With the divisions announced tonight, obviously that idea was as enticing to Michigan fans as it was dreadful for Penn State fans:

Katz began back tracking shortly after his original article was published and understandably so. The number one issue that was emphasized throughout the Big Ten Network’s (far too long) prime time special was “competitive balance.” This divisional breakdown is anything but balanced – placing 5 traditional powerhouses in a 6 team division.

It would be a nice break for teams on Michigan’s half of the split but it’s just not fair. In the last 25 years — MSU has 7 shares of the regular season conference crown, Michigan has 2, and Minnesota just one (forfeited). The rest have all gone to Division X.

According to Jim Delany, it appears basketball will be spared from divisional misalignment:

“In basketball, they will start their own course,” Delany said. “The sport is structured completely differently.”

So how should the conference construct the schedule on the basketball side of things? I’m all for keeping things simple – stick with an 18 game schedule with 7 double plays and 4 single plays.

A 16 game divisional structure would be going in the wrong direction (fewer games and more imbalance) and a 20 game round robin is more balanced but would put the Big Ten at a disadvantage compared to other conferences.

Commissioner Delaney made it clear that the Big Ten along with  their athletic directors and basketball coaches would put together a plan that made sense specifically for basketball. Judging by their track record thus far, I’m confident that they will settle for the 18 game “round robin” sans divisions. It’s not perfect but it’s the best option.

It might sound disappointing for Michigan fans, who thought they would be blessed with the significantly weaker division, but looking at the situation rationally there’s really no other option.

Glenn Robinson III, Gary Harris, and Zak Irvin are all expected on campus this weekend.

Joe first reported on Twitter that Glenn Robinson III plans to make an unofficial visit for the UConn game. Robinson visited a couple weeks ago and picked up a Michigan offer along the way. Last we spoke to him a decision was a ways away but two visits in a months time is certainly a sign of strong mutual interest.

According to The Recruit Scoop, Hamilton Southeastern guard Gary Harris is also planning to make the trip up to Ann Arbor for the UConn game. Harris took an unofficial to Notre Dame over the weekend and also recently stopped by Indiana.

Harris’ high school teammate, 2013 star Zak Irvin, is also expected to make an unofficial visit to Ann Arbor. Irvin recently picked up an offer from Xavier to go along with Illinois, Indiana, and Purdue. Michigan doesn’t offer sophomores until June 15th of their sophomore year but Michigan is in hot pursuit of Irvin, who’s been to campus multiple times.

*Minutes per game don’t include the first game.

I’ll have more wrap-up thoughts at some point but here’s a quick run-down of Michigan’s stats for the week. Obviously they really struggled for stretches, and four games isn’t a huge sample size, but there are still some interesting numbers. The table should be sortable by clicking the column headers.

More from Europe:

• Euro Game 4: Michigan 80, Mons 74
• Euro Game 4: Post Game Interviews
• Euro Game 3: Oostende 70, Michigan 55
• Euro Game 3: Post Game Interviews
• Euro Game 2: Charleroi 90, Michigan 60
• Euro Game 2: Post Game Interviews
• Euro Game 1: Post Game Interviews
• Euro Game 1: Gent 69, Michigan 63

With one final chance at earning a victory across the pond, Michigan came through in the clutch and earned a win.

Michigan played their best game both offensively and defensively of the entire trip. They were lights out in the first half (67% from the field) and cruised to a 50-31 halftime lead. Mons made a valiant comeback effort but Michigan made just enough plays in order to hold onto the much needed victory.

[More: Post game audio and video interviews]

Matt Vogrich made plenty of plays for Michigan as he finished with 22 points and 7 rebounds while shooting 8 of 11 from the field. Tim Hardaway Jr. was the other double digit scorer with 14 while Novak added 9, Morris 8, and Smotrycz 7. Even more impressive was that they all shot 50% or better from the field.

It’s definitely nice to end the trip on a positive note and also pretty clear that Michigan steadily improved over the week. I’ll have a wrap-up post tomorrow but for now, here is the box score, tempo free stats, and some analysis after the jump.

Tempo free offensive stats:

Bullets:

• Matt Vogrich shot the lights out. He not only shot well from three, he made all four of his field goals inside the arc. His 82% eFG% on 11 shots is extremely impressive to say the least. Not to mention his team high seven boards.
• Michigan’s improvement inside the arc is astounding and tough to explain without seeing the game – they shot 70% from inside the arc today. I don’t know if Mons had no shot blocking threat or Michigan was just running their offense more efficiently.
• When Andy Beilein tweeted that Vogrich was playing some four I was a bit appalled but both he and Tim Hardaway did a great job on the defensive glass today – Michigan is going to need that rebounding from the wing.
• Offensively, Michigan won this one with their shooting. They didn’t do much of anything on the offensive glass and didn’t get to the line – but it doesn’t matter with a 65% eFG%.
• The rebounding looks bad at first glance but my estimations (tough with half the box score) but it looks like Michigan rebounded around 80% of Mons’ missed shots which is a dramatic improvement.
• Tim Hardaway Jr. had another strong game… It’s becoming clear that he’s going to be a double digit shot guy but he also had three assists as well. For a true freshman in August, there’s a lot to like about Hardaway thus far.
• The big man situation continues to play out. Horford got only 4 minutes of playing time today while McLimans, Smotrycz, and Morgan all played a touch under 20 minutes. Each of these guys gives you something a little different but they will definitely have their ups and downs.
• Darius Morris had a very solid game – 4 of 7 and 4 assists in 23 minutes – he also took significantly fewer threes than before. I’m willing to give some credit here toward Michigan’s offense running a little more smoothly and having to force up fewer desperation attempts.

John Beilein Audio:

Matt Vogrich Video:

Matt Vogrich Audio:

Tim Hardaway Jr. Audio:

• Exhibition Game TBD
• Nov. 13 – vs. SC Upstate – 7pm, BTN.com
• Nov. 18 – Bowling Green at Michigan (Legends Classic)
• Nov. 21 – Gardner-Webb at Michigan (Legends Classic)
• Nov. 26 – Legends Classic: vs. Syracuse
• Nov. 27 – Legends Classic: vs UTEP/Georgia Tech
• Nov. 30  - at Clemson – 9pm, ESPN2
• Dec. 4 – vs. Harvard – 2pm
• Dec. 10 – vs Utah – 6:30pm, BTN
• Dec. 6 – vs. Concordia (MI) – 7pm, BTN.com
• Dec. 14 – vs. North Carolina Central – 7pm, BTN
• Dec. 18 – vs. Oakland – 12pm, ESPN3.com
• Dec. 23 – vs. Bryant – 7pm, BTN
• Dec. 28 – vs. Purdue – 2pm, BTN
• Jan. 2 – vs. Penn State – 4pm, BTN
• Jan. 5 – at Wisconsin – 8:30pm, BTN
• Jan. 9 – vs Kansas
• Jan. 12 – vs. OSU – 6:30pm, BTN
• Jan. 15 – at Indiana – 8pm, BTN
• Jan. 18 – at Northwestern – 9pm, BTN
• Jan. 22 – vs. Minnesota- 7pm, BTN
• Jan. 27 – at Michigan State – 7pm, ESPN/2
• Jan. 30 – vs. Iowa – 4pm, BTN
• Feb. 3 – at Ohio State – 7pm, ESPN/2
• Feb. 6 – at Penn State – 12/3pm, BTN
• Feb. 9 – vs. Northwestern – 6:30pm, BTN
• Feb. 12 – vs. Indiana – 4pm, BTN
• Feb. 16 – at Illinois – 8:30pm, BTN
• Feb. 19/20 – at Iowa – 4:30/1pm, BTN/CBS
• Feb. 23 – vs. Wisconsin – 6:30pm, BTN
• Feb. 26 – at Minnesota – 4:30pm, BTN
• Mar. 5 – vs. Michigan State – 2pm, CBS

Michigan has one last chance to pull out a victory on their European tour as they take on on new administrative assistant Travis Conlan’s former squad, Mons.

The Mons squad includes a number of former Division 1 players: Justin Cage (Xavier), Ronnell Taylor (UAB), Ron Lewis (OSU), Marcus Hatten (St. Johns), and Shan Foster (Vanderbilt).

Tip off is 1 p.m. eastern time and similar to the first three games this post will serve as an open thread with updates in the comments.

For more photos see the Michigan Basketball Facebook page.

Michigan suffered another loss in Belgium today, falling to Oostende by 15 points. The Wolverines played Oostende to a draw through the first quarter but let the game slip away in the second quarter. Michigan went to half time down 18 but managed to fight back, cutting the Oostende lead to single digits with a 17-10 third quarter before letting the game slip away in the fourth.

[More: Post Game Video/Audio Interviews]

Michigan is obviously over-matched by these professional Belgian teams. We don’t have a perfect measure of how good the teams are but it’s pretty clear that they can play. There are a number of American players that were very good college players that have likely only gotten better and stronger.

The offense has been horrendous – 32% shooting today – but there are plenty of logical factors playing against Michigan including the longer three point line and 24 second clock. Despite their struggles Michigan battled, didn’t quit, and appeared to play tough defense today.

Michigan wraps up their Euro-tour tomorrow with a 1 p.m. eastern game versus Travis Conlan’s former squad, Mons. Box score, tempo free stats, and analysis from today’s game after the jump.

Bullets:

• It was obviously a very rough shooting game for Michigan, there were some exceptions (Douglass, Morgan) but again Michigan shot just 34% from inside the three point arc.
• Great performance by Stu Douglass from behind the arc… Hopefully he can find some consistency.
• Jordan Morgan had four of Michigan’s nine 2-point field goals including a nice put back (which just happened to be his only rebound).
• McLimans, Horford, Smotrycz, and Morgan combined for 57 minutes. That means that 23 of Zack Novak’s 30 minutes came at the four position.  Despite that, Novak didn’t pull down a rebound.
• We don’t have a full box score for Oostende but 10 steals is encouraging. That means that Michigan is doing a good job forcing turnovers. The defense was impressive enough to warrant a promotional tweet from Bacari Alexander.
• Tim Hardaway Jr. didn’t shoot the ball all too well but it seems like he is going to be a safe bet to put up double digit field goal attempts this year. Probably would be nice if he could go inside a little more (7 of 11 FGA from three).
• Nice to see Darius Morris with 5 assists to just one turnover but another dreadful shooting night from the field (1-8) and the stripe (1-5).
• 4 of 13 at the free throw line? I don’t think they move the free throw line back over there.
• Despite his slender build, Jon Horford appears to be one of the best rebounders per minute of the young big men.
• Josh Bartelstein played 9 minutes to Eso Akunne’s two. That seems surprising to me.