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:

Stu Douglass Video:

Tim Hardaway Audio:

Corey Person Audio:

More photos on the Michigan Basketball Facebook page.

Michigan spent yesterday touring Paris and picking up a commitment from Trey Burke. (FYI: We’ve updated the scholarship breakdown chart) Today they are back on the court for another game, this time versus Oostande. Tip off is scheduled 2:30 p.m. eastern (8:30 p.m. local).

In the comments, Sven conveniently tallied a list of American players listed on Oostande’s roster:

• Darrel Mitchell LSU 05-06 16.8 ppg 4.4 apg
• Trevor Huffman Kent State 01-02 16.0 ppg 4.4 apg
• Caleb Green Oral Roberts 06-07 20.5 ppg 9.3 rpg
• Matt Lojeski Hawaii 06-07 16.9 ppg 5.5 rpg 4.5 apg
• Will Thomas George Mason 07-08 16.1 ppg 10.4 rpg

Judging by their 20-12 record and third place finish last season, it’s probably a safe bet that Oostande is closer to Charleroi than Gent. Hopefully Michigan can build off their experience in the first two games and continue to improve.

Here are some updated player diaries from MGoBlue:

• Matt Vogrich Diary
• Colton Christian Diary

We’ll be following along in the comments and on twitter so feel free to join in the action.

The Michigan basketball team has safely landed in Belgium and that means we get a handful of pictures of the team sleeping in their Beats by Dre headphones.

Michigan practices today and will play their first game tomorrow morning/afternoon. For reference, here’s the full game schedule for the next week with links to official team site rosters:

• Aug 22nd – Ghent (4 p.m local – 10 a.m. eastern)  – Roster
• Aug 23rd – Charleroi (7 p.m. local – 1 p.m. eastern)  – Roster
• Aug 25th – Oostande (8:30 p.m local – 2:30 p.m. eastern) – Roster
• Aug 26th – Mons (7 p.m local – 1 p.m. eastern) – Roster

Beilein mentioned that many of the USA players might not be in Belgium yet, so take that into account when examining the rosters. But seriously, how could you not notice Courtney Sims (!) and Chris Hill on the Charleroi roster.

It’s unclear what type of coverage we’ll get but right now one of your best bet is following along on twitter. The Michigan coaching staff (Beilein, Alexander, Meyer, and Jordan) are on twitter. There is an official Michigan basketball twitter page as well as a number of players to follow (Smotrycz, Christian,and Novak). There’s also MGoBlue.com and the newly launched JohnBeilein.com.

This post will serve as an open thread of sorts for the Sunday game and we’ll see how that goes.

Links (constantly updated)

• Sunday Morning Stroll & Chocolate Museum (more pics)
• Corey Person Interview
• 2010 Wolverine European Trip: Player’s Prospective
• Bacari Alexander video interview before practice
• Photos from First Practice

• Impressions from Michigan’s Last Practice
• Michigan Practice Video Part 2 (8-19-2010)
• Michigan Practice Video Part 1 (8-19-2010)
• Video: Dominique Pointer Highlights
• Video Interview: Jon Horford
• Video Interview: Tim Hardaway Jr.
• Visit Debrief: 2011 PG Trey Burke

Here’s Tim Hardaway Jr. after Michigan’s open practice today. The team leaves tomorrow morning. Much more video and impressions coming later tonight.

More: Impressions / Beilein interview / Douglass interview

Word on the street is you were offered by Michigan today. Yeah, that’s true.

Did you speak to John Beilien? Yes, I did.

What offers do you have so far? Michigan, Missouri State, IUPUI, Indiana State and Valparaiso.

Where does Michigan rank among those schools? Michigan’s my number one right now.

Any timeframe for commitment? I’m not that sure yet, but probably after AAU season next year I’ll decide where I’m going.

You visited Michigan today, right? Yes, today. I went there for their elite camp first, and then I visited today and I took a tour and everything.

Do you plan on taking any other visits? I do, actually. I was thinking about coming back for a football game. I wanted to come down for one of them because I heard they were crazy.

What do you like about Michigan? I like the academic part, that’s really good, and their sports and fans are real good. All their coaches are real nice, they know what they’re doing and everything. I really like them.

When people hear your name they’re going to automatically think of your dad, but can you describe your own game? Is it different? Yeah, he was a little bit bigger, more of a forward and I’m more of a 2 or a 3. I play more on the outside but I still have his shot. I think a lot of people say that I have the same form and everything as him, the midrange game is the same, and I got his outside shot, too. We’re a little bit different because he was a forward but other than that — I can probably dribble better than he could — we’re kind of the same player a little bit.

Monday, November 29
Virginia at Minnesota – 7pm ET on ESPN2

Tuesday, November 30
Iowa at Wake Forest – 7 p.m. ET on ESPNU
Georgia Tech at Northwestern – 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2
Ohio State at Florida State – 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN
Michigan at Clemson – 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2
North Carolina at Illinois – 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN

Wednesday, December 1
Indiana at Boston College – 7:15 p.m. ET on ESPNU
NC State at Wisconsin – 7:15 p.m. ET on ESPN2
Purdue at Virginia Tech – 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN
Maryland at Penn State – 9:15 p.m. ET on ESPN2
Michigan State at Duke – 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN