Michigan and Ohio State will face off on Sunday at Value City Arena in a battle for first place. We’ll have plenty of preview content over the next 72 hours but here’s a first look at the Buckeyes with Chris Lauderback, the resident hoops guru at Eleven Warriors. I also answered a few questions about Michigan, which should be live at 11W on Saturday.
Ohio State has been dominant in Big Ten games that it has won but dropped two early games on the road. The Buckeyes have played the easiest Big Ten schedule to date and still have six games versus Michigan State, Wisconsin and Michigan – the three other teams at the top of the Big Ten standings. Ohio State is obviously a great team but what’s your read on exactly how good?
Tough question. Not even Matta can answer confidently at this point. On nights when Sullinger, Thomas and Buford have it going, this team is virtually unbeatable, just ask Duke. The big three shot a combined 16/41 (59%), scoring 59 points in that 85-63 spanking led by Sullinger’s 21 and Buford’s 20 and they combined for 52 points in an 81-74 decision over Florida back in early November.
Eso Akunne will be sidelined for the next six to eight weeks following foot surgery. Here’s the athletic department release:
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – University of Michigan men’s basketball head coach John Beilein announced today (Thursday, Jan. 26) that junior guard Eso Akunne(Ann Arbor, Mich./Gabriel Richard HS) will miss 6-to-8 weeks following surgery on his left foot.
“We all feel bad for Eso because he has worked so hard to work his way into this rotation,” said Beilein. “His attitude, however, is so good that I am certain he will bounce back from this and return to practice as soon as he can. Eso has been a big part of this team’s success over the last two years, even if that does not show up in the box score. We hope he will be able to help this team again sometime in March!”
Akunne is scheduled for surgery Friday, Jan. 27, at the University of Michigan Hospital and will have a screw inserted into his left foot to help stabilize an injury on his fifth metatarsal.
Akunne has played in 12 games off the bench this season. Twice this season he scored a career-best five points — Iowa State (Dec. 3) and Alabama A&M (Dec. 17) — and has gone 7-for-8 from the field with a 4-for-5 tally from long range.
The UM Hoops mailbag is a collection of questions tweeted to us via Twitter (@umhoops), e-mailor via our Facebook page. Submit your questions at anytime and we’ll answer as many as we can in periodic updates like this.
@jlustig22: @umhoops How far can UM go relying on just 6 guys? Is Beilein not a believer in going to the bench often or does he not trust the reserves?
John Beilein has never been shy about riding his starters. In fact, his stronger teams usually have a much shorter bench than his weaker teams. I can only assume that this phenomenon is because he spends so much time experimenting with other options when things aren’t going as he would like – see 2009 with Grady, Shepherd and Merritt all playing significant time at one point in the season but not others.
Michigan actually played its bench even less last year and his best regular season team, the 2006 team that went to the Sweet 16, at West Virginia had less depth as well.
Michigan point guard Trey Burke met with the media today over teleconference to discuss Michigan’s upcoming game against Ohio State in his hometown of Columbus as well as his relationship with Ohio State big man Jared Sullinger. Listen to the audio in the embedded audio player or read through Burke’s full comments below.
How many ticket requests have you been getting from family and friends?
“A lot of people have been asking me for tickets. I try my hardest just to get my closest family members tickets and some of my trainers that have worked me out over the summer. There are a lot of people blowing my phone up right now. They want to see me play back home in Columbus. I’m just trying to get the people closest to me tickets.”
1. Purdue’s 17-3 second half run gives the Boilermakers their first lead of the game
Michigan was up 10 points with 13:41 to play and seemed to be in control of this game. Eventually, Purdue made its inevitable run. Purdue rattled off a 17-3 run and these final four Boilermaker possessions capped the run and gave Purdue a four point lead. Smotrycz got caught up in a screen, giving D.J. Byrd — a 40 % 3-point shooter — space to fire a three. Byrd nailed it, cutting the formerly 10-point deficit to just one. On the next possession, Anthony Johnson got to the basket and came away with three points the old fashioned way. Smotrycz was again the culprit, this time committing a silly foul under the basket after Johnson clearly already had him beat. The play gave Purdue its first lead of the game with 9:11 to go and, after Michigan’s third straight empty possession, Robbie Hummel increased the lead to four with a jumper of his own. Hummel’s bucket planted the Wovlerines’ backs firmly against the wall and left them searching for answers on both ends.
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