Michigan 52, Northwestern 61
[photo: J.D. Scott (@jdscottphoto)]
They say you have to make your shots to win in basketball, and Michigan went nearly 10 minutes in the second half without a field goal. They say Bryant McIntosh is going to distribute well but not carry the offense, and Northwestern went nearly 10 minutes in the second half with nobody but McIntosh scoring. And when McIntosh found himself isolated on Mo Wagner, picked his moment, drove, and scored his 14th point in a row, they said it’s not over, though I haven’t the faintest idea why.
On Michigan’s next possession Charles Matthews—who put up a brutal 56 ORtg while using a quarter of Michigan’s possessions in this game according to Kenpom—took a terrible step-back long two that bounced out with zero chance of a friendly rebound. That made it a minute left with the Wildcats up 58-52. And unlike some people, Northwestern makes their free throws.
For the first time in weeks it was Michigan who started hot, breaking down the Northwestern zone defense early with transition baskets and getting Mo moving through the lane. However the early 9-1 run was costly, as Isaiah Livers fell awkwardly on his left foot after a layup. He would not return.
John Beilein says he thinks Isaiah Livers has a sprained ankle, but not sure. Said Livers at least trying to warm up for second half is encouraging, but obviously wants to look at it more.
— Zach Shaw (@_ZachShaw) February 7, 2018
Absent Livers, and with Matthews having an awful night, Jordan Poole and Duncan Robinson played more than normal minutes. Neither had the kind of shooting night that can make up for their respective defensive issues. Northwestern climbed back after that by crashing the boards, but still managed to head off Michigan’s constant attempts to push the floor. The Wildcats also soon found the chink in Michigan’s defense as cross-court passes got a bunch of open looks from three; only half went in, but it provided enough offense to get them to the end of the first half down one possession.
Northwestern flipped the script in the second half, going on a 10-0 run after a hard foul by Gavin Skelly that the officials waved off after a lengthy review (Look, Steratore loves his reviews, okay?) From there it was McIntosh. Matthews’s drive attempts were definitively suppressed, forcing a batch of turnovers to extend the drought. Michigan finished an abysmal 5/22 from three-point range, with only a few more Mo cuts to the basket and your standard crazy MAAR drive-whistles forcing a rare change in Michigan’s tally.
They say this happens to everybody on the road, even if “road” was a 50/50 abandoned building next to the airport. I say if you’re a three-reliant team hitting under 23% from the arc and Bryant McIntosh turns into Trey Burke it’s probably just not your night.
[Click the JUMP for the boxscore—lol no you’re not reading that box score you’re going to make basketball comments]
February 7th, 2018 at 2:35 AM ^
The second was to take an honest look at the officiating. that defensive ppp went up during that stretch because UM truly was called for 5 really bad fouls during that stretch giving NW about 6 extra points.
Truth is that UM outplayed NW for the final 12 minutes except for some bad fouls and poor foul shooting ( plus some bad overall shooting).
February 7th, 2018 at 4:49 AM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 9:25 AM ^
I agree. I watch pretty much every game and last night I found myself syaing 'this sucks'. They were awful and have been for several games now. I was hoping this would be the turnaround.
February 7th, 2018 at 7:02 AM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 7:43 AM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 8:50 AM ^
The last few games I have watched there seems to be a lot of standing around on offense and not much movement. They look clunky. Teams that get in their face and are active give them troubles regardless if they are more talented or not.
February 7th, 2018 at 8:59 AM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 9:06 AM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 9:18 AM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 9:43 AM ^
The loss of LIvers really hurt. LIvers gives them a lot of flexibility in the lineup but they never adjusted for his absence. Robinson had to play a ton more minutes than he's used to and there was no one to relieve him.
But with that being said, this was a horrible loss for this team. They were trash last night. The loss of LIvers, a quasi-starter/quasi-bench player, shouldn't harm this team to the point of offensive paralysis. He's good and I love him but he's not that crucial to this team - they have other weapons.
The Nebraska game was one thing, but this was just straight up bad. Northwestern sucks and there's no way Michigan should lose to an inferior team like that. The offense was completely stagnant and noboby was willing to make a hard move or make a play. They made those nerds from Northwestern look like the goddamn Bad Boys on defense.
I love Beilien and his teams but this was bad, they're reverting to early-season Michigan, looking flat and confused. They had a decent amount of rest over the last week so fatigue shouldn't be a problem - maybe he's working them too hard in practice again? I'm also waiting for the click from this team and for them to really put it together. They've been pretty bad the last few weeks, winning games they didn't deserve to win, and now its finally caught up to them. I'm worried they're not improving like his teams usually do, which will make that Feburary Surge difficult.
I love Beilein and have confidence in him but , yeesh, this was a bad step back for them.
February 7th, 2018 at 6:36 PM ^
We've been trash for weeks barely beating other trash. When was the last time we played well against not Purdue? MSU?
February 7th, 2018 at 9:46 AM ^
or this team will have to win a game or two in the BIG tourney to make the tournament.
February 7th, 2018 at 10:05 AM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 11:30 AM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 10:08 AM ^
Charles Matthews was terrible last night. I see him back for sure next year, dude does not have an NBA game yet, not even close. And I just don't get how bad he is at free throws when one of his favorite shots is a pull up jumper near or at the free throw line!! C'mon man!!
It would be nice if they can get hot and win out!! Go Blue!!
February 7th, 2018 at 10:41 AM ^
February 7th, 2018 at 11:51 AM ^
Where did you hear that from?
February 7th, 2018 at 1:29 PM ^
They'll play great against the tough teams they face. They play down or up to their opponents. I don't get it.
February 7th, 2018 at 6:36 PM ^
Beilein is channeling Bo and Carr
February 7th, 2018 at 2:55 PM ^
Although that game was complete hot garbage, I'm not as down on Matthews as some seem to be. He's still by far the most athletic guy on the team and unlike, say, Irvin, he can blow by a guy off the dribble and dunk on a dude's head. Yes, he does have some of Zak's ball-hoggish tendencies, but his game has way more upside than Irvin's ever did -- could Zak make a put-back dunk? No. He is also not slow.
In general, the team drives into the teeth of the defense too much before stopping and putting up a fugly shot. This sort of reminds me of when Caris LeVert would try to do everything and end up doing not very much. Would like to see much more transition -- where Z, Matthews, Livers, and MAAR really excel -- and more Wagner rolling to the basket.
OSU and Wisconsin are looking like must-wins if they want to get above the 8-9 seed line and avoid a second-round showdown with a 1 seed. I know we like to say "it's hard to win in Madison", but Wisconsin is 100% garbage this year so there's no excuses not to beat them.
February 7th, 2018 at 5:08 PM ^
This particular UM bball team a) plays down to competition, b) forgets they are playing DI college basketball and what that is supposed to look like or 3) plays at an elite level when up against elite-level teams. Everyone acknowledges they are better defensively and on the boards. But man, they can't consistently play the kind of offense we are accustomed to with Beilen teams.
They aren't going to get "white hot" like last year's team did at just the right time. Zavier Simpson is a sophomore guard who can't shoot, even though he has lots of talent and works is butt off on the defensive end. Charles Matthews seems to be pretty much a one trick pony, and defenses are now taking away his "slash to the bucket dribbling with his right hand into the paint" move. Wagner may be good for 20 points on any given nite. But then again he may not. The pieces haven't fit together offensively on a consistent basis.
They can be a fun team to watch. They have potential. But they can be frustrating as hell on any given nite. And whatever they are, or whatever they can be, they are not going to go deep in the NCAA tournament unless there is some Beilen magic dust that hasn't yet been sprinkled this season.
February 7th, 2018 at 5:56 PM ^
This team is getting WORSE as the season goes along..Last Night was probably one of the worst performances Ive seen in a long long time. AND the problems dont get fixed..The horrendous Free throw shooting especially in crunch time..The offense that goe LONG stretches of ineptitute and TURNOVERS..we used to be one of the best at not turning over the ball, Not this year..just awful..After last night I have little faith in the rest of the road games and we will LIMP into the tournament ( Maybe) and lose early...very dissapointing
Comments