It was Michigan's biggest test of the season. Few gave them much of a chance. As if taking that personally, Michigan went out to Philadelphia and stomped Villanova, 73-46, in their home building on a night where they honored the man who donated the money to renovate it. It was a complete performance in every single aspect.
Game Story:
From the very first offensive trip, this game felt like Michigan's. Jordan Poole was found by Zavier Simpson for an easy lay-up just 15 seconds into the game. Michigan was off and running from that. Ignas Brazdeikis started his night off right with a massive put-back dunk. Collin Gillespie beat Simpson for the first Wildcats' field goal four-and-a-half minutes into the game, then was subsequently locked up and beaten to the rim multiple times by Simpson as revenge. As confidence blossomed, so did the lead. 26-13 quickly ballooned to 39-13 off a 13-0 run, and Michigan entered the half up 44-17. Michigan never let up, a Simpson free throw early in the half made the score an eye-popping 50-19. Michigan broke the trap and press with ease, finding their choice of lay-ups. Jordan Poole's heads-up play to save the ball then shield a Villanova player off of it summarized the game. David DeJulius' three-pointer and Colin Castleton's offensive rebound and put-back lay-up were the cherries on top of a 73-46 beatdown against a top-ten team on the round and a measure of revenge from the NCAA Championship Game.
What Happened:
Michigan's defense happened. To put this side into perspective, Michigan's 46 points allowed and 31.8% opposing field goal percentage is the worst performance by the team this season. The worst one. Michigan clamped down entirely on every single Villanova player. Charles Matthews suffocated Phil Booth, who went two-for-eight from the field. Eric Paschall's 'bully-ball' tactics failed miserably as he made three highlight reel dunks, but other than that had nothing to write home about shooting three-for-fourteen with (a team-high) ten points. Zavier Simpson is well and truly the point guard defensive specialist as Colin Gillespie played 34 minutes and shot the ball three times, turning it over five times. The defense as a whole forced 21 turnovers out of Villanova, Michigan only committed seven. The defense executed its game plan down to a man. Joe Cremo, for example, took zero shots from beyond the arc. The three-point specialist, a star at Albany, a key sixth man, entirely clamped down. Michigan has had four players take double-digit shot attempts against them this season (Alex Long, Austin Butler, Jacob Grandison, and now Eric Paschall) and of the four the best performance was Grandison's five-for-fifteen night with Holy Cross. The defense is suffocating and Luke Yaklich has changed this team's dynamic entirely.
Tonight was also the night that Ignas Brazdeikis introduced himself to the college basketball world. Going seven-for-eleven is impressive enough, but some of his play were unreal. There was the 'and-one' lay-up that he seemed to just toss in, hope it went in, and it worked. There was the put-back dunk to get his game started where he roared at the Nova student section. There's his four-for-four night from the line and further backing up his claim that he's one of the best free throw shooters "in the world." If he takes it to the rim, there a very good chance he gets fouled, or it's going in. Sometimes both of those things happen. His 18 points were second-high on the team, one behind Charles Matthews, and it's yet another step in the right direction for the freshman who has quickly become a go-to guy for the Wolverines.
Michigan looks increasingly dangerous as it becomes apparent that they go seven deep in terms of players who can score double figures on any given night. Isaiah Livers' shot from deep looks much improved from an already solid one last season. Eli Brooks gives John Beilein a point guard option off the bench that can control the game and shoot from deep a bit. Jordan Poole is finding his game in these early stages, but continues to put in important minutes for the team. The past couple of games were not of the tone for Jon Teske, but his quick hands and incredible wingspan make him an absolute match-up nightmare for opposing centers and point guards alike. Zavier Simpson had five steals last night. Between Simpson and Teske, you have a crazy dynamic where both men can guard players much taller or shorter than each other to the point where switches on a high-low pick-and-roll work in Michigan's favor at times. This is an exceedingly deep team that does almost everything right.
The scariest thing about this team is that this is a John Beilein coached team whose main weakness appears to be outside shooting. Michigan is 14-for-62 in the first three games from outside. Regardless, Michigan has beaten all three opponents by an average score of well over 20 points. The ability to adapt to his team's personnel is what makes Beilein a special coach. Combined with a cast of assistant coaches who each have a different strength and different ways to make various position groups better, this is a special side thus far. Michigan's buckets are being found at the rim and the hope is that the free throw shooting will ultimately find a level between 70-80%. It is easy to get caught up in the dominating performance, but taking a step back and realizing that even still are there things Michigan will hope to improve on makes this team look even more scary.
What's Next:
On deck for the Wolverines is a weekend excursion to Connecticut for a two-day, two-game tournament. The Wolverines take on George Washington, who has struggled in the early season as they've lost both of their campus site Hall of Fame Tip-Off games, on Saturday at noon. They will then square off with either Providence or South Carolina on Sunday at either 1:30 (with a win Saturday) or 3:30 (with a loss Saturday). It's a chance for two neutral site wins that will be nice to pad the resume come tournament time.
Follow me on Twitter @RMAB_Ryan for plenty more Michigan basketball coverage, as well as AFC Ann Arbor and Liverpool FC coverage as well!
Game Story:
From the very first offensive trip, this game felt like Michigan's. Jordan Poole was found by Zavier Simpson for an easy lay-up just 15 seconds into the game. Michigan was off and running from that. Ignas Brazdeikis started his night off right with a massive put-back dunk. Collin Gillespie beat Simpson for the first Wildcats' field goal four-and-a-half minutes into the game, then was subsequently locked up and beaten to the rim multiple times by Simpson as revenge. As confidence blossomed, so did the lead. 26-13 quickly ballooned to 39-13 off a 13-0 run, and Michigan entered the half up 44-17. Michigan never let up, a Simpson free throw early in the half made the score an eye-popping 50-19. Michigan broke the trap and press with ease, finding their choice of lay-ups. Jordan Poole's heads-up play to save the ball then shield a Villanova player off of it summarized the game. David DeJulius' three-pointer and Colin Castleton's offensive rebound and put-back lay-up were the cherries on top of a 73-46 beatdown against a top-ten team on the round and a measure of revenge from the NCAA Championship Game.
What Happened:
Michigan's defense happened. To put this side into perspective, Michigan's 46 points allowed and 31.8% opposing field goal percentage is the worst performance by the team this season. The worst one. Michigan clamped down entirely on every single Villanova player. Charles Matthews suffocated Phil Booth, who went two-for-eight from the field. Eric Paschall's 'bully-ball' tactics failed miserably as he made three highlight reel dunks, but other than that had nothing to write home about shooting three-for-fourteen with (a team-high) ten points. Zavier Simpson is well and truly the point guard defensive specialist as Colin Gillespie played 34 minutes and shot the ball three times, turning it over five times. The defense as a whole forced 21 turnovers out of Villanova, Michigan only committed seven. The defense executed its game plan down to a man. Joe Cremo, for example, took zero shots from beyond the arc. The three-point specialist, a star at Albany, a key sixth man, entirely clamped down. Michigan has had four players take double-digit shot attempts against them this season (Alex Long, Austin Butler, Jacob Grandison, and now Eric Paschall) and of the four the best performance was Grandison's five-for-fifteen night with Holy Cross. The defense is suffocating and Luke Yaklich has changed this team's dynamic entirely.
Tonight was also the night that Ignas Brazdeikis introduced himself to the college basketball world. Going seven-for-eleven is impressive enough, but some of his play were unreal. There was the 'and-one' lay-up that he seemed to just toss in, hope it went in, and it worked. There was the put-back dunk to get his game started where he roared at the Nova student section. There's his four-for-four night from the line and further backing up his claim that he's one of the best free throw shooters "in the world." If he takes it to the rim, there a very good chance he gets fouled, or it's going in. Sometimes both of those things happen. His 18 points were second-high on the team, one behind Charles Matthews, and it's yet another step in the right direction for the freshman who has quickly become a go-to guy for the Wolverines.
Michigan looks increasingly dangerous as it becomes apparent that they go seven deep in terms of players who can score double figures on any given night. Isaiah Livers' shot from deep looks much improved from an already solid one last season. Eli Brooks gives John Beilein a point guard option off the bench that can control the game and shoot from deep a bit. Jordan Poole is finding his game in these early stages, but continues to put in important minutes for the team. The past couple of games were not of the tone for Jon Teske, but his quick hands and incredible wingspan make him an absolute match-up nightmare for opposing centers and point guards alike. Zavier Simpson had five steals last night. Between Simpson and Teske, you have a crazy dynamic where both men can guard players much taller or shorter than each other to the point where switches on a high-low pick-and-roll work in Michigan's favor at times. This is an exceedingly deep team that does almost everything right.
The scariest thing about this team is that this is a John Beilein coached team whose main weakness appears to be outside shooting. Michigan is 14-for-62 in the first three games from outside. Regardless, Michigan has beaten all three opponents by an average score of well over 20 points. The ability to adapt to his team's personnel is what makes Beilein a special coach. Combined with a cast of assistant coaches who each have a different strength and different ways to make various position groups better, this is a special side thus far. Michigan's buckets are being found at the rim and the hope is that the free throw shooting will ultimately find a level between 70-80%. It is easy to get caught up in the dominating performance, but taking a step back and realizing that even still are there things Michigan will hope to improve on makes this team look even more scary.
What's Next:
On deck for the Wolverines is a weekend excursion to Connecticut for a two-day, two-game tournament. The Wolverines take on George Washington, who has struggled in the early season as they've lost both of their campus site Hall of Fame Tip-Off games, on Saturday at noon. They will then square off with either Providence or South Carolina on Sunday at either 1:30 (with a win Saturday) or 3:30 (with a loss Saturday). It's a chance for two neutral site wins that will be nice to pad the resume come tournament time.
Follow me on Twitter @RMAB_Ryan for plenty more Michigan basketball coverage, as well as AFC Ann Arbor and Liverpool FC coverage as well!
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