Basics: Iowa box score. Ohio State match-up statistics. Next game: 12PM ESPN.
Apologies in advance but I have to keep it short because of time constraints… The Iowa game was ugly but at this point it’s tough to complain about a win.
For the first 10 minutes, everything was running smoothly and Michigan was scoring points at ease. Then Iowa switched to the zone defense and Michigan appeared bewildered. Michigan couldn’t buy a three point shot and they kept firing.
Four factors graphs sans interpretation:
Next up, Ohio State at noon eastern on ESPN. Evan Turner is good. The rest of the Ohio State starting is also good. Ohio State is a 9 point favorite and it’s really tough to see Michigan standing a chance.
For more on Ohio State here is the preview and post game from the last contest in Columbus. There isn’t really a good match-up on the court for Michigan so it will take a very impressive effort. Ohio State is probably playing for a one seed and Michigan needs a miracle to make the NIT.
It’s Ohio State’s first game in 10 days and also their first game in Indianapolis. That coupled with a noon tip off are probably the biggest x-factors going Michigan’s way. It’s not the best news when those are the only positives that you can come up with.
The post is short so let’s hear your thoughts, predictions, and everything else in the comments.


Say your prayers before bed tonight. Not much else I can say here. We are in trouble.
Yes, today’s win was ugly, but at least Deshawn Sims and Manny Harris stepped up to begin that game. That 16 point cushion really saved us when we began to implode.
Thoughts from the game:
1) Nice to see some production from the bench. Anthony Wright drained a 3, Gibson looked good, and LLP chipped in.
2) Manny Harris really stepped up today after his lackluster performance against MSU. 22 pts. and 9 rebs.
3) Sims needs to be more aggressive and play stronger. He scores best close to the basket, and needs to limit his 3 point shots.
4) Michigan got sloppy at the end of the game and almost blew a big lead. Definitely not the first time this year.
5) CAN WE TRADE MATT VOGRICH FOR CULLY PAYNE?
I’m hopeful but realistic about the OSU game tomorrow. Evan Turner is big time, and the rest of their starters are solid. But I really think that if MIchigan plays to the best of their potential, they can beat OSU.
First off, we beat OSU once this year. Sure it was without Evan Turner, but still, it’s not impossible this time. And look at the Michigan-OSU game w/ Turner. Michigan shot badly (36.2% from the field and 29.4% from 3) and Deshawn Sims and Harris struggled. Michigan just needs to find a way to defend OSU, and on offense get the balls to Sims and Harris.
Time to lay it all on the line tomorrow, GO BLUE
Tommorrow is a game to show everyone what were really made of.I really don’t care if we win but I want us to give osu a run for their money
noon start definitely could be a factor in our favor. OSU might come out a little sluggish playing at noon on a Friday, plus UM has a game under their belt. UM needs to take advantage of this and jump out to some sort of lead.
AFter that, we need to see that scrappy defense they played against some of the better competition this year including that second half against OSU in Crisler.
In the end, it will probably still come down to whether or not we make enough shots. Maybe we can convince OSU to wear Minnesota jerseys tomorrow?
Only way we win this game is to force turnovers, take care of the ball, and hope Buford and Diebler have bad games. Defending Buford is going to be the biggest key to the game.
I think out of all the top 10 teams OSU is the best matchup for us. They’re pretty much a very rich man’s version of us. They play 1 big surrounded by 4 wing players and are led by a star guard. The big difference is that their star guard is Evan Turner and their 3 point specialists (Buford and Diebler) both shoot over 45% from deep.
They also play for a bad school
Naturally like the whole season it will come down to how good we shoot the three. Our only chance is if we shoot at least 40% to 45% from the 3 point line. Based on this season – not likely.
Dylan zeigler and horford are still alive in the playoffs right? Hopefully zeigler goes far and cannot make any last minute visits to other schools like asu or other
If we shoot that high from 3 we will score at least 80
cant see us winning this game. but i agree that i like the match-up vs ohio state or purdue better than the match-up against wisconsin or michigan state (likely both teams we’d have to play if we were to make a deep run).
If I were UM id let turner get his. He can’t beat us all by himself. Can’t let buford and diebler get hot from three. If they all are shooting well it’s over. We need to take care of the basketball and get good shots. I would try to do what notre dame has been doing and that is shortening the game and make it low-scoring. Run the shot clock down and hope to hit some shots. Also, getting any of their starting 5 would be great as they have as much depth as we do.
I don’t see us winning but I want a close game at least. A chance to win at the end is all I’m asking for…
OSU 64
UM 54
meant to say getting any of their starting 5 in foul trouble would be great because they dont have any depth either.
Need to get OSU in foul trouble and exploit there most signicant weakness–their lack of bench. If any of their starters are riding pine, we have a chance.
I had a dream
OSU beast crushed to death
Beginning of new era of UM basketball/football dominance
Begins tomorrow
UM plays crazy good and every three goes down
Final score: 88-63
But, it was just a dream
Hopefully we can be helped out the same way the underdogs in the Big East have. The top seeds are rusty, and OSU is going to be even more so, having not played since the middle of last week. I don’t think the whole tired legs thing will necessarily set in for us tomorrow. If it were going too, I would expect it to happen on the third straight day, not the second. I guess if Georgia(!) can win it, then what the heck, why not us?
OSU wins by 15 and mercifully ends our season. I think Turner is unstoppable and Manny gets bottled up. Peedi gets his after being sort of quiet today.
funniest part of the game yesterday:
LLP hits a triple (his first make in SEVEN GAMES?) and the whole M bench erupts.
OSU 63
M 57
We will keep it close early, keeping my hopes up. Then we will go on an 8 minute scroing drought firing 15 threes in a row, eventually loosing by 16
My take is the same as Other Steve’s–Turner is going to do his thing; we just can’t leave Buford & especially Diebler open.
Sims has to test them inside; we need to keep feeding him the ball down low as the game goes on. Also need to get to the line which was encouraging yesterday. If we do these things & shoot >35% from 3, I like our chances……
HEY is this game streaming anywhere?
Want to keep an eye on this game from the office!
Michigan 65 Ohio State 64, LLP buzzer beater to win it.
Ekpe Udoh gets 25 against Texas. Nice photo of him telling Texas and maybe us to stuff it, w. alacrity here w. the game story:
http://www.cbssports.com/colle.....;scoresTbl
Safe to say we’d have been better w. him on the squad this year; not hard to see us snagging those five-seven close ones that we lost. On the other hand, things have turned out well for him. Good luck to both Udoh and a surging Baylor team as they approach the Big Tango.
I don’t see any reason to think that the Beilein BTT pattern will change this year. Beat Iowa on Thursday, lose to a higher rated team on Friday where you’re never really in the game.
I would love to see things change, but I just don’t see it.
3 out of the 4 games were upsets in the big east tourney yesterday.
So no streaming??
Bummer!
Guess i have to listenlive on WWJ.com here.
It should be on ESPN360. You can also check ChannelSurfing and sites like that.
Unfortunately, I have little faith we can win, although I’d like to think that when we stroke the 3 ball at a high percentage we can beat anybody. I can live with a loss to a very talented OSU team, howver I cannot stomach the loss if I see us with no energy. We better show some heart in potentially (and likely) our last game of the year. Also, let Gibson play the four today, I dont want to see Novak get dominated by guys 5 inches taller. (love his hustle but he just wasn’t meant to be a power forward) Turner will get his but if somehow everyone else including Diebler and Buford are off, and the WOlverines are draining 3 balls, we could do this.
UM-62
OSU-71
Woot! Go Blue!
It’s great when Peedi has his shot going but he’s already had a couple turnovers too. Need to tighten it up in the turnover department.
decent start, Sims making some tough shots. But he also has two terrible passes resulting in turnovers. UM also appears to be double teaming Turner whenever possible. UM has lost some guys on D a couple times already though.
Michigan has 3 tough shots…OSU has 3 easy layups.
Playing with admirable urgency and poise; need Manny to get it going. Maybe that layup does it!
Wow, Novak is wearing his PF Flyers!
Michigan definitely playing well. How about Novak taking it to the hole. Definitely thought Manny got fouled on that last one.
foul needs to be called on that novack layup and manny’s most recent shot
…this is the hardest we’ve played all season, i mean that in a good way.
Energy looks good today on both sides of the ball, but it still appears to me that guys are losing their man especially off of ball screens and back cuts.
Per usual, obvious fouls aren’t being called. But Michigan came to play, Sims gettin it done early, Gibson’s breakaway dunk, Novak playin hard. LET”S GO
Good energy and love the look of the big lineup right now… Need to tighten up the D… Might be a good idea to back to the old switchin D’s…
Absolutely disgraceful officiating. The refs know swallowing the whistles helps OSU with the short bench.
Question for the Victors: did JB make a mistake by not giving more minutes to Gibson this season? Might that have translated into more wins? As an outsider, that’s been one of my other head-scratchers watching UM.
Well those two turnovers just lead to 6 OSU points so don’t get too high on him yet.
Call a time-out, John. Good. Thought maybe Lighty walked on that three.
Gibson really struggled for most of the season with what limited minutes he got. Its only been in the last month or so that he has played better. So I would say no, gibson playing more early would not have helped.
Does anybody else feel like Michigan has no way of actually creating a shot? It looks like they are passing it around for 30 seconds with no intention of finding a shot and then having to force something up in the last 5 seconds.
What an ugly bounce pass by Wright. OSU has accelerated its execution and now they’re on a 17-4 run.
More disgraceful officiating.
OSU on a 19-4 run… Sigh.
Manny Harris the rest of the team needs some help, please report to the basketball court!!
Looked to me like Turner poked it before the 24 elapsed: M ball. Need to limit the damage before the half. Good TO. But we never seem to come out and execute well when we have them.
So OSU goes on a 25-6 run, Buford is about to get hot, and you put LLP in?
They scored more pts in the last 7 mins of the half than we did all half.
This team never “plays” a full half… They’re going to have a full team effort and limit the stupid TO’s if they want this game…
UM just had no response once OSU stepped up the defense. Way too many silly turnovers. I think legs might have been a factor as we seemed to get a little lazy with our cuts ans guys stopped attacking off the dribble.
Gonna have to get real hot in the second half to keep up in this game as OSU is really clicking on offense.
and that last 3 before half seals their fate………….just not enough fire power and/or inside presence to get things done
Michigan actually doing a good job on the offensive glass (46% OR). TOs are too high (32.4%). Michigan just can’t win when they don’t win TO battle. 12.5% 3pt shooting doesn’t help either though.
The scoring droughts that this team goes through seemingly every game is beyond frustrating. This most recent one, in the last 5 minutes of the half, probably will end are season.
michigan shouldnt be tired ohio state plays 6 guys……..enough said man up
I don’t tend to buy the tired legs argument ever… but OSU hasn’t played for 10 days. Michigan played yesterday. Just sayin’.
Keep hope alive. OSU punched us. Wecab punch back. Peedi and Fresh are going to take over this gam. (I can hope). That Buford three was rediculous.
Evan Turner has 9 points, Peedi 12; but whose woozle is Steve Lavin working?
Mattski: Turner is dominating the game. There’s no denying that.
Madsen just Gibson’d Peedi.
1-9 from 3pt, and same old same old! It’s bad, but I’d take 29% at this point! Let’s go, time for Manny to be Fresh!
Refs go into locker room, emerge w. whole new philosophy of officiating.
Just think if Morris is a threat from three. Jeez, I hope that guy can figure out how to turn it on.
Stay aggressive, Manny!
Seems to me, Steve, that what Peedi is showing today is a multi-FACETED game more than ‘his comfort level from some (damned) spot on the floor.’
We need two things. One to shoot slightly less than god awful from 3. Second to stop letting OSU make so many shots in a row.
Well that, and for Ed Hightower to regurgitate his whistle.
Back to back 3s from Douglass. That’s one thing.
Where has that give and go play between simms and douglas been all game? Nicely done…
Need to go big while lauderdale is on the bench…
Just need to figure out ways to get stops. Douglass is feeling it with three straight triples.
Wow this just like the game at columbus… The refs whistles have gone cold…
Is there a reason Manny isn’t attacking the basket at all?
Depressing to see Douglas’ triples end up doing nothing but keeping the lead at 10.
Gut check time!!!
What’s with the refs hot and cold calls?
That was the most blatant example of failure to box out by Novak I’ve ever seen.
To Novak’s credit.. He got elbowed in the face by Lauderdale right before Buford got the rebound.
Man…we’re doing just enough to make me think we have a chance in this. Please prove me right Michigan…
Time to put Gibson back in, Novak with his 4th foul…
They are riding Novak as long as they can it seems like. Need to make free throws though, bad miss by Douglass there.
Fouls adding up for OSU…
Nice to see Michigan not quit. Down only 4 with the ball now. Let’s see if they can close it out on a run.
The last stand right here.
Yeah Manny!
Here we go!
WHY IS LLP PLAYING??!!?
You let LAVAL LUCAS PERRY TAKE THE MOST IMPORTANT SHOT OF THE SESASON!?
So he can throw up airballs, eh.
See Manny shoot?
See Manny make a 3!
MANNNNY HARRIS!!! LETS GO. GET ONE MORE STOP
That’s right band! Drown out the OSU band! Yeah baby yeah!
omg close out close out close out close out close out close out close out close out close out close out close out close out
Shoot, I’m just glad they didn’t go for 3. I want to see Michigan with the last shot.
MANNNYYYYY!!!!!
MANNY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MMMMMMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNYYYYYYYY
Just shoot me dead.
yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow, that’s awful. Sorry, guys. Gotta guard the inbounding man and make them work for it.
Kill me kill me
they started the clock late on the inbound
There is no justice in the world. I want to die.
dont care about guarding the inbounder, but you gotta press up and make it difficult for him to dribble into a shot. We just sat back and let him shoot it comfortably.
arg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
that about sums it up……………..that ones on beilein
Coach lost the game w/ 2 seconds you make it difficult to catch and dribble
That one is on Beilein. That one is on Beilein. Someone send him a video tape of the 1992 elite eight as a case study on how to guard an inbounds with less than 3 seconds left.
that ones on Evan Turner. He made the shot.
Good game. I still will look at the positives from this game. They came to play and they definitely should keep their heads up. Tough loss but the better team won today guys.
Good job Blue. Better luck next time.
they played not to lose on that instead of trying to win……..i have supported beilein cause i think he will make michigan good at some point but beilein deserves that outcome but the players deserve that win…………thats going to eat at some folks for a long long long time
there is no justice in this world. worst. season. ever.
I guess Beilein wad concern about fouling but come on, put some pressure on the ball and don’t give Turner the ability to catch the ball moving forward. Poor strategy on that late play in my judgment. That being said, he still hit a 40 footer. bummer
Matt, that’s on Beilein. You know darn well that OSU is one of the best jumpshooting teams in the nation. If they had a clean shot, chances are they’d hit it. You know that, I know that, Beilein knows that. The only way you stop that is foul before the shot, or guard the inbounds. I mean, where do you think manny harris should have been? Under the basket for no reason, or on the baseline with a hand in lighty’s face?
That was horrible. Why did they let Turner dribble it up like that?
Kalin Lucas’ed by Evan Turner. I can’t watch basketball for a month.
He made a contested 37 foot shot and you people are blaming Beilein?
They lost. It was a great game, and they lost, because Turner made a completely asininely difficult shot. Period.
exactly chitownblue. i hope evan turner gets all kinds of awful diseases. did you guys see thad motta taunting michigans bench after turner made the impossibley absurd miracle shot the completely bailed his team out? Way to be, OSU coach. Your team by all means should have lost and you start rubbing it in michigan bench’s face. Really, really classy. Boy you’re just such a great coach.
wow. just wow. at least we didn’t go down without a fight. jeeze, that hurts. we can only build on this to get better next year.
I’ll second the note that the shot was before the buzzer BUT the clock started late on the inbound. He caught the ball, turned and dribbled before it hit 2.1 seconds. I don’t who works the clock but I very much doubt it should have counted.
Seriously. It’s not on Beilein. That was angry Michigan hating god.
That loss is on the coach. Seriously, who doesnt guard the inbound pass or at the very least slow down Evan Turner who gets a running start to the other end of the floor. Who cares about the time, send these West Virginia coaches back where they came from!!!
Good game BLUE. You guys really showed some heart today. Tough loss. I hope we can build from our intensity into next season.
The sad thing is, didn’t you just know Turner’s shot was going in as soon as it left his hand?
As Brian pointed out on MGoBlog a few months back, being a Michigan sports fan right now is like getting dong-punched repeatedly. Lord make it stop.
Oh come off it! It was ALLL on Beilein! Every single person I have talked to so far, even those who don’t watch basketball, asked “why didn’t anyone guard the inbounds?”
OSU is an EXCELLENT shooting team. He got a clean shot off in rhythm against a guy who isn’t nearly tall enough to guard him. If he was falling away from the basket it would be a tough shot. That wasn’t a tough shot, that was the cleanest look he could have gotten from 37 feet. And once again, I don’t think just Turner could have made that. Diebler could have. Buford could have. Heck even Lighty could have!
yea that was bs on the clock. No way he takes that many dribbles and still gets a shot off in 2.2 secs
seriously, this is up there with the CWebb timeout, the hail mary, the texas rose bowl game, the fumble by atrain, the last 10 years of suffering at the hands of OSU…… i dont know how much more I can take…..
AG, you’re acting like any 35 foot shot is a certainty. Stop being an idiot. Take a deep breath.
o and yea I saw that taunting by matta. Really classy for a coach there. They should of threw OSU a T for that
I’ve seriously never hated a player more than I hate Evan Turner right now. That f-ing grin on his ugly f-ing face after he hit that shot…ugh. Just had to get that out of my system.
Geez I can only imagine the state Drew is in right now. Hope he doesn’t make any rash decisions ha.
And did Beilein only coach the last 2 seconds? What about when we cut their lead from 10 in 10 minute? Did he coach that part, too? Or does he just takeover when you need a scapegoat to fill your overly-simplistic need to find a scapegoat?
I’m just saying, chitown. OSU is one of the best jumpshooting teams in the Big Ten, if not the nation. You have to EXPECT that Turner makes that shot the way they shoot. If you don’t think he can make it, what is the purpose of having ANYONE out there on defense ANYWHERE on the court? I’m not saying its a certainty. I’m saying if anyone could have hit that shot, its Turner/Buford/Diebler. And Beilein did not have them in position to win.
Brutal to lose that game after making that great comeback. I think this will look a lot better to the potential recruits then if we had won and then lost our next game by 20 or so though.
Agree 100% Alyzen. I wanted to punch him in his stupid buckeye face. I hope OSU loses in the 1st round by 50. Screw rooting for your own conference. I never thought I could hate OSU so much over a basketball game.
Also, Matta wasn’t yelling at Beilein. He was yelling at Hightower, becaus he was waving it off.
I agree with AG2. If you’re going to need a 40 foot shot to win the game in two seconds, that was about as ideal an unfolding as OSU could have imagined.
For everything Beilein did well and for everything his coaching contributed to the win, it sucks to have it wiped any by what most observers would say was a dubious defensive approach on the last play. Just because OSU needs a miracle shot to win doesn’t coaching decisions don’t matter. Yes, he made an unlikely shot but partially because he got about the best look he could have hoped for.
@ chitownblue are you sure? He totally looked like he was doing an “in your face we scored” thing. To me anyway.
It hurts. I am proud of the team’s showing. It was really good for the youngest team in the Big Ten. Still, it hurts.
if you have any pressure at all there is no way he gets that far up court. im not even saying contest the shot just make him change his dribble and the games is over. instead they let him run up past half court. this one is defiantly on beilein.
I might guess that Beilein didn’t think that Turner could catch the ball, dribble a few times and get the ball off in 2.2 seconds. If the clock had started on time he probably didn’t. Beilein may have thought they only had time for a throw past half court and a catch and shoot.
Either way, I probably would have defended the throw in but I’m not a coach.
That seems to be a pretty fitting end to a brutal season. I can’t remember a team that ever finding more agonizing ways to lose games. I thought they had it perfected after the MSU game, but they topped that today. And yeah, it was a terrible decision not to guard the inbounds pass. That’s all I can say.
Anyone notice the clock when OSU called time out @ the end… It was 2.0 not 2.2… Great effort poor last defensive set… Still great game!
Drae thats because they started it after thad matta had called a timeout so they had to put the time back on
The game was great. They played extremely hard. I cannot fault them. I wish it had gone the other way. I do think that the team can build off of this and if certain people stay/commit watch out for UM Hoops next year.