin with sans two rotational pieces is in for a challenge, even when not facing an elite team like Purdue. The Wolverines, as they do most games, started pretty well, scoring the game's first five points and then led 10-4 on two Dug McDaniel three pointers. But even in this quick spurt, the problem of foul trouble was popping up. Center Tarris Reed Jr. picked up two fouls in the game's first 4.5 minutes while battling with Purdue superstar Zach Edey and went straight to the bench, putting the more undersized Will Tschetter (as well as Tray Jackson) in position to guard Edey. It wouldn't be long before Tschetter and Jackson would be racking up fouls of their own while giving up easy buckets inside. 

Stil, Michigan was hot out of the gate and generally shot the ball well all day. They led 19-13 via good ball movement and lights out shooting, allowing them to stay in front of the Boilers despite the fouls. Within 7.5 minutes of the game starting, there were seven team fouls against the Wolverines, placing Purdue into the bonus, including two on Reed, two on Jackson, and two on guard/wing Nimari Burnett. Foul trouble against Reed put Michigan in a disadvantageous matchup vs. Edey from a size perspective, and led to the ongoing theme of Purdue destroying Michigan on the glass. Just over nine minutes into the game Purdue was rebounding 56% of their misses(!!!) and that number wouldn't fluctuate much during the rest of the game. 

[Marc-Gregor Campredon]

The extra possessions Purdue was getting via the OREBs allowed the Boilers to stay in the ballpark of the Wolverines while Michigan was shooting it well early. Purdue went on a small run to shave the lead down to 22-21 and the game eventually became tied at 25 at the under eight minute timeout. Forced to play unconventional lineups with George Washington III seeing extended time due to Burnett's foul issues, in addition to Jace Howard logging minutes in the front court because of the big fouls, Michigan eventually began to splinter and a hard Purdue charge surged them ahead before halftime. After Michigan led 30-29 on a Washington triple, Purdue closed the half on an 18-6 run, getting the final points on an Edey layup at the horn to lead 47-36. 

Given Michigan's tendency for catastrophic meltdowns in the second halves of games, it seemed like the rally by the road team (although the crowd was littered with fans in old gold and black who were quite noisy) may lead to a blowout in the second half. Instead, to Michigan's credit, they dug in and kept battling. Purdue bumped the lead up to 14 but Michigan punched back and got it down to single digits on a Burnett three and that's where the margin sat for most of the second half. Dug McDaniel played a pretty solid game and scored 10 in the second half, while Burnett rebounded from an ugly first half to score 12 in the latter stanza. Unfortunately, Michigan had no answer in the second half for Edey (or in either half really) dominating inside offensively and then a mix of size and hustle continued to annihilate Michigan on the glass. Purdue grabbed seven more second half offensive rebounds (five were Edey's) after ten in the first half. 

Michigan occasionally showed interest in mounting a charge but could never string together a run because they couldn't get stops consistently. They didn't slow Purdue's offense down much and when they forced misses, Purdue rebounded half of them. Foul trouble continued to mount, giving Edey increasingly easier matchups. Some of those fouls were dubious, including the fifth on Will Tschetter coming with 7:38 left in the game, and even more so the fifth on Reed. Michigan was down 78-70 with 3.5 minutes left in the offensive end, a missed three by McDaniel was loose rolling towards the sideline. Reed went for it and got tangled up with Lance Jones of Purdue, whistled for a foul that sent the home crowd into uproar. Juwan Howard charged out onto the court to vigorously argue with the referees, but was restrained by McDaniel, as well as members of the Michigan bench. The closest Michigan got the score down to was seven, but they ultimately ran out of time and lost by eight. 

[Marc-Gregor Campredon]

In totality, the two teams shot similar clips from the field (47% Purdue, 48% Michigan), but Purdue made more free throws thanks to the Michigan fouls and attempted eight more field goals thanks to the offensive rebounding. That, plus Edey's dominance (35 points on 14/18!!), was the difference in the game. Michigan had a solid, efficient offensive day shooting 42.9% from three, but didn't have the right roster to win this game, not deep enough and not big enough, not to mention not good enough defensively. Maybe with Nkamhoua healthy they may have been able to pull off the upset, but this group was not set up to defeat a team with a dominant big man. Reed and Tschetter both fouled out and Jackson finished with four fouls. 

Michigan has now fallen to 8-20 on the season, 3-14 in the B1G, and has three regular season games remaining. As of this writing, Michigan State leads at home over Ohio State, which would put the Bucks two games ahead of Michigan in the race at the bottom of the standings. Michigan plays Ohio State next Sunday and in theory, finishing 2-1 with a win over OSU while OSU loses out would get Michigan out of the cellar because Michigan would own the head-to-head tiebreak. But it remains more likely that Michigan will finish dead-last in the conference, with Torvik projecting them to win only one of their final three games. It is not the hardest closing schedule, playing teams 13th and 12th in the standings on the road in Rutgers/OSU, as well as a mediocre Nebraska team at home. But this Michigan team hasn't been able to win many games, period, so strength of schedule only matters so much. The next game is this Thursday at 8:30 PM EST in Piscataway against Rutgers, scheduled to be broadcast on FS1. 

[Click the JUMP for the box score]

Michigan headed into Evanston this evening with a particularly shorthanded squad. Dug McDaniel was serving the final game of his six away game suspension, which has been a debilitating absence most of this season, but when you add in the wrist injury to Olivier Nkamhoua, Michigan was going to be in trouble. Oh and Will Tschetter was unavailable too. Michigan probably never had much of a chance, though they did put in a pretty good effort against an NCAA Tournament-bound Northwestern team given the circumstances. At 8-19 in year five of the Juwan Howard Era, this is what we've been reduced to discussing. 

The good effort Michigan gave was mostly related to the hot three-point shooting, which lasted most of the night. The Wolverines had no offensive creation in this game, pretty much all night, and relied on a mix of perimeter shooting and Tarris Reed Jr. post touches to suffice for offensive possessions. Michigan got out to a hot start, leading 16-5 after starting three of four from beyond the arc, feeding Reed buckets in between. Michigan led by near double digits for a lot of the first half, as Northwestern's offense lagged behind, though you always had the sense that the lead was unsustainable given how hot Michigan was from distance. 

Michigan led 26-17 with seven minutes to play in the first half when Northwestern made a push. It got started with a pair of free throws and a Matthew Nicholson dunk, but then came a hellfire of three pointers, three in just over a minute to erase a seven point Michigan lead and turn the score into a tie game. Nimari Burnett, who was Michigan's brightest star on his return to the hometown Chicago metropolitan area, drilled a triple to jut Michigan back ahead 33-30, but Nick Martinelli answered with a put-back layup. The score eventually sat at 34-34 with a minute to go in the half, a sequence that concluded with a Michigan turnover and another Northwestern three, off a clever in-bounds play that left Michigan completely fooled. The Ryan Langborn trey sent NU into the break up 37-34, their first lead of the game since it was 3-2. 

[Marc-Gregor Campredon]

The flurry from Northwestern to close the first half put the game into a rather familiar pattern, a decent Michigan first half followed by a calamitous second half. This time it was even more predictable, as Michigan's hot first half shooting (6/8 from three!) screamed second half cool off. Michigan actually continued to shoot it at a good clip in the second half, but they got very few attempts off as Northwestern adjusted to shut off the catch-and-shoot three. The Wolverines were instead forced to pound it inside more, absent any real offensive creation from the guards. Tarris Reed Jr. took seven of Michigan's 20 second-half FGA, shooting an inefficient 3/7 at the rim. Michigan went through a nearly 10 minute stretch where Reed was the only Wolverine to score, which isn't a good sign when he wasn't scoring all that much.   

As for Northwestern, they came right out of halftime and continued the push they'd made late in the first. They charged out to lead 41-34, before Michigan made a little Burnett-fueled run to grab the edge back at 44-43. After that the 'Cats pushed straight ahead to grab full control of the game. NU poured in two threes in a row to go up 51-44 and the lead was up to double digits before long. It held around the 10 point mark before stretching up into the teens as the game plodded towards its conclusion. Ryan Langborg shot it well from three, dropping in a trio of triples in the second half, while the penetration of Boo Buie broke the Michigan D down to the tune of five assists. The 'Cats added five offensive rebounds and forced five Michigan turnovers, all part of the formula that evolved this into a rout. 

While time ticked down, we were treated to discussion of how Michigan's missed free throws translated into free chicken for the crowd in Welsh-Ryan Arena. That's where Michigan Men's Basketball is right now. They've lost nine of ten and fourteen of sixteen. They are 5-19 since beating St. John's to start the season 3-0. They are 3-13 in B1G play and have a two game cushion for last in the conference. Michigan has sunk all the way to 110th in KenPom. There's not much to say other than to go through the motions of this season, motions that will continue on Sunday when the #3 ranked Purdue Boilermakers come to Ann Arbor. That game is scheduled for 2:00 PM EST and will be broadcast on CBS. 

[Click the JUMP for the box score if you want]

Michigan took the floor at Crisler Center tonight looking to build some momentum after defeating Ohio State on Monday, playing host to a ranked Illinois team. The two sides battled through a back-and-forth first half, one that saw Michigan whittle the gap down to a single point at halftime. If you were expecting an inspired second half to finish off a signature win at that point, you didn't get it. The Wolverines were bullied on the glass by a more talented, more physical, and hungrier opponent as Illinois outscored Michigan 51-37 in the second half, grabbing firm control around the halfway mark and never letting Michigan get close again en route to a 15 point road win. Michigan is now 7-11 on the year and is 2-5 in B1G play. 

The visiting Illini came out hot, watching Michigan score the game's opening points but then quickly cobbling together an 11-0 run to give them a solid lead. Coleman Hawkins foreshadowed what would be a strong night for him by dropping in a layup and a three to help build that lead, but Michigan began to tug back. They'd cut the Illinois lead down to 20-15 by the midway point of the first half and then trimmed it to just one thanks to an Olivier Nkamhoua fadeaway and a Will Tschetter tap-in. The game to this point was high scoring, few turnovers either way and both teams doing well on the offensive glass. 

The teams traded scores down the stretch in the first half, Illinois maintaining a narrow lead until Michigan made its final push before the intermission. Tarris Reed Jr. scored on a lay-in to make it 35-31, which was followed by Dug McDaniel and Jaelin Llewellyn tying up the ball to turn over Illinois, showing a bit of fire in the process. Using that energy, Michigan owned the final minute. Dug McDaniel knocked down a jumper down, Michigan forced a missed shot by Ty Rodgers and grabbed the defensive rebound, and then Llewellyn converted on a three while being fouled. Llewellyn missed the free throw that would've tied it, but Michigan was content to go into the break down 37-36 after Marcus Domask's three at the horn was off the mark. 

[Marc-Gregor Campredon]

Michigan didn't tie it there, but they would do so just under 90 seconds into the second half, doing so on a McDaniel floater coming off a couple fancy crossovers. That made the score 38-38 but Illinois didn't waste any time to throw a punch. They launched a 10-2 run immediately after, Luke Goode and Hawkins pouring in threes to spring Illinois. Michigan responded with a 7-0 run of their own, Nkamhoua canning a three and finishing in tight after a sweet assist from a penetrating McDaniel. Illinois led 48-47 at that point, some six minutes into the second half. 

Just as Michigan's response run ended, Illinois responded to the response, a 10-0 run of their own. It started with an and-one up-and-under layup by Justin Harmon, who hit the free throw to complete the three-point play. Michigan came down the court and found Terrance Williams II for a wide-open corner three but the ice cold TWill missed the shot. Illinois rebounded it down, came up the court, handed the rock to the trailer Luke Goode, who knocked it down. Sometimes it's a make or miss sport. Two buckets in the paint followed while the Michigan offense sputtered, the latter being a transition dunk after Nkamhoua was swatted by Domask, and suddenly it was 58-47 Illinois. 

That 10-0 run was the swing moment of the game. Illinois built back to a double digit lead with it and after it concluded, Michigan never came within striking distance over the final 11.5 minutes of the contest. The Wolverines would have moments, but nothing coherent enough to tie the score. Their offensive problems plagued them around this juncture of the game, with the run eventually stretching to 17-2 in favor of Illinois and the lead 65-49 with 8:19 left. Over a six minute span between the 14 minute remaining mark and the 8 minute remaining mark, Michigan scored two points, a pair of free throws by Nimari Burnett. Grim. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: more recap]