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Jim Burr ejected Manny Harris at the 18:28 mark after a pretty routine play left Chris Kramer sprawled on the court. Manny was attempting to create some space by swinging the ball across his body and he let his elbow get a little high. A foul was a reasonable call, the flagrant foul ejection was absurd. There was no malicious intent and the mere fact that Chris Kramer started bleeding does not warrant an ejection. The ejection call was not made until Kramer lifted his head off the ground and the officials saw the blood. Kramer waved his arms around as he left the floor to get the crowd into the game and returned shortly.

For reference:

Art. 7. When during the course of play, an individual strikes an opponent with the hand, elbow, arm, foot, knee or leg in a non-confrontational manner but the act is excessive or severe, it shall be ruled as a flagrant foul and not a fighting action. When a defined body part is used to strike an opponent but the contact is not severe or excessive, a judgment shall be made by the official as to whether the contact is intentional.

There was clearly no intentional contact or fighting action. The rule asks whether the act was “excessive or severe” and says nothing about the result. 9 times out 10 on a play like that Kramer doesn’t start gushing blood. It was a routine basketball motion and Manny’s elbow happened to catch him. The fact that the flagrant wasn’t called until the officials saw Kramer’s face makes it all the more egregious.

If you were wondering, Jim Burr also was an official for the Michigan/Illinois game that left Zack Novak’s face looking like this. No foul was called on the play.

The score was 29-27 Michigan when Harris was forced off the floor at the 18:28 mark and Purdue finished the game on a 39-21 run. Beilein’s wrath apparently uspet the officials as well, Purdue found themselves in the bonus about 5 minutes into the half. It is hard to fault Michigan for coming unglued when they were already playing a man down before having their best player kicked off the floor on the road. The momentum shifted, the crowd got involved, and like any good team should the Boilermakers put away the shorthanded Michigan team.

Bob Knight hit the nail on the head this morning when he said that today’s game changing performance would come from the officials. This one stings because Michigan was scrapping and playing hard, they were actually winning on the road against one of the top teams in the conference. The bottom line is that Michigan has to rebound. They have every reason to be hungry from here on out and they need to figure out a way to turn that hunger into some positive energy.

Michigan has a huge game against Penn State this Thursday. Michigan needs to win it because they have two games against top 10 teams on deck. A loss to Penn State would probably be a dagger in Michigan’s tournament hopes barring a run in the Big Ten tournament.

Player Bullets:

• Manny Harris: Manny was really struggling in the first half and didn’t get much going. The turnovers are turning into a consistent problem and Purdue really took him out of his game with the pressure defense.
• DeShawn Sims: Peedi had Michigan’s six first points and finally got them going but he was contained by JaJuan Johnson and couldn’t get much going, especially after the Harris ejection.
• Jevohn Shepherd: Shep did a good job in Zack Novak’s place: 4-7 shooting (1-2 3pt) for 10 points with 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 turnover and a steal. Shep still has a couple plays that leave you slapping your head but I think he will see some minutes going forward.
• Zack Gibson: I thought Zack played with great hustle today. He had a tip slam and a follow at the buzzer of the first half. For the game he scored 6 points on 3 of 4 shooting with 3 boards and a steal in 10 minutes.
• Eric Puls: E-Pulla was tied for the fourth leading scorer in this one. That tells you enough about how this game deteriorated. Eric can shoot the ball but he just isn’t strong enough to bang with anyone on defense.
• Laval Lucas-Perry: Still searching. Laval is really struggling right now and I don’t know what it is going to take to get him out of his funk.
• CJ Lee: CJ played 29 minutes and contributed 2 points, 3 boards, and 2 steals. CJ got the start and helped hold Purdue’s offense down in the first half. I think CJ does a very good job of helping to deny the post when he is an on the ball defender.
• Stu Douglass: His little streak seems to be a thing of the past, another 0-fer for Stu but he did have 4 assists and no turnovers.
• David Merritt: 1 assist and 3 turnovers is not ideal. Merritt had some good hustle plays but just doesn’t give Michigan enough on offense.
• Kelvin Grady: Kelvin only played 17 minutes and had 2 points, 4 assists, 3 turnovers, and two boards. Kelvin tried to force things a bit by penetrating after Manny was booted and that resulted in a few turnovers.
• Anthony Wright: Nice to see Ant hit a three pointer in the first half but he still doesn’t provide much else besides the occasional make.
• Announcing: Awful. The fact that there was an “incomplete” call rather than a missed shot probably says enough but I was not impressed by Clark and Verne.

Basics:
Who: Michigan  (14-7) at Purdue (16-4)
Where: Mackey Arena
When: Saturday, January 31st, 1:00 PM
TV: CBS
Spread:
Preview: Stat Sheet, U-M KenPom Profile, Purdue KenPom Profile
Radio: MGoBlue, WWJ-AM (950), WTKA-AM (1050)
Opposition Blog: Off The Tracks

Purdue is not the team that you want to face when you are trying to get your shooting touch back. The Boilermakers are number one in the country in eFG% defense and hold their opponents to an average of 41.1 eFG%. Michigan comes in after their worst statistical performance on the offensive side of the ball all year. Purdue’s overall defensive efficiency is ranked #5 in the country and they allow only .84 points per possession.

Purdue hit a couple rough patches earlier this year but they appear to be coming together at the right time. Purdue is in the midst of a 5 game winning streak (3 on the road) after dropping their first two Big Ten games. A lot of Purdue’s mid season improvement has to do with the health of Robbie Hummel. The versatile 6-foot-8 big man is just starting to practice again and he is the guy that makes Purdue click on the offensive side of the ball.

Overall Purdue is solid but unspectacular on offense. They shoot the ball reasonably well with an eFG% of 51.1% and do a good job holding on to it as well (18.2 TO%). They aren’t particularly good on the offensive glass (30.8 OR%, 245th) or at getting to the line (34.4 FTA/FGA). Purdue shoots an average number of their field goal attempts from behind the line (32.7%) and does a good job distributing the ball with assists on 61.6% of their made field goals (31st).

Michigan will be without Zack Novak so there will definitely be some line up changes. If I were setting the starting line up I would go with Grady, Douglass, Harris, Shepherd, and Sims right now. Shepherd pretty much starts by default but I think Douglass has to get back in the starting lineup. LLP is lost right now and I think he is really feeling the pressure. If you let Stu start you can bring LLP off the bench where he is seemingly more comfortable.

The Purdue starting line up consists of Lewis Jackson, Keaton Grant, Etwaun Moore, JaJuan Johnson, and Nemanja Calasan.

• Robbie Hummel has been coming off the bench since his injury problems but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him start tomorrow.
• JaJuan Johnson is a big shot blocking force but he is not necessarily a dominant offensive player. That being said, anyone with the kind of length he has will definitely cause Michigan some problems.
• Lewis Jackson is an undersized freshman point guard with a 1.5/1 assist to turnover ratio.
• Keaton Grant shot 44% from long range last year but this year is only at 34% but he has made 9 of his last 15 three pointers over the last four games and is starting to pick it up.
• E’Twaun Moore is another guy who’s three point shooting is down this year but he shot 77.8% from the field for 17 points against Wisconsin.
• Chris Kramer is a guy fans love to hate and one of the best defensive players in the league. Kramer isn’t much of a threat on offense but he is a guy you always have to pay attention to.

Hopefully the turnovers in Wednesday night’s debacle were a fluke and Michigan starts holding on to the ball again because Purdue will pressure you. Early on in the season Michigan countered heavy on-the-ball pressure from UCLA and Duke by setting up numerous back cuts. Since then we haven’t seen many back cuts at all but if Michigan wants to stand a chance they are going to need them. To Michigan’s defense, the lack of backdoor cuts has a lot to do with the defenses other teams play, the back cut isn’t going to work when teams pack the lane and dare you to shoot.

I would expect a healthy dose of Jevohn Shepherd, CJ Lee, and Zack Gibson in the absence of Zack Novak so the fans that have been begging for Shepherd to get more playing time will certainly get their wish. Michigan can’t win games when only Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims can score the ball. Unfortunately, I’m not sure anyone else on this roster has it in them to score the ball on the road.

Mackey Arena is a tough place to play and it is definitely not what the doctor ordered for this slumping Michigan team. Purdue doesn’t have the dominant big men per say but I wouldn’t call BJ Mullens or Mike Tisdale a “dominant” big man either. I guess Michigan fans are stuck hoping that the shooting stroke we saw in December some how returns at the most unlikely of times.

Thoughts, discussion, and predictions in the comments. KenPom predicts an easy 73-60 victory for Purdue and only gives Michigan a 9% shot at pulling off the upset.

Michigan announced today that they will suspend Zack Novak for one game.

“We are taking swift and appropriate action with Zack for the unacceptable incident that occurred at Ohio State,” said Beilein. “After speaking with Zack, he understands the severity of his actions. He expressed regret and embarrassment for his behavior. I hope Zack will learn a valuable lesson from this imposed discipline.”

This is probably the right decision but it is a shame that Zack won’t get to play in his return home to Indiana. Zack also has plenty of experience playing against the Purdue kids so it would have been an interesting match up as well. Anything more than a 1 game suspension would be a little ridiculous in my opinion but I don’t have a problem with one game. Hopefully Jevohn Shepherd and Anthony Wright are ready to step up.

Related:

• Game 21: Michigan at Ohio State Post Game
  Here is the video if you missed it.

• Australian expanding basketball game and horizons at Lake Forest Academy
• Tribune on Angus.
• Boilers prepare for struggling Wolverines
  It is probably bad news that Hummel is practicing for the first time since early January
• On Men’s Basketball: Michigan can’t fall back into old ways
  Daily
• How Michigan can make NCAA Tournament
  “You try not to look at it … but you want to make it to the tournament so bad, you have to look at it to see what you have to do,” Manny Harris said Tuesday, a day before the Wolverines lost at Ohio State.
• Iowa Game Recap (1/29/08)
  MSU has exceeded their total number of road wins for the past two seasons
• Tubby Smith says he’s not leaving Gophers despite rumors
• Big Ten tourney tix
  Might be Michigan’s last shot. (HT: Spartans Weblog)
• Detroit preps for big hoops
  If you are going to the Final Four you better bring your binoculars.
• The All-Underrated Team: Ten Names You Should Know
  This might come in handy this March
• Regression Toward the Mean: Michigan Falls, and Falls Hard, at Ohio State
  Maize N Brew with a pretty drastic take on the OSU loss
• Illinois’ 20-game winning streak against Minnesota ends
  Minny 59 – Illinois 36. Yikes.

Ohio State dominates Michigan in a 66 possession game. Michigan came out flat and played uninspired basketball for the first 20 minutes. The poor play in the first half was too much to overcome despite Michigan making a couple runs in the middle of the second half. This loss doesn’t necessarily set Michigan back any further but it is one less chance they have to do some catching up.

On offense Michigan was as bad as they have been all year. Michigan posted their highest turnover percentage of the season (31.8%) and their lowest eFG% of the season 37.8%. Naturally Michigan’s offensive efficiency was the worst it has been all year as well at 81.8 points per 100 possessions.  Surprisingly the only thing that Michigan really did well was rebound the ball; Michigan pulled 37% of their misses off the offensive glass.

To add to their offensive struggles, Michigan just couldn’t stop Ohio State all game. The Buckeyes shot an effective field goal percentage of 62.5% and also posted a free throw rate of 56.8%. Evan Turner lived at the free throw line just like the first match-up and went for 24 points (thanks in large part to 13 FTAs). Inside the Buckeyes got 16 points combined from Mullens and Lauderdale. It was Jeremie Simmons who hit two huge three pointers in the second half that really put the game out of reach.

Michigan has to learn that they just can’t come out this flat if they want to win ball games. They aren’t playing against Savannah State and Indiana anymore.  It has been a long time since we have seen Michigan play good basketball consistently for an extended period of time. We certainly haven’t seen it for more than 2 halves in a row.

Checklist. I listed four keys to the game in the pregame and here is how Michigan did:

• Contain BJ Mullens and Dallas Lauderdale: They only scored 16 combined points but were a huge influence on the game and also combined for 10 rebounds and 5 blocks.
• DeShawn Sims and Manny Harris: I’d give Michigan credit for this one. Manny and Peedi were pretty much the only ones out there playing.
• Secondary scorers: Fail. Everyone besides Manny and DeShawn made 5 shots for a combined for 19 points. That would fall under not quite good enough. Michigan got only 2 points total off the bench and 0 field goals.
• Win the free throw battle: Nope. Evan Turner got to the line all night and helped Ohio State to a free throw rate over 50%.

The 16 point loss really isn’t all that surprising when you consider that Michigan didn’t really do anything they needed to do to win the game. It’ll be a long bus ride home and back to the drawing board before heading out to West Lafayette on Saturday.

Player Bullets:

• Manny Harris: Manny should patent his own brand of triple double: 22 points, 12 rebounds, 10 turnovers, 4 steals, and 3 assists. Manny had half of the Michigan turnovers but I also think he kept us in the game. He drove the lane constantly which I’m sure he was told to do and did a good job getting to the line (11 free throws)
• DeShawn Sims: Peedi still struggles with the bunnies but that is nothing new: 13 points on 5 of 13 shooting, 4 boards, and an assist. Overall a pretty solid game for DeShawn but he got in some foul trouble in the first half and kind of disappeared in the second half three point shooting barrage.
• Laval Lucas-Perry: Laval had an absolutely terrible first half, there is no denying it. I guess the positive would be that he hit two three pointers in the second half. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Stu back in the lineup as LLP tries to find himself.
• Zack Novak: The flagrant will probably be the topic of discussion this week and rightfully so. I wouldn’t expect Zack to be in uniform Saturday and maybe the rest will be good for him though; Zack is struggling with his shot (2-8 from long range tonight) much like everyone else on this team. The actual foul didn’t bother me that much, Zack was clearly frustrated and he will learn not to let guys get under his skin. The bottom line is that after watching an era of Michigan basketball where I wasn’t always sure if everyone “cared enough”, I am certain that Zack Novak does. On another note I have never heard ANY of the nicknames for Zack mentioned by the announcers tonight.
• Kelvin Grady: Not impressed with Kelvin on defense, Jeremie Simmons is not an impact player and he routinely took Kelvin off the dribble. Offensive Kelvin was solid but unspectacular with one made three pointer, 3 assists, and no turnovers.
• Stu Douglass: The three point shot was not falling: 21 minutes, 2 points, 0-6 shooting, 1 rebound, and 2 steals. I think Stu is getting better on his shot selection and I still like him running the point more than Dave Merritt at this point.
• CJ Lee: 4 rebounds and 3 assists in 12 minutes. CJ always seems to find a way to make an impact with his hustle and leadership.
• Dave Merritt: Completely ineffective against the full court press and only played 5 minutes.
• Jevohn Shepherd: Came in, turned it over, and returned to the bench. Shep will probably get some run on Saturday if Novak can’t go.
• Ant Wright: 0-1 shooting with 2 boards in 7 minutes. Ant was also on a short least and he pretty much got pulled after a bad pass to Manny across the court.
• Zack Gibson: Pretty much got abused on the defensive side of the ball. Zack missed a three and got one rebound in 11 minutes. He also had a pretty pathetic flop on the defensive side of the ball in the first half.