Michigan 84, Michigan State 72
On an evening filled with heavy hearts, solidarity, and loads of emotion, the two in-state rivals Michigan and Michigan State did battle at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor on Saturday night and for one of the only times this season, it was clutch late plays from the Wolverines that won out. Michigan scored the game's final 12 points to break a late tie and emerge victorious thanks to a combination of clutch perimeter shots and the late dominance of Tarris Reed Jr. inside. The Wolverines got just enough stops despite playing the final 14:09 without Jett Howard, shouldering in-game adversity to get a big rivalry win.
The opening stretch of the first half saw plenty of offense, with two main storylines dominating. For Michigan State, it was their evisceration of Will Tschetter's defense. Tschetter was forced into the starting lineup again due to the lingering injury to Terrance Williams II and Michigan State presented a matchup nightmare for Tschetter, a limited defensive player. Michigan had surrendered 15 points in just six minutes when Tschetter came off the floor for the first time, but thankfully for the home crowd, their side was not left in the dust by MSU's offensive outburst.
That would be because of Dug McDaniel, who dazzled early on. He scored Michigan's first seven points on a two point jumper, a three point jumper, and fast-break layup created by his steal. Jett Howard began to join in, as did Kobe Bufkin, and Michigan was able to match MSU's offense blow for blow for the first 10 minutes of the game. That's when the Spartans began to get a bit of separation, going on a 9-2 run to grab the game's biggest lead, 33-25, with 3:59 remaining in the half. Michigan's offense had entered a rut, the defense was still leaking all over the place, but they managed to pull it together, closing the half on an 8-3 run to go to the break down just three. That 36-33 halftime score felt like a mini-victory for Juwan Howard's team, with the game teetering on potential collapse before that late surge.
[Marc-Gregor Campredon]
Tschetter, who scored zero points in the first half, made his first bucket of the game early in the second half, closing the lead to 42-41. A few minutes later, Jett Howard's pull-up jumper from two point range tied it at 46. Howard came down awkwardly, appearing to suffer a leg injury, and he laid on the floor in pain for an extended time before being helped to the bench. Howard would not play again the remainder of the game, a blow to an already-shorthanded Michigan team missing Williams too. Michigan was going to need other players to step up, and they got that.
Michigan State jumped back ahead by four, then layups by Joey Baker and Tschetter tied it. McDaniel, who had gone quiet for awhile, started to pick it back up and take control of the offense, pulling Michigan to within one, 56-55, halfway through the second stanza. The Spartans would use an abbreviated 5-0 spurt to go up 63-57 with 8:23 to go when Howard called timeout to settle down the troops, another potential swing point. Again Michigan had an answer.
Baker hit a three right out of the timeout and on the next time down the floor he'd miss a three that Tarris Reed Jr. would put back for an and-one. Reed connected on the free throw and the game was tied at 63. This was the moment when the story of the game became the dominance of Tarris Reed. With the struggles of Tschetter at the four, Howard decided to run with the Twin Towers of Reed and Dickinson late, Dickinson floating around the perimeter and whipping the ball around inside the arc while Reed was feasting inside using his size and strength to exploit matchup advantages.
[Marc-Gregor Campredon]
Dickinson would hit two free throws to put Michigan up 67-65 with 4:20 left, but MSU's Joey Hauser scored a 2nd-chance bucket to tie it. Dickinson uncorked a brilliant spin-layup, but Reed fouled Houser, who made both bonus free throws. 69-69. Michigan went up the floor and Dickinson fed Reed the ball, who fumbled it at first, regained possession of the loose ball, and finished through contact on a layup, dragging Spartans with him. He hilariously banked in the ensuing and-one free throw and Michigan led 72-69. MSU wasn't done, though. Guard Tyson Walker took the Spartans up the floor and swished a step-back three to tie it at 72.
72-72 is where things sat with 2:29 remaining in the game and the collective feeling of the Michigan fanbase was something like "well, are we gonna blow it again?". The answer, as it turned out, was no. Kobe Bufkin hit the biggest shot of the game, an improbable three after fumbling the ball just moments earlier late in the shot clock, to put Michigan ahead 75-72. Hauser had the ball for MSU on the next possession, guarded by the smaller Kobe Bufkin, and Reed arrived in help defense as Hauser went up with the shot. That shot was met by a thundering swat from Reed and Michigan now had the lead and the ball. 90 seconds left.
The ultimate dagger came just after this sequence. Dug McDaniel dribbled inside the arc and at the same time, Dickinson was stepping out. McDaniel saw Dickinson, flipped him the ball, and Dickinson swished the three. 78-72 Wolverines with just 1:07 to go. Walker came out of the timeout attempting another pull-up three and he bricked this one, rebounded down by Baker with 48 seconds left and he was fouled. Baker went to the line and swished them both, putting Michigan up by eight and the game was more or less finished. One more stop-and-foul sequence put it fully out of reach and the Wolverines had finally won a close game late that meant something.
[Marc-Gregor Campredon]
There were several heroes for Michigan tonight but the two biggest may well have been the freshmen, McDaniel and Reed. Dug kept Michigan afloat in the first half, gave them a key spurt in the middle of the second, and made the pass to set up the dagger. He led the team with 18 on 6/10 from the field and crucially, he was a respectable 5/7 from two. He also was 5/6 from the free throw line, had four rebounds, four assists, and zero turnovers. Oh, and Dug played 39 minutes(!). As for Reed, he only had eight points, but all eight came in the final seven minutes. When we talk about this team needing players to step up in the clutch, Tarris did exactly that. He snatched 10 rebounds in 24 minutes, provided effective defense, doubly so when you remember he was replacing Tschetter. Reed was the answer that got this game to the finish line.
Dickinson and Bufkin were two heroes who were pretty steady throughout, Kobe providing 17 and Hunter 14. Both played 33+ minutes and were vital. Jett Howard had 10 points before injury, but on an ugly 3/9 FG and 1/7 3PT clip. Joey Baker played a big role after the Howard injury, scoring 10 on 3/6 from the floor and 2/5 from three for the game. Baker did his job. Tschetter did have seven in the second half, but the warts in his game were also on full display. As for MSU, Hauser was excellent with 20 points, while Malik Hall and Tyson Walker each scored in double figures and Jaden Akins added a spectacular ThunderDunk in the second half.
Michigan is now 15-12 on the season and 9-7 in the B1G, with just four games to play. They are tied with MSU and Rutgers at 9-7, a half-game up on 8-7 Illinois and a half-game behind 9-6 Maryland and 9-6 Iowa. Michigan will be back at it on Thursday night in Piscataway, NJ, against the Rutgers Scarlett Knights, a tough test and one of the only teams in the conference Michigan has not yet seen. That game is scheduled for 8:30 PM EST and will be broadcast on FS1.
[Click the JUMP for the box score]
February 18th, 2023 at 11:24 PM ^
Great to finally close one out. I'm also glad to see Howard stick with Dug, Bufkin, Baker, Reed, and Dickinson for at least the final 7:15 (that was when I noticed). Tschetter had some moments, but sticking with Reed down the stretch paid off.
February 19th, 2023 at 10:52 AM ^
Props to Cheddar for a couple of big buckets in the second half, but he is one of the most awkward and unathletic looking players I’ve seen at a Michigan in awhile. I’m surprised the coaching staff looked at him as a recruit and thought they needed him on the team, and even more surprised they looked at him and decided he should start over Reed.
February 19th, 2023 at 11:22 PM ^
He's never going to be a star but he's likely to be a solid veteran and valuable team presence in his 5th, maybe also 4th year. I think we are going to have to start recruiting some of that type of player to add stability to the team.
February 19th, 2023 at 11:35 PM ^
I really am conflicted about criticizing 18-19 year old kids who you know are trying their damndest to contribute as a player who helps get a Win on whatever night they get some minutes. I thought Tschetter might be a guy who’d maybe make a difference. Turns out at this point in his career he’s not remotely ready to start or get significant playing time.
February 19th, 2023 at 4:44 PM ^
Speaking of Dug, check out Campredon's second picture of Dug dribbling around Hauser.
Imagine the fortitude required to play against players who are usually bigger than you, sometimes significantly bgiger.
February 19th, 2023 at 5:03 PM ^
Pretty sure he’s played that way his entire career…
February 19th, 2023 at 5:35 PM ^
Y'mean he didn't used to be 6' 5"?
February 18th, 2023 at 11:26 PM ^
"Lay on the floor," not "laid."
But whatever. They remain a difficult team to watch, but ... full credit to Juwan and the coaching staff tonight. Let us not forget this team was without three starters for most of the second half, and fought like lions to get this W. Say what you want about the coaching, the defense, the rebounding, whatever. This was a damned gutsy win.
February 18th, 2023 at 11:42 PM ^
"Lay on the floor," not "laid."
These jokes write themselves…
February 19th, 2023 at 12:10 AM ^
What people do in the privacy of their own home is their own affair, but not in a public arena.
February 19th, 2023 at 4:45 PM ^
I wanna get lay?
February 18th, 2023 at 11:28 PM ^
To hell with preconceived notions about depth and foul trouble, just play Reed as much as possible. Good things will ensue.
February 19th, 2023 at 9:21 AM ^
Especially now that he's making more of his free throws.
February 19th, 2023 at 12:39 PM ^
Well is that really true? I tuned in late and saw him bank one in. I don't think we can comfortably say "his FT shot is much better" right now.
February 19th, 2023 at 4:24 PM ^
He was 9/11 in the six games prior to last night to get his percentage "up" to 37 (!!!). So there was a good stretch.
But yes, last night was ugly. He was 1/4 and then banked in the 5th to go 2/5 on the night. So not sure if that was a blip or reversion to the mean.
February 18th, 2023 at 11:28 PM ^
Nice to see them finish off a tight game on the plus side for once.
February 18th, 2023 at 11:30 PM ^
Certainly legitimate to wonder would they close it out down the stretch. But from about the four-minute mark down, I felt like they believed.
Thanks, by the way, for this write-up.
February 19th, 2023 at 9:22 AM ^
Good point. It did seem as if they showed confidence at the end.
February 18th, 2023 at 11:32 PM ^
Michigan can have the inside advantage again against Rutgers when playing Reed and Hunter. Their four man is a lot like Williams and that he’s undersized. With Mawot Mag out for the rest of the season, Michigan could definitely pull this off. Rutgers has been struggling without Mag.
February 18th, 2023 at 11:42 PM ^
Was thinking this, too. Could be really advantageous for them to be able to build on tonight.
February 18th, 2023 at 11:40 PM ^
Michigan is 4-4 against MSU since Juwan got here with each team winning at home every time.
February 18th, 2023 at 11:45 PM ^
Beilein was 9-14 against MSU, btw. That's not to denigrate him--they were trading wins by the end--but just to offer a little more evidence that Juwan isn't doing so very poorly yet.
February 18th, 2023 at 11:48 PM ^
State of program when Beilien took over vs state of program when Juwan took over.
February 19th, 2023 at 8:22 AM ^
This is a very bad take. Poole and Iggy left Michigan prematurely-because of Beilein-and then John unceremoniously deserted the mess he knew he had made. Additionally, this left a huge recruiting hole with the next class with this abrupt, untimely departure of the coach. What Juwan and staff did putting the pieces back together for that next season rightly earned Juwan the National Coach of the Year award. Here however, the repercussions are still reflected in today's roster. Say what you wish, Beilein actually left his successors with a steaming pile of a mess both psychologically and in roster continuity. Look at this present roster-TEN freshmen and sophomores!!! These are the factual realities related to the present standing of Michigan basketball.
February 19th, 2023 at 10:12 AM ^
oof. I thought “this is a bad take” was just a misunderstanding of the previous post, but nope. “because of beilein” veered dumb and it got progressively dumber and dumberer.
February 19th, 2023 at 11:00 AM ^
Well you certainly think “outside the box.”
JB was a brilliant coach who turned this program around from probably the worst decade of Michigan basketball in its history. He won conference championships, made two final games, numerous sweet sixteens and was a master team builder.
Why anyone would call that a steaming pile of a mess is beyond me. Sure the timing wasn’t great, but he was burnt out by the NCAA circus and wanted to move on. I don’t begrudge him a single thing.
February 19th, 2023 at 4:48 PM ^
Franz Wagner emerged from the "recruiting hole".
February 19th, 2023 at 7:21 PM ^
First, you’re wrong about the roster construction. Hunter, Llewelyn, TWill, Jace, and Baker are all juniors or above. That’s five out of 13 scholarship positions, not three. Also, a team that is putting players into the NBA draft will generally be light on upperclassmen.
In Michigan’s case, there were five departures during Howard’s time that affect this year’s roster: the transfers of Zeb Jackson and Brandon Johns Jr to VCU (where Johns is the 2nd leading scorer and rebounder, Jackson averages almost 20 MPG, and the team is leading the A-10), Collins to ASU (has his issues, but his departure was a huge blow early this season), and the departures of Houstan and Diabate to the NBA, which Howard couldn’t do much about but certainly should have expected and planned for.
Do you blame Howard for any of the above departures? I don’t, although it would be nice to have Johns available at the 4 right now. But you are quick to assign fault to Beilein for losing Iggy (an overage freshman who was always expected to be a one-and-done candidate) and Poole (got a 1st round guarantee and left).
Blaming Beilein now is a lot like blaming Rich Rod for the 2014 football team, except dumber.
February 19th, 2023 at 8:37 AM ^
When Beilein took over Michigan had won 23, 13, 22, and 22 games the previous 4 years. Amaker probably should have made the tourney at least one of those seasons, maybe 2. He wasn't a great coach but he wound up winning 7 Ivy league titles and making 4 straight tourney bids at one point. He cleaned up up the mess left behind by Ellerbe and got Michigan to the spot where Beilein was able to bring them up a level.
And as for "state of the program", Beilein left late and Howard inherited a team with some talent but was a step down from the season before. He was not walking into a fully operational battlestation, and with how fluid college rosters are teams rarely maintain the consistency you see year-to-year.
Beilein is probably going to go down as the best coach in Michigan basketball history, and Howard is unlikely to challenge that title. And maybe that's Howard's issue being the guy who followed The Guy, but he's done a solid job trying to fashion his own identity and teams at UM and they have shown growth during years. Assuming Dug comes back it'll be the first time he's had the same PG year-to-year while at UM and with some of the guys on the roster I think we'll see growth.
February 19th, 2023 at 9:25 AM ^
As well as Dug played last night, it was easy to forget he's usually shorter than everyone else out there.
February 19th, 2023 at 2:25 PM ^
The hair makes him look taller.
February 19th, 2023 at 12:00 PM ^
When Beilein took over Michigan had won 23, 13, 22, and 22 games the previous 4 years
There's a lot of NIT wins in there, though. Amaker won one NIT title and reached the final another year.
Also, Amaker's last team was full of seniors. He had to make the tourney to save his job, because everyone expected a dropoff the next year.
Amaker cleaned up the program, and recruited good guys who stayed in school. I'm happy that he's found a home at Harvard. But there's a reason we speak of "Amakeresque" offensive possessions.
February 19th, 2023 at 12:42 PM ^
Here's his regular-season + BTT win totals over the past 4 years and their KenPom final ratings:
- 2007 - 21 (59)
- 2006 - 18 (28)
- 2005 - 13 (128)
- 2004 - 18 (44)
Those aren't great teams but they also weren't outside of the usual realm of 10/11 seeds who make the tourney; look every year and you'd see teams with similar records (both in and out of conference) getting bids. And the fact his teams did really well in the NIT point to squads that probably should have gotten a bid or two, and then who knows how his future holds with some momentum under him.
I'm not saying he'd have come close to the performance of the team under Beilein, but even John Beilein wasn't "John Beilein, two time championship game finalist" when UM plucked him from WVU.
And the fact Amaker was reasonably competitive at his next stop does point to a guy who can coach and be successful. I think people just forget how cratered the Ellerbe era was in the end; he was the coach people treat Howard and Amaker like now, just a complete goober who couldn't run a clean program to save his life and was awful in-game as well.
February 19th, 2023 at 4:34 PM ^
Amaker's best team and only tourney team (that didn't get to go) was Horton's freshman year. He continually underperformed his slightly above mediocre talent. To not make the tourney once when eligible with above average Big10 talent is his fault.
His offense was anemic and players did not improve. He certainly wasn't a terrible coach but also was night and day different from hall of fame Beilein. While he left Beilein with Manny and Sims, they also certainly weren't Beilein-style players.
February 19th, 2023 at 5:41 PM ^
I commented that a stretch of recent basketball seemed like non-stop dribbling way above the arc, as if hoping the defensive players would stop defending and open a path to the basket.
That reminded me of Amaker's offenses. Fortunately the recent stretch of ball is not a full, frustrating season.
February 19th, 2023 at 8:57 PM ^
Like I said, he had a couple of teams that should have made the tourney. That 2002-2003 team was solid (and as mentioned he was cleaning up for Ellerbe and dealing with the fallout) and his 2003-2004 team was perfectly solid. The defense was top-20 per KenPom and while the offense wasn't good it wasn't like the conference was known for it's offensive firepower. And that 2006 team was, again, good enough to sneak into the tourney. They had a solid OOC slate and outside of a loss to a bad Purdue team basically beat everyone they should and lost to the better teams. Again, I'm not calling him some amazing coach but had they beaten Minnesota in the BTT opener they'd probably have gotten in. And that 2006 team had a top-25 offense per KenPom, so it wasn't like they were always awful offensively.
I am in no way saying it turned out badly for UM to have moved on from Amaker but the narrative that he was a bum drove me crazy. He was a fine coach who never quite lived up to expectations but absolutely left Michigan in a better place as a team than when he took the job.
February 19th, 2023 at 1:56 PM ^
It's probably as much a testament to my age than anything else, but I still think of Johnny Orr as the best Head Basketball Coach ever at Michigan!
February 19th, 2023 at 5:37 PM ^
Next you'll tell us you shook hands with Fritz Crisler.
February 19th, 2023 at 1:08 PM ^
Yes, that's why I said it evened out more late. Think my point stands, though?
February 19th, 2023 at 4:31 PM ^
There's this but also MSU hasn't been nearly as good as they were during Beiliens tenure.
These last three years have been the worst consecutive three years under Izzo, by far. They're one game over .500 in conference play in the past three seasons. These are not good MSU teams that Juwan is beating, save for the 2020 MSU team.
February 19th, 2023 at 9:27 PM ^
To me this is splitting hairs when Beilein was 9-14, but whatever. People really tend to forget how down on Beilein fans were at times. 2 and 17 against Wisconsin at one stage. What he really had was a couple of fantastic teams. Like most great coaches. I loved him to pieces, which is part of the reason why I offered those thoughts. I fought mightily with people who trashed him here and at umhoops. Coaches lose freaking games. College teams lose freaking games. People who cry for blood every time their team loses are perennial as the grass. Too much ego investment, too little detachment.
February 20th, 2023 at 12:17 PM ^
I'm just pointing out that any comparison of records against another team has be contextualized not just on what each inherited but who each is playing, ie what that other team was.
MSU hasn't been a static team over the past couple decades. They're in a sustained down cycle that they've never experienced under Izzo (except maybe the early years but kenpom doesn't go back that far).
February 18th, 2023 at 11:51 PM ^
I don’t want to get into that argument though. Beilein was bringing Michigan out of depths of misery when he took over and Izzo had a fully weaponized Death Star. The only team Juwan has struggled with completely is Illinois. If he can convince Jett, Hunter and Kobe to all come back, he could have a really good team next year.
February 19th, 2023 at 4:38 AM ^
That record should be more 50/50 than it is. Beilein’s last team went 0-3 against MSU bc they couldn’t shoot the ball for shit.
February 18th, 2023 at 11:45 PM ^
Great effort!
February 18th, 2023 at 11:45 PM ^
Reed just was mocked at #3 overall in the 23 NBA draft
Because that's how it goes at UM :D
February 19th, 2023 at 1:59 AM ^
Dug moved up to second round grade tonight. If he makes another basket this season he is gone.
Please dear god cant these teams fill their G League squads with our seniors and not our sophomores?
February 19th, 2023 at 1:14 PM ^
Mother of mercy, make it stop!
February 19th, 2023 at 1:26 PM ^
* citation needed
February 18th, 2023 at 11:50 PM ^
It's been a terrible week in Michigan, but it was great to see U of M rally around MSU as it did. Less importantly, it was great to see the team finally close out a game. Hopefully MSU can get back to something vaguely like normal.
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