Michigan 70, Purdue 53
Michigan never trailed in a dominant performance at Mackey Arena, ending Purdue's four-game winning streak and cementing their hold on first place in the Big Ten.
Let's hope the victory doesn't come at a cost. This game never should've been played. Less than two hours prior to tipoff, Purdue's official men's basketball account tweeted a "Roster Note" that Sasha Stefanovic, who played in Tuesday evening's game against Ohio State, would sit out the next three games after testing positive for COVID-19. The Boilermakers would play, however, and their communications guy was so "VERY confident" in the team's protocols that he tweeted such while locking the responses. This passed as protocol, evidently:
Some further info on Michigan-Purdue going forward.
— Brendan Quinn (@BFQuinn) January 22, 2021
A Purdue official says the school is confident Sasha Stefanovic's positive test is an isolated incident with limited spread and it's been almost 67 hours since anyone had contact with Stefanovic (Tuesday, 11 pm).
Sasha Stefanovic to miss 17 days/3 @BoilerBall games due to testing positive for COVID-19. Reason Boilers aren't on pause? Purdue says extensive protocols followed: no cumulative 15 minutes of contact, masks everywhere, no eating on bus/planes, everyone own room, daily testing.
— Andy Katz (@TheAndyKatz) January 22, 2021
The Big Ten didn't step in. The game went on as scheduled. I hope they get away with taking this needless risk. That's what it was, though: needless.
As for the basketball itself, the two most heralded Wolverines combined to shoot 5-for-17 from the field, both true centers battled foul trouble against a team with a 7'4 backup, and only two M players finished in double figures. I deign to point out the officiating could easily be described as one-sided towards the home team. Yet this game was never particularly close.
a more literal floater than most [Campredon]
While Hunter Dickinson and Franz Wagner never got their offense going, Isaiah Livers was on the mark from the outset, finishing with a game-high 22 points on 17 shooting possessions. Livers crammed the rest of the box score with ten rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and only one turnover in one of his best all-around games of the season. Eli Brooks added 11 points on 5-for-8 shooting with some tough finishes around the basket.
Michigan's stout defense held the Boilermakers to their lowest point total of the season, which made effective secondary scoring somewhat unnecessary; Purdue also had only two double-digit scorers. Star center Trevion Williams needed 21 shooting possessions to tally 14 points. Guard Jaden Ivey was even less efficient in his first start replacing Stefanovic, going a wild 3-for-14 from the field but getting to the line for half of his dozen points. As a team, Purdue shot 20-for-65 with 11 assists and 14 turnovers.
well contested [Campredon]
Sticky perimeter defense and solid contributions from Austin Davis (six points, 3/6 FG) and Brandon Johns (four points, an offensive rebound, an assist, and a steal) helped weather early foul trouble by Dickinson. Juwan Howard even got some solid first-half minutes with Terrance Williams playing next to Johns and, for a brief stretch, using him next to Wagner with the latter defending Trevion Williams in the post. The Boilermakers rarely got all the way to the basket, got a clean look at the rim even less often, and couldn't hit their jumpers.
Thus, another blowout in another fashion. Michigan heads into the weekend 13-1 overall and 8-1 in the Big Ten, 1.5 games clear of Iowa and Wisconsin, which are tied for second at 6-2. They've won every game they've played with all their starters and every victory since Christmas has been by at least 11 points.
The upcoming round of COVID tests may be all that can stop this team. At full strength, they've been amazing. I hope the so-called adults in charge of all this don't ruin it by ignoring the lessons we should all have learned in the ten months we've dealt with this pandemic up close.
[Hit THE JUMP for the box score.]
January 22nd, 2021 at 11:59 PM ^
Don’t think Wagner had an off game. He didn’t score a lot, but man did he ever do everything else really well.
January 22nd, 2021 at 10:31 PM ^
I can’t say that I’d be too pumped to have my own kids play a 40min basketball game against a team with a confirmed COVID contact. I know the protocols and everything were very likely followed but this dude was playing and practicing with this team for days without symptoms and was likely contagious for a decent part of that time.
that said, M played B+ hoops in a frustrating game against a good team and against the refs on the road. And won by 17
January 22nd, 2021 at 10:32 PM ^
Correct me if I am wrong but aren’t rapid tests now a thing? Why are we assuming that wasn’t part of this?
I realize mindless panic is the order of the day but why are we so quick to assume that good precautions weren’t taken?
January 22nd, 2021 at 10:40 PM ^
As far as I can tell, good precautions were taken. But you’re right, mindless panic is the order of the day.
January 23rd, 2021 at 9:32 AM ^
Good precaution is that everyone who has been exposed to a known positive case begins quarantining for at least 10 days. That is good precaution. Playing basketball with and against an entire team that has been exposed within the last week is zero precaution. Taking tests is not a precaution. That only can catch some new cases, but given the high false negative rates of PCR tests, testing does not rule out possible infection. In fact, it can give programs a false sense of security, which is a problem.
January 22nd, 2021 at 10:45 PM ^
Rapid tests are no guarantee of anything, just ask our football team or any of the myriad other programs who've had to cancel games because of an outbreak of COVID among their players despite them using rapid testing.
January 22nd, 2021 at 10:47 PM ^
As mentioned above, Purdue players did take 2 PCR tests, which are more reliable than rapid tests. The rapid tests have been a problem. We saw that in football they really didn't work that well. Probably a combination of being less reliable, and not able to detect the virus in its very initial stages.
January 23rd, 2021 at 9:35 AM ^
PCR tests are nowhere near as good as people seem to think.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.verywellhealth.com/amp/covid-19-rtpcr-tests-false-negative-results-5073062
January 22nd, 2021 at 10:48 PM ^
Covid has an incubation period of up to 14 days, which means you can test negative for it even if you carry the virus (and can spread it to others in the meantime).
January 23rd, 2021 at 1:11 AM ^
You cannot spread the virus the whole time you're incubating (defined by not having enough virus to show on a PCR test), typically only 24-48 hours before you would have enough virus for a positive test.
Also, the incubation is much more like 10-12 days as a realistic, but uncommon, maximum, with 3-7 days as the most likely incubation. CDC revised guidance down to 10 days, from 14, after additional information/studies.
January 22nd, 2021 at 10:46 PM ^
Zach Shaw’s transcript of Howard’s answer about playing despite the positive COVID test. Apparently the game wasn’t needless to the players and coaches.
January 22nd, 2021 at 11:23 PM ^
He became symptomatic on Wednesday and was likely contagious a few days before that, including during the Ohio State game. So, he almost surely infected both his team and Ohio State. His team was likely exposed as early as last Saturday, so there is a good chance some of them, while still testing negative, will become symptomatic in the next day or two and were contagious tonight.
January 22nd, 2021 at 11:31 PM ^
The million dollar question is how many Purdue players have already had COVID in the past. If it’s most/almost all of the team, then that lowers the risk of playing by a bunch.
January 22nd, 2021 at 10:51 PM ^
Good info. I'm more cautious than let's say half of this board regarding COVID, but it was pretty irresponsible for Ace to not include this info. I saw the tweets about 2 PCR tests prior to the game, so it's not like this info came out later. Having the position that you still don't think the game should be played is a reasonable one, but he should have at least told the full story.
January 22nd, 2021 at 10:59 PM ^
The false negative rate a few days before symptoms is over 30% and can still be over 15% a couple days after symptoms start. Negative PCR tests are far from a guarantee of anything.
January 23rd, 2021 at 12:44 AM ^
I didn't say anything about them being a guarantee.
January 22nd, 2021 at 10:59 PM ^
My understanding is that, once exposed, it typically takes ~5 days for the virus to replicate to levels sufficient for transmission to another person. So while Stefanovic may have passed the virus to his teammates early this week, it's less likely Boilermakers on the court tonight would be carrying a viral load heavy enough to spread it to our Wolverines.
January 22nd, 2021 at 11:05 PM ^
Hopefully. It can be less than that. People can be contagious for a few days before they become symptomatic, and many people become symptomatic within five days. It is all highly variable, so relying on averages is pretty risky. I'm not actually overly concerned about there being serious long-term health problems for the players, or even most of the coaches. Almost all are young enough that they should be able to weather an infection just fine, but a couple of them, like Martelli, could be at risk, and, as we saw with football, rolling cases of infection could derail the season for weeks.
January 22nd, 2021 at 11:07 PM ^
I get it but did you have to go that far with it? It was a great game and this team earned the hell out of that comfyish win.
Just say “do i agree this game should’ve been played no...but we’ll just focus on what happened on the court for now ”
Didn’t care for the the rest
January 22nd, 2021 at 11:11 PM ^
I agree with others that Ace's commentary about the COVID situation was irresponsible and dissappointing. Instead of understanding the science, people are just quick to assume that anytime one person on a team tests positive, that means that everyone is contagious and that the game should automatically be cancelled, without first considering that the team with the COVID player has had strict protocols in place to prevent spread, and that the science says that there's no risk. For example, it takes 2 to usually 3 days to become contagious after exposure. So, if Sasha tested positive yesterday, and no players have been in contact with him since Tuesday at 11pm, then that means that it is incredibly unlikely that Sasha was contagious the last time he was with his teammates. If he was contagious when he was around those other players on Tuesday, then there's been enough time since then that at least some players would have tested positive today or possibly started getting symptoms by today. But that didn't happen.
January 22nd, 2021 at 11:14 PM ^
The dilemma with contagious diseases is that proper reactions look like severe overreactions and slight underreactions look like gross negligence.
January 23rd, 2021 at 3:27 AM ^
This is a very good response. Listen if 90% of the board here thinks they should play without hesitation ill read want they say and process. Lets be honest if im wrong in thinking they shouldve canceled ill gladly high five everyone here (from a distance of course). But if Im not wrong and there is an outbreak there wont be anyone of the 90% admitting it was a bad idea. Caution even with these testing results seems the better way to go here. But the board knows several facts about Covid i certainly do not. I got to say I back our science community big time but if we are at 400,000+ deaths how reliable is our info anyway? Also I am seeing upvotes for both opinions. Well done MGOBLOG that has to be a first in our country in a long long time. Baby steps.
January 22nd, 2021 at 11:14 PM ^
If it's alright with the rest of the board Im going to make a post about the actual basketball that was played.
Definitely the worst officiating we've ran into all season. Not sure if I have ever been more frustrated watching my team consistently hold a double digit lead. Both big men in foul trouble all game. Franz shot and touch was off. Game was never really close. Its really time Michigan got bumped up to the #3 team in the country.
January 22nd, 2021 at 11:17 PM ^
The moment that did it for me was when they called a foul on Davis when the giant jumped on his back. When I heard the whistle, I was like, “Finally! They called one on him!” Not for a second did I think they were going to give Davis his fourth on that.
January 22nd, 2021 at 11:19 PM ^
Nah nerv. What do you think this is, a sports blog?!
This thread really brings me back to MgoBlog circa March-July 2020. Those were some good times here.
/s
January 23rd, 2021 at 12:10 PM ^
Actual bball talk has been hard to find on this thread. But yeah, the officiating was ass. I don’t that I’ve ever been that irritated with the refs in a game where M held a double digit lead for most of the game. I mean, how was Eadey sqwirshing Brooks (maybe Smith? I just woke up) not a foul? And blocking foul on Livers was ridiculous. Textbook charge
January 22nd, 2021 at 11:19 PM ^
Painter did say most of the team had already had the virus, so it may not really be that big a risk.
January 22nd, 2021 at 11:20 PM ^
I saw a Purdue fan on Reddit say that only 2 Purdue basketball players didn't get Covid this summer and Stefanovic was one of them. So hopefully the players still have immunity and there is no issues. Crossing my fingers
January 22nd, 2021 at 11:23 PM ^
I would have more respect for Ace if he posted this comment here instead of the Twitter cocoon he’s created for himself:
the comments on this are, predictably, depressing as fuck. we haven't learned shit.
We have learned an incredible amount about covid. Just because I disagree with Ace, doesn’t mean I “haven’t learned shit.” Adults in charge of things are forced to make difficult decisions. Protocols were put in place to help the conference make these decisions. It sounds like Purdue followed the protocol, thereby allowing this game to be played. It’s easy to sit behind a computer screen and rail at the clouds. I, on the other hand, will not wave the white flag of surrender to covid.
Frankly, I come to this blog in spite of Ace. I think it’s about time Brian fires Ace. I would not call for this action if Ace had not called for Harbaugh’s firing while pining for ISU’s coach like a lovestruck school girl. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
January 22nd, 2021 at 11:26 PM ^
If Stefonovic became symptomatic on Wednesday and didn't test positive until yesterday, he has been contagious since last weekend. It doesn't matter that they started quarantining him on Wednesday, that was already too late. Purdue has likely been infected for several days and that will become apparent in the next day or two. Ohio State was also likely infected on Tuesday. This game should not have been played.
January 23rd, 2021 at 12:00 AM ^
Preacher Mike is *obviously* Ace’s burner account
January 23rd, 2021 at 12:48 AM ^
Awoman to that
January 23rd, 2021 at 1:24 AM ^
Preacher Mike, your understanding of how COVID-19 transmits is flawed based on these repeated comments...if he tested negative on Wednesday (before testing positive Thursday), he very likely was NOT contagious before Tuesday, but also very possibly might not have been contagious until Wednesday, when he didn't have any additional contact with anyone. In general, roughly 24 hours before you have enough viral load for a positive PCR test (which he did not have until Thursday) is when you become contagious.
Also, COVID-19 is not measles. It does not have anywhere near a 100% rate of spread even with close contact. So even if he was contagious (which seems 50-50 at worst), the chances he infected others is not 100%, and even if he did infect others, the chances they would then infect Michigan's players are even lower given the possible secondary infections may not be far enough along to be contagious by now. Moreover, even though asymptomatic spread certainly exists, you are less likely to spread covid when you're asymptomatic, and this kid had no symptoms until Wednesday, after his last contact with the team.
Finally, if reports that 90%+ of the Purdue team already had COVID last summer are accurate, they are overwhelmingly likely to be immune, which also massively reduces the risk.
To be sure, the risk is NOT zero.
But zero risk is not, has never been, and never should be the goal with a disease like COVID. Especially with informed adults making decisions in their personal interests, which includes every player on the team; they are not children. There were protocols, and they followed them.
Nuance is crucial to any COVID discussion, and people on both sides frequently miss it.
January 23rd, 2021 at 5:43 AM ^
Painter said he was symptomatic on Wednesday despite having a negative test. There is almost a 20% chance of a false negative even after being symptomatic. Stefonovic’s Wednesday test was obviously a false negative. Pre-symptomatic contagiousness starts at least two days before symptoms start, meaning that Stefonovic was able to spread on Monday at the latest. So he played with his tram multiple times while contagious. I do hope most of Purdue’s team had immunity due to prior infection. That would be great. But if the prior cases were in the summer, we don’t know yet how long immunity from infection lasts. Again, I’ll be happy to be wrong.
January 23rd, 2021 at 11:40 AM ^
"Pre-symptomatic contagiousness starts at least two days before symptoms start." This is just absolutely false lol, especially by throwing an "at least" in there. You can't just keep repeating the same fear-mongering lie over and over to make it true.
The earliest he was most likely contagious was Tuesday, but it's more likely he wasn't until Wednesday.
January 23rd, 2021 at 10:21 AM ^
Posting a random link without context to what that link is is not very helpful.
January 23rd, 2021 at 10:29 AM ^
It’s in response to the comments on this post. Ace is stating that the comments opposing his view imply most people have learned nothing from this pandemic.
By the way, Michigan won a road game last night and has 1 loss on the season despite the calendar approaching February soon. Would be nice if the 150 comments were discussing that.
January 22nd, 2021 at 11:29 PM ^
Are we really going to stay on that topic. Can we talk about the worst officiated game that I have seen in a while??!!!
that play where Eli got landed on? FR bigs are supposed to get blown up by the refs, but not this guy.
that great drive and dish by Smith to Livers.. the defense both jumped into him and with the arms down at 45 degrees. How is that not a foul and an “and one”??!!
January 23rd, 2021 at 10:20 AM ^
The euro-step travel call? I don't know why it isn't a travel but nobody has called it a travel in 5 years.
January 22nd, 2021 at 11:33 PM ^
Incredible!
January 22nd, 2021 at 11:48 PM ^
Ace, keep your political opinions off the front page please, that’s what diaries are for.
Juwan and the team were fully aware and chose to play. Quit whining.
January 23rd, 2021 at 9:57 PM ^
Person whose last 50 posts on this board are about covid and David Portnoy now says no 'politics'. Sit down.
January 22nd, 2021 at 11:58 PM ^
Impressed more and more with Coach and his staff. Able to make adjustments and put the players in the best position to be successful and win. Livers once again helped his draft position, just an outstanding game.
Still concerned about Hunter and his turnovers... had 6 this game.
As a team we had 14, same amount of assists 14. Not good. But if you win, maybe its not that big of an issue?
January 23rd, 2021 at 12:07 AM ^
If players don't feel comfortable, they would've not played.
January 23rd, 2021 at 10:19 AM ^
Obviously not true. Peer pressure on sports teams is a massive thing.
January 23rd, 2021 at 12:14 AM ^
I hate to argue on this board. But I want to say that people are not zoo animals, and it is our fundamental human rights to make choice for our own life.
January 23rd, 2021 at 12:35 AM ^
How dare you think these kids should have personal responsibility and the right to do something ace disagrees with!!!
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