The Michigan Wolverines continue their roll over their schedule as they topped Northwestern for the second time this season, this time around at home and by a much more comfortable twenty-point margin. Aided by Vic Law sitting out due to a back injury, the Wolverines took care of business in a clinical manner and set the new record for best start to a season in program history with the 80-60 victory.
What Happened:
Michigan started hot and kept the petal going through the game. Over the first three minutes, Michigan built a 10-0 lead to force Chris Collins into a quick timeout to settle his troops. It worked, to an extent, as the Wildcats found Dererk Pardon for a jam and Ryan Taylor drilled a three and was fouled by Jordan Poole for a four-point play. The sides would exchange buckets, and Miller Kopp cut the lead to two points for the last time of the game. Zavier Simpson hit a three, a sign of things to come during the game, then made a steal and lay-up. Another Pardon dunk would only halt things for a while. Isaiah Livers hit a corner three then Jordan Poole demanded a Pardon-guarded switch and hit a step-back three to push the lead back up to nine. The last five minutes would be a massive swing. After a 31-22 lead, the Wolverines would go on a 19-6 run to close the half, featuring Jon Teske's coming-out party from three. Teske would hit three threes to bring him to seventeen points in the half and Charles Matthews would steal the ball from Anthony Gaines and dunk it down to force another Wildcats' timeout. Things would only get worse as Ryan Greer had his pocket picked by Simpson who finished for a lay-up to close the half up 50-28.
The second half started innocuously for the Wildcats as Ignas Brazdeikis drove to the hole for two, the Wildcats did not have someone in position to receive the ball on the made basket take-out, and they were forced to use their third timeout of the game. The wacky play had its dividends though. For over nine minutes, Michigan could only muster four more points. A Charles Matthews dunk and foul pushed the Michigan lead back to 59-43 after the Wildcats had cut it down to a more manageable thirteen points. It was a credit to the Michigan defense to keep the Wolverines in full control of the game. Once again, it was a five-minute stretch, this time from the nine minute to the four minute mark, that saw the Wolverines build up their lead. This time, it was Simpson as the key man leading the show as he hit another step-back three, found Livers for a three of his own, hit a step-back two, then hit two more threes to push the score to 78-54 and give the Wolverines their biggest lead of the game at 24 points. Poole's drive and lay-up to the basket with two minutes left was the last score of the game for Michigan as they allowed David DeJulius, Brandon Johns, and Adrien Nunez, along with Luke Wilson and Rico Ozuna-Harrison, a couple minutes to see the game to its 80-60 final.
What Happened:
The story of the game without a question was the offensive explosion of the two lowest scoring starters, Zavier Simpson and Jon Teske. For the second game in a row it was those two leading the way, but the way they did so, from behind the arc, was certainly not what was expected of them. Teske was the key man behind the first half run to put them up over twenty points at the half. All seventeen of his points came in the first half, but even despite not scoring in the second half, he gave the Northwestern defense something to think about from beyond the arc. Simpson, on the other hand, dominated the flow of the second half. The point guard hit five threes on ten shots going for a career-high 24 points while still getting four assists. His defense was as good as ever as he made three steals. The confidence in his shot that needs to be there certainly seemed to be there once again for perhaps the heart and soul of Michigan basketball. This team goes when Simpson does, and if he can shoot from long range like he has been these past two games (seven-for-fourteen) then Michigan suddenly has a new dynamic.
For Northwestern, the key of the game was announced before the game even started. Vic Law was ruled out with a day-to-day back injury for the Wildcats meaning Anthony Gaines took his place in the starting line-up. Additionally, Chris Collins made the move to insert Pete Nance into the starting five and shift Miller Kopp to the sixth man role. The Wildcats were out of sorts without their senior leader. Northwestern offered a bit of zone against Michigan with their superior length, but the problem with that (that they also encountered when running a man-to-man defense) was that Simpson and Jordan Poole, among others, can have a field day getting to the rim against players like the 6'10" Nance or Dererk Pardon if one of them gets stuck on the top of the zone. Kopp was effective off the bench, going four-for-five with eight points, largely because his 6'7" frame gave him a nice match-up against Poole on the drive to the rim, but as a whole, Northwestern had a very apparent Vic Law-sized hole in their line-up. Players not named Ryan Taylor were zero-for-ten from three, and even a player like Taylor was locked up in the second half once Charles Matthews was assigned the job to chase him around the perimeter. Pardon would get his to the tune of twenty points, but he was held to just two rebounds and missed five more shots this meeting than last.
This was not just a two-man performance for Michigan, or a Northwestern collapse without their star. Michigan, as a whole, had a great team effort. Matthews went six-for-eight from two with thirteen points and while he was called for a pair of travels that Michigan fans have grown accustomed to seeing, his defense and athleticism remain in peak form. Ignas Brazdeikis also had eleven points despite going just five-for-nine without a three and performances like these make me realize just how good a player Brazdeikis is. He is so strong getting to the rim and despite cooling off from the early-season performances that included four twenty-point games in a stretch of five, he looked solid overall and his defense was a high point. Finally, special credit needs to go to Isaiah Livers who went two-for-two with eight points. Wonderfully effective, he is generally called on to knock down threes, and he has done so this season as a blistering 45.8%. As is the standard lately, it is a team effort all around when it comes to Michigan's wins.
What to make of Northwestern? Without Law, this is a team that simply does not have a consistent multi-faceted scorer. A.J. Turner went one-for-seven and despite six assists, and while I was complementary of his in my preview of the game, this continues a stretch that now sees him shooting just over 31% excluding the DePaul game in games following the first Michigan meeting. Likewise, Anthony Gaines is a good rebound (he snared ten) and gets to the rim well, but he went just two-for-eight against Michigan and cannot feasibly be counted on to score as he has no outside shot to speak of. The loss of Law made Northwestern easier to cover than their combined player heights would imply. With Teske on Pardon and Matthews on Taylor, everyone else could switch onto different players. Simpson generally covered Turner, but the Michigan defense was very fluid in terms of covering different sized players and for the most part this worked out exceptionally well for Luke Yaklich's defense. It was a confidence building win at home in the conference for Michigan, who will continue onward in their season with a new record in hand.
What's Next:
Michigan look to continue in their undefeated ways with nearly a full week off before heading up to Wisconsin next Saturday at noon. Despite Wisconsin's struggles as of late, John Beilein's Wolverines are just 3-16 against Wisconsin, and 2-7 in Madison. One of those wins was last season against a scuffling Badgers side, but they put up a fight down the stretch and erased a 20+ point Michigan lead to a respectable eleven-point loss. The Kohl Center is a place of horrors for Michigan, just one of six road venues that Beilein has seen six or more losses in as head coach for Michigan.
Follow me on Twitter @RMAB_Ryan for plenty more Michigan basketball coverage, as well as AFC Ann Arbor and Liverpool FC coverage as well!
What Happened:
Michigan started hot and kept the petal going through the game. Over the first three minutes, Michigan built a 10-0 lead to force Chris Collins into a quick timeout to settle his troops. It worked, to an extent, as the Wildcats found Dererk Pardon for a jam and Ryan Taylor drilled a three and was fouled by Jordan Poole for a four-point play. The sides would exchange buckets, and Miller Kopp cut the lead to two points for the last time of the game. Zavier Simpson hit a three, a sign of things to come during the game, then made a steal and lay-up. Another Pardon dunk would only halt things for a while. Isaiah Livers hit a corner three then Jordan Poole demanded a Pardon-guarded switch and hit a step-back three to push the lead back up to nine. The last five minutes would be a massive swing. After a 31-22 lead, the Wolverines would go on a 19-6 run to close the half, featuring Jon Teske's coming-out party from three. Teske would hit three threes to bring him to seventeen points in the half and Charles Matthews would steal the ball from Anthony Gaines and dunk it down to force another Wildcats' timeout. Things would only get worse as Ryan Greer had his pocket picked by Simpson who finished for a lay-up to close the half up 50-28.
The second half started innocuously for the Wildcats as Ignas Brazdeikis drove to the hole for two, the Wildcats did not have someone in position to receive the ball on the made basket take-out, and they were forced to use their third timeout of the game. The wacky play had its dividends though. For over nine minutes, Michigan could only muster four more points. A Charles Matthews dunk and foul pushed the Michigan lead back to 59-43 after the Wildcats had cut it down to a more manageable thirteen points. It was a credit to the Michigan defense to keep the Wolverines in full control of the game. Once again, it was a five-minute stretch, this time from the nine minute to the four minute mark, that saw the Wolverines build up their lead. This time, it was Simpson as the key man leading the show as he hit another step-back three, found Livers for a three of his own, hit a step-back two, then hit two more threes to push the score to 78-54 and give the Wolverines their biggest lead of the game at 24 points. Poole's drive and lay-up to the basket with two minutes left was the last score of the game for Michigan as they allowed David DeJulius, Brandon Johns, and Adrien Nunez, along with Luke Wilson and Rico Ozuna-Harrison, a couple minutes to see the game to its 80-60 final.
What Happened:
The story of the game without a question was the offensive explosion of the two lowest scoring starters, Zavier Simpson and Jon Teske. For the second game in a row it was those two leading the way, but the way they did so, from behind the arc, was certainly not what was expected of them. Teske was the key man behind the first half run to put them up over twenty points at the half. All seventeen of his points came in the first half, but even despite not scoring in the second half, he gave the Northwestern defense something to think about from beyond the arc. Simpson, on the other hand, dominated the flow of the second half. The point guard hit five threes on ten shots going for a career-high 24 points while still getting four assists. His defense was as good as ever as he made three steals. The confidence in his shot that needs to be there certainly seemed to be there once again for perhaps the heart and soul of Michigan basketball. This team goes when Simpson does, and if he can shoot from long range like he has been these past two games (seven-for-fourteen) then Michigan suddenly has a new dynamic.
For Northwestern, the key of the game was announced before the game even started. Vic Law was ruled out with a day-to-day back injury for the Wildcats meaning Anthony Gaines took his place in the starting line-up. Additionally, Chris Collins made the move to insert Pete Nance into the starting five and shift Miller Kopp to the sixth man role. The Wildcats were out of sorts without their senior leader. Northwestern offered a bit of zone against Michigan with their superior length, but the problem with that (that they also encountered when running a man-to-man defense) was that Simpson and Jordan Poole, among others, can have a field day getting to the rim against players like the 6'10" Nance or Dererk Pardon if one of them gets stuck on the top of the zone. Kopp was effective off the bench, going four-for-five with eight points, largely because his 6'7" frame gave him a nice match-up against Poole on the drive to the rim, but as a whole, Northwestern had a very apparent Vic Law-sized hole in their line-up. Players not named Ryan Taylor were zero-for-ten from three, and even a player like Taylor was locked up in the second half once Charles Matthews was assigned the job to chase him around the perimeter. Pardon would get his to the tune of twenty points, but he was held to just two rebounds and missed five more shots this meeting than last.
This was not just a two-man performance for Michigan, or a Northwestern collapse without their star. Michigan, as a whole, had a great team effort. Matthews went six-for-eight from two with thirteen points and while he was called for a pair of travels that Michigan fans have grown accustomed to seeing, his defense and athleticism remain in peak form. Ignas Brazdeikis also had eleven points despite going just five-for-nine without a three and performances like these make me realize just how good a player Brazdeikis is. He is so strong getting to the rim and despite cooling off from the early-season performances that included four twenty-point games in a stretch of five, he looked solid overall and his defense was a high point. Finally, special credit needs to go to Isaiah Livers who went two-for-two with eight points. Wonderfully effective, he is generally called on to knock down threes, and he has done so this season as a blistering 45.8%. As is the standard lately, it is a team effort all around when it comes to Michigan's wins.
What to make of Northwestern? Without Law, this is a team that simply does not have a consistent multi-faceted scorer. A.J. Turner went one-for-seven and despite six assists, and while I was complementary of his in my preview of the game, this continues a stretch that now sees him shooting just over 31% excluding the DePaul game in games following the first Michigan meeting. Likewise, Anthony Gaines is a good rebound (he snared ten) and gets to the rim well, but he went just two-for-eight against Michigan and cannot feasibly be counted on to score as he has no outside shot to speak of. The loss of Law made Northwestern easier to cover than their combined player heights would imply. With Teske on Pardon and Matthews on Taylor, everyone else could switch onto different players. Simpson generally covered Turner, but the Michigan defense was very fluid in terms of covering different sized players and for the most part this worked out exceptionally well for Luke Yaklich's defense. It was a confidence building win at home in the conference for Michigan, who will continue onward in their season with a new record in hand.
What's Next:
Michigan look to continue in their undefeated ways with nearly a full week off before heading up to Wisconsin next Saturday at noon. Despite Wisconsin's struggles as of late, John Beilein's Wolverines are just 3-16 against Wisconsin, and 2-7 in Madison. One of those wins was last season against a scuffling Badgers side, but they put up a fight down the stretch and erased a 20+ point Michigan lead to a respectable eleven-point loss. The Kohl Center is a place of horrors for Michigan, just one of six road venues that Beilein has seen six or more losses in as head coach for Michigan.
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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