Basics:
Who: Michigan at Ohio State
Where: Value City Arena, Columbus, OH
When: Wednesday, January 27th, 6:30 PM ET
TV: BTN
Spread: OSU by 4.5
First Meeting: Preview / Post Game / Plus Minus
Preview: Stat Sheet, U-M KenPom Profile, Ohio State KenPom Profile
Radio: MGoBlue, WWJ-AM (950), WTKA-AM (1050)
Opposition Blog: Eleven Warriors
Ohio State got the best of Michigan in the first battle at Crisler Arena but the Wolverines look to get some revenge in Columbus. The Ohio State game was one of the most disappointing Michigan losses this season — expectations were high, the 1989 team was in the gym, Michigan had a 4 point lead in the second half, but they just let the game slip away.
In round 1, Ohio State planned and executed their game plan better than Michigan. The Buckeyes came in planning to pound the ball inside to BJ Mullens and Dallas Lauderdale and it worked. Mullens set the tone by finishing around the rim for 15 points on 7 of 9 shooting. Evan Turner and William Buford provided the rest of the scoring punch by hitting from inside, outside, and from the stripe for 34 combined points.
On the defensive end the Buckeyes got Michigan out of their comfort zone by pressuring the ball the length of the court and running their typical 2-3 match up zone. Early on Michigan got the ball into the middle of the zone in DeShawn Sims’ hands but he just couldn’t finish all night long. Manny Harris and Stu Douglass were really the only ones who made plays on the offensive side of the ball and it just wasn’t enough to get Michigan over the top.
There are some pretty simple keys for Michigan:
- Contain BJ Mullens and Dallas Lauderdale. Both big men have a huge size advantage but Michigan needs to at least force them into semi-difficult shots and cut down on the easy dunks.
- DeShawn Sims and Manny Harris. Michigan needs ‘A’ games from both Manny and Peedi if they want to steal a road win. Early on in the season this could be expected but right now both guys are going through ups and downs, we haven’t seen great games from both at the same time for a while now.
- Secondary scorers. Michigan needs at least two guys outside of the big two to score in double figures. That means any combination of Zack Gibson, Zack Novak, Stu Douglass, Laval Lucas-Perry, or Kelvin Grady. Other guys stepping up allow Michigan to keep the defense honest and give Manny and Peedi room to work.
- Win the free throw battle. Ohio State got the the free throw line a lot in the first contest. When Michigan keeps their opponents off of the free throw line they usually win. The issue is that Ohio State does a good job of getting to the free throw line and they are great at keeping their opponents off the line (FTR of 23.8 is 5th nationally). As I mentioned in the first preview, I think it’s remarkable that Ohio State is so good at blocking shots (block% of 17.8 is 3rd nationally) and they still keep their opponents off the line.
A win in Columbus won’t come easily. Value City is still a tough place to play despite being an “NBA style” arena more than a traditional college arena. Southern Ohio was hit hard by snow and Ohio State has canceled classes today and the storm probably means a weaker than average crowd but the game is still on. This is Michigan’s best chance to steal a road win this week because Purdue is really clicking right now after a road win in Madison.
Early on in this season I praised Michigan for playing with poise and sticking together even when things got tough. Right now that team is missing in action because that certainly wasn’t the group we saw at Penn State last week. When I watched the UCLA game earlier this year I realized that it was one of the first times a long time that I actually enjoyed watching Michigan basketball on TV. Typically the experience involves a lot more cussing and screaming than actually enjoying the game.
I don’t expect to win this one because as a Michigan fan I know better than to ever expect a road win. So far we have seen an awful Indiana team almost hand Michigan a devastating loss, a very good Illinois team completely shut down the Michigan offense, and a solid Penn State team embarrass the Wolverines.
Thoughts, comments, and predictions in the comments. Not going to do a CoverItLive but discussion will be going on in the comments during the game as well.
Pre-Game Reading (updated throughout the day)
- U-M’s Beilein defends Harris
- Stone Cold!!
Huge win for Purdue in Madison - Come to a Big Ten Network basketball viewing party
Party with Tim McCormick tonight in Chicago - Pittsford’s C.J. Lee realizes dream as captain of the Wolverines
I don’t know about the weather being a factor in our favor. After all, if classes are canceled don’t you think more ppl will show up?
A few more students? Maybe. General public outside of Columbus? Nope.
Even students aren’t going to want to leave their houses to trudge through a bunch of snow though IMO.
I don’t expect a win. Actually Purdue might be a better matchup for us this week. The thing that killed us last game against Ohio State was Turner blowing by the defender, penetrating, drawing the interior defense, dumping to a very large player-dunk! 1-3-1 did not work because they passed it over the top in the gaps between the wing and Deshawn. I don’t see how the equation has changed. Their length kills us.
I live south of Columbus and am going to the game tonight. I don’t have very high expectations, but it would be nice to get a win over OSU. Feeling alright after the win over NU
Let’s see how Beilein makes adjustmants and deals with Ohio State’s bigs. Maybe the team gained a little confidence after NW and will come fired up.
I think the key to this game is Zack Gibson. When he plays well we win period. When he struggles it really puts alot of pressure on DeShawn to not only play well but stay out there longer. If Zack can give us 12-15 quality minutes, something like 8 points and 4 rebounds that would be awesome. He’s gotta contribute, especially on defense tonight.
I don’t think we win the game either, but I also think this is one of the remaining road games that we have a legit shot at. I won’t post a score—I’ll just hope for the best. Go Blue!
We should probably lose, but I’m calling for a big win tonight anyway. The team is due for a strong night from 3 point land. U of M 70, OSU 66
I think we’ve got a decent shot tonight…I’m confident Beilein will make adjustmens and we’ll play better than we did at home against the Bucks…plus I feel like we’ve played OSU pretty tough in Columbus recently, even if we’ve come up on the short end.
But I’m worried about Deibler. Anybody else feel like he has been quiet all year and ready to bust out tonight? I’m worried about that…
A friend of mine mentioned to me the other day how well Beilein prepares for teams the second time around. We’ve only seen two teams twice this season so far, and we’re 1-1 in those games. The win was against Dook and the loss was at Illinois. However, I thought we played Illinois pretty well on the road and had that game within grasp until 10 minutes left due to poor shooting and Tisdale turning in a lifetime performance.
I think we’ll play better against OSU tonight and provided we shoot above 45% should win the game.
In Beilein We Trust.
I had a good feeling, even before the season started, about the UCLA game (enough of one to convince myself to fly out to NYC). For some reason, I have a similar feeling about tonight.
Beilein’s preparation for 2nd time vs. OSU
+ Team wanting revenge for the loss
+ No huge pressure to win (not favored)
+ Bucks taking us lightly after winning at Crisler
+ Snow storm dwindling the crowd
= HUGE road win
Giddings has convinced me.
Lets do this thing
There’s not much we can do differently down so we’ll just have to accept that they have the size advantage. But if we really focus on our perimeter defense we can minimize penetration and if we get our hands in their faces we make those entry passes a lot harder.
Ultimately I think this game will be about mental toughness. I think we are the better team and just need to play like it. Clearly we’ve been anything but mentally tough on the road thus far but tonight we will find it and stick it to our rivals in Columbus.
(btw wisco in some serious trouble)
I love reading all the positive comments above. I wish I felt the same way, but I think we are in serious trouble tonight. Manny needs to get off to a good start and a whole lot of other things need to go right.
I’m thinking OSU pulls away early in the second 70-59. Call me a pessimist but I hope we can save our energy for a strong performance on Saturday at Purdue. I’ll be there and personally I’d love to see us split this road trip.
For the record… A few comments tonight will probably go to the old site (they already are) and maybe I should have waited to move the site. But with all the hacking BS I just wanted to get it done..
Damned Turkish hackers.
Arena looks pretty damn empty. I think they said students are being let in free though b/c of the snow.
Hey Hey,
Stuck in class til 9 tonight, anyone know where I can watch online?
Yikes. The offense looks really out of sync…. Already a couple turnovers. Still nothing from LLP..
OSU is just really good at moving the ball against the 1-3-1. This really could be a lot worse if they would knock down their wide open 3s they’ve been getting.
And turnovers just CANNOT happen, especially on the road.
Video Stream here: http://www.justin.tv/marchmadness2008
Peedi needs to stop cheating for that steal.. it works one out of ten times and gives up easy buckets.
Michigan needs to lower the intensity if they want to win on the road. Giving up 2 dunks and an And 1 won’t help in that respect.
Yikes… Two more turnovers and still no defense or rebounding… This is on the edge of rolling away for good.
What is with the turnovers?
They look mentally flat to me. No focus, no hustle, no emotion. They look like they are already ready to go home.
This team just isn’t physical, and they’re getting even softer.
10 turnovers already. Yikes. That last one was just unnecessary from Manny… Especially with a chance to build on a little run.
Ant!! Let’s go!
You’d think with such a short bench OSU would run out of gas running that full court press.
Keep going to DeShawn he can score on this zone. LLP please start making shots again. And please play some D.
Does 3 point shooting just get worse over the course of the season? because both teams are combined 0-9 from 3
OSU just looks more energetic than us, which is really too bad because the only way to offset more talent is with more energy, and we’re not the ones with more talent in this game…
LLP needs to come off the bench. There is something wrong with him, mentally, and I think it’s the pressure of being a starter.
what happened to LLP’s physicality and bulldog mentality? right now this guy couldn’t check my sister… probably couldn’t score on her either…
Manny harris is single handedly playing defense for the entire team.
2-3 zone???
Yea… the 2-3 zone isn’t really working.
Well, I guess there’s no point in denying it now: we’re a perimeter oriented team that is bad at shooting perimeter shots. We’re only getting worse.
Yea… nothing good about that half. Probably the most turnovers we have had in a half… pathetic defense… pathetic shooting.
Frank, you are right on. I love the style we play, but the guys we have are simply not good shooters. At least not cumulatively as a team.
What an embarrassing performance tonight.
OMG, this is an embarrassment. Sieve defense, and what kind of offense is this?! Zero for whatever on 3′s, just passing around the perimeter, and our guards are afraid to dribble anywhere near the lane.
I figured we’d lose, but wth??
Well its halftime, and OSU has doubled up on us 36-18. We’ve got almost 3x more turnovers than made baskets, and are 0-11 from 3. This is just like the Penn State game but with crappier defense. Its like their 3 point shooting as completely fallen off the table, what gives?
Besides Manny no one is playing hard.
Dylan, you’re right they look totally flat, no intensity.
Anyone know why Sims sat for so long? Fouls?
This team is driving me to drink.
I’m at work so I really haven’t been able to pay that much attention, is it really that bad ?
I was really hoping they would learn from the first meeting. Maybe they are presing too hard ?
We just gotta hope they do one of their miraculous turnarounds here.
Yea I think Peedi has two fouls. Novak definitely does. I can’t find a game tracker that isn’t stuck around the 4 minute mark.
who were the people that responded to me saying that beilein system works and that he finds people to fit his system……………like i have said before, what happens when we cant shoot 3s…….this does…we get done by 20 at halftime…….find players that fit the system but that can also drive the lane and that can create baskets when 3s dont fall…..and trust me we will have these problems every single year and we will lose many games because we dont have anybody that can drive on a consistent basis……..stu douglass didnt start for his high school team until his senior year…..no disrespect to stu cause i love his 3s but this is MICHIGAN we need top 100 recruits and more than 1 or 2 and versatility……the athleticism just isnt there for some of these guys and it will be a big problem during big time games…..you can see it already on defense……..i promise you that any player can become part of any system especially a good player…..any good player can and will adapt……..
I don’t care what system you run… If you turn the ball over that much and don’t make any shots you are not going to have a chance.
No one is saying that we don’t need players either. Vogrich and D-Mo are top 100 kids. Harris and Sims were as well. If you think Beilein doesn’t want top 100 kids you are crazy.
LLP FOR THREE!?!??!!
39-26 and Harris to the line… At least they came out with some effort in the second half.
One of the things I remembered after watching the OSU/MSU game from Sunday is that OSU almost ran them off the court at the start of the game, too. Hopefully they run out of gas from running all that full court press. I mean, who has the energy to run the full court press the entire game?
These 3′s are nice, but they won’t mean anything if we can’t get stops on defense…
Maybe we at least found our shooting stroke?
Right, as long as Ohio State can come back with easy layups, these 3s are meaningless.
*Note to Beilein* Maybe try Jevohn Shepard on Evan Turner?
Hate to complain about officiating but how do you miss that goaltend?
If Michigan wants to get back in this game, taking advantage of the fact that they’re almost in the double bonus with 9 minutes left is going to be key.
Also I would like to add we need Dashonte Riley rather than Blake McLimans! Someone who has a chance at deterring someone down low. Bring In Riley, Morgan and Cronin next year and that front line is SET for 3-4 years of Big 10 play. McClimans is gonna be softer then “peedi” Sims! With all the perimeter players we are getting, lets help them out with some size inside and not big men who want to play on the perimeter. That was the upside with Lubick wasnt it?
Resolved: there is no such thing as good officiating. There is only bad officiating that benefits your team and bad officiating that benefits the other team.
Dang, that TO by Manny was huge…
Gotta at least like the effort in the second half in my book. This team has to just eliminate AWFUL halves of basketball… Illinois 2nd half, PSU, there are so many this year. Consistency…
There in the penalty correct? Force the ref to blow the whistle and drive the ball. (game track says they are)
Can they carry it into Purdue though? Possibly catch the Boilers overconfident after their recent streak?
Crap… does this mean Novak will be out for the Purdue game?
Novak is a hardass.
I know some will be offended but Novak is giving us nothing for the amount of minutes he is playing, not to mention out of position. Hes much more valuable when he can contribute with assist, and points on the other end. Its like Coach is using him as a role player when he doesnt need to. If you want a guy to just hustle, then use Shep or somebody else. We need to get somewhat of a playmaker like Novak was earlier back in the fold to take some of the pressure off the rest of the back court.
Well congrats fellas. Zack Novak ejected with a flagrant foul. And I’m sure all of you are aware that a flagrant foul = 1 game suspension.
novak is the best 3 point shooter…..no doubt he gets tired out there and will be ineffective shooting…..the kid can barely breath 5 mins in i suspect…..i agree let jevohn run, not to mention is way more athletic and capable of defense and let zach drop 3s
Well… that wasn’t fun.
Well everybody get rooting for Indiana now, hopefully they’ll be able to pull off a couple upsets over the rest of the year.
Real classy, Zack. So much for a triumphant return home against Purdue.
After the flagrant foul, I switched over to ESPN. 1 because I wanted to see decent basketball, 2 because as long as Duke keeps winning, we’re the only team to have beaten them.
This is one of the only times I have rooted for Duke in my life…
Did Zack get tossed? I left the bar with a minute left to play
Yea Zack got tossed. Putting video up now.
The refs went to the video…are the refs allowed to look at video of something like that? I know in football refs aren’t allowed to review penalties and such, but when they started looking at the television I found myself cursing with anger…despite Zach deserving the toss.
If I were Beilein, my starting five at Purdue:
Kelvin
Stu
Manny
Shep
Peedi
Well, look on the bright side: As long as OSU and Wisconsin stay around the same level in the standings as us, we won’t have to play them again in the Big Ten Tournament.
Still, at first I was worried that Michigan cannot handle a bigger, more athletic team. Now it seems like not only that, but EVERYBODY looks like a bigger, more athletic team in comparison to us.
What a wacky box score… would anyone believe that we outrebounded OSU by 4? Despite us shooting 30% and OSU shooting 57%
How about Manny with the “triple double”? 22 pts, 12 boards, 10 turnovers.
i wonder how much of a difference these games would be if we had cronin healthy………..
lots of “ifs” can be said though throughout the last several games
and arent teams suppose to get better as the season goes on……why does michigan always seem to get real bad this time of year………at least the last several years anyway
I don’t blame Manny for most of those 10 turnovers. He was the only guy other than Sims who played like he gave a damn. He also bailed out a lot of his teammates turnovers by stealing the ball right back. He also had enough sense to get to the free throw line when the 3s weren’t falling.
This team has not been the same since LLP. Im sure that in the future he will be more comfortable and his teamates more comfortable with him but at this moment there is no denying that this team is better when hes not on the court. He cannot make shots and it seems like every basket is scored by the player hes guarding???