Despite a strong early start in the away trip to East Lansing, Michigan simply could not avoid the second half Michigan State Spartan run that gutted them for the second game in a row. With stretches of nothing falling for the Wolverines, and everything going right for their rivals, Michigan was not the team that would be able to raise a banner at the start of next season of the two Big Ten teams from Michigan.
Game Story:
Michigan got off to exactly the sort of start it wanted, and it stemmed from good defense early. Two Cassius Winston turnovers saw a pair of buckets and a quick 5-0 lead thanks to a Jordan Poole finish and an Ignas Brazdeikis three. Zavier Simpson would hit another hook shot, find Brazdeikis for a dunk, then feed Poole for a three to make it 12-6. Brazdeikis scored five more to make it 17-7, and Michigan was executing early. The Spartans fought their way back into it, but, again, three-point shooting made the difference. David DeJulius showed great fire when driving on Cassius Winston and finishing with an and-one to make it 27-19. Michigan State would cut it to 29-23, but Winston would pick up his second foul of the game in this stretch and sit for the rest of the game. For Michigan, a quick 6-0 run made it 35-23 and gave Michigan a twelve-point lead. It would be their biggest of the game. Michigan State had a quick 6-0 counter-run to close the half featuring points from Thomas Kithier (four) and Aaron Henry (two). Michigan had a chance for the last shot, but a long-range three from Poole could not drop and Michigan would find themselves up 35-29, but surely wishing they had capitalized more frequently.
From the get-go, while Michigan would have the control to at least start the half, Michigan State would plant seed for their comeback. There was the Kenny Goins three to get scoring started. There was the Matt McQuaid and-one answer to another Jon Teske tip-in. Michigan had a counter to one of these punches with a Brazdeikis three after a Winston and-one, but the eight-point lead would be the final peak for Michigan. McQuaid hit first three of the half and Kyle Ahrens made a lay-up, both assisted by MSU big men. Then it was one of those big men, Goins, to hit a three, and the other one, Xavier Tillman, to hit a couple of big free throws to put the Spartans level. From then on, it was time for Winston to turn it up a notch. He banked a three home to give the Spartans their first lead of the game and followed that up with one of his unstoppable twos in the lane. Aaron Henry followed that up with a right-handed floating turnaround in the lane and the Breslin Center really got rocking. Winston would lay another shot in, then find Tillman for the jam to make it 61-52. Michigan would go from the 12:24 mark till the 5:01 mark without a field goal made. In that same stretch, Michigan State would go just two trips on the offensive end without points on the board: an offensive foul called on Winston, and a missed three by McQuaid at the 5:35 mark. That spell-breaking shot was a Poole three to cut it to 66-56. Another miss was forced by Michigan, but a Simpson turnover and Henry offensive rebound meant Winston got to add to the MSU second chance points. From there, Michigan could trade a couple of buckets, but there was nothing else they could do. Michigan State was able to comfortably substitute their seniors off the court and allow them to kiss the Spartan at center court. The Spartans swept their in-state rivals with a final score of 75-63 and clinched their share of the Big Ten Championship.
What Happened:
I could simply write 'the first game, but in East Lansing' and there would be some semblance of truth. That, however, is not the whole story. The first half of the game, especially early, saw a well-executed game plan on defense. Michigan switched nearly everything early and that allowed coverage on Cassius Winston straight up, while avoiding the necessity to roll back quickly to seek out the center down low. When Winston checked out with two fouls, Michigan already had Isaiah Livers and Ignas Brazdeikis out of commission with two fouls each of their own. Michigan would roll out a line-up that included Brandon Johns seeing plenty of minutes, which meant wing scoring was not an option. For that reason, the Wolverines went cold. The second half was, indeed, much of what happened in the second half of the first meeting. Winston was able to run the show after going one-for-seven early and he would finish with seven-for-seventeen with a game-high 23 points and seven assists. Xavier Tillman was constantly available on the block and an absolute menace to Zavier Simpson and Jordan Poole on drives. Tillman blocked five shots, but perhaps most impressive was his nine-for-twelve night from the charity stripe. He would finish with seventeen points on just five shots. The key point for Michigan State was that they followed their game plan and were not flustered when things did not go their way early.
For Michigan, the offense went similarly cold to the first meeting. Michigan State is an elite defensive team in the fifteen-to-five minute stretch of the second half, and they completed a nineteen-point swing from the Brazdeikis three at 13:55 to Xavier Tillman's free throw make at the 5:10 mark, the same stretch where the Spartans went just two offensive trips empty-handed. Brazdeikis fouling out, especially when he was the key source of offense, was brutal. He finished seven-for-twelve, two of those misses being tipped back in by Jon Teske, and went three-for-three from three with twenty points. Jordan Poole was the only other Wolverines in double-digits points, he finished with fifteen on six-for-fifteen shooting, a team-high in shots. For the second meeting in a row, Teske could not get going. He hit a mid-range two and had two tip-ins, but he missed two threes badly. Michigan State clung to him on the perimeter and simply did not let him get free. Finally, the other two starters, Simpson and Livers, combined for just eleven points. Simpson went three-for-thirteen with three of those misses coming from long range. He deserves credit for trying to get to the rim, but Tillman gets more for being mobile enough to close the lane and swat multiple shots away at the rim. The offense shot 40.3% as a collective, but when giving up 46.9% on the game, and a stretch of very few misses, Michigan was susceptible to losing control, and they did.
What this says about Michigan is nothing as harsh as may first appear. This is a mentally-tough Michigan State team whose leader is a dynamic scoring point guard that finds teammates at will. That is not to say Michigan is not mentally-tough, or that their own point guard is not able to find Wolverines teammates himself, but rather it is a statement of the Michigan State teams that have been able to historically find success. Michigan swept the two games last season against a Michigan State team that featured two lottery picks. Yet this season, against a banged-up Spartan team, they played some of the worst defense they have all season. The mobility of the Michigan State big men is a problem. As was falling victim to the old habits of not switching back quick enough to the post-man off a hedge screen that were so prevalent in the meeting of these two teams in Ann Arbor. There is, of course, the chance that Michigan and Michigan State could meet again in Chicago with a Big Ten Tournament Championship on the line. With seeing this MSU team twice, Michigan would surely know what to expect, and what traps to avoid. For now, it is about just one game at a time, though.
What's Next:
It is postseason tournament time for the Michigan Wolverines. Michigan are the number three seed in the Big Ten Tournament, meaning they are in the bracket region as Purdue, whom they played just once in the early conference game-set. A likely opponent would be Iowa, who are locked into the six seed, but two of the past three Big Ten Tournaments have seen either the eleven or fourteen seed advance to the quarter-finals. So who could that be? Northwestern are locked into the fourteenth, and bottom, seed of the conference, but the eleventh team could be any combination of Indiana, Illinois, Rutgers, or Penn State. Penn State sits at 6-13 while the other three teams are 7-12, but combinations of all four play each other on Sunday March 10th. Rutgers will take on Indiana, a meeting where the winner will guarantee themselves a higher seed number than eleven, while Illinois takes on Penn State. An Illinois win makes life easy, it sinks Penn State to the twelve seed and puts the loser of Rutgers and Indiana into the eleven seed, as they would be the only team in the Big Ten with a 7-13 conference record. A Penn State win means tiebreakers will be involved. Either way, the Wolverines will have time to rest and scout their opponents as they look to threepeat as Big Ten Tournament Champs.
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:
Michigan got off to exactly the sort of start it wanted, and it stemmed from good defense early. Two Cassius Winston turnovers saw a pair of buckets and a quick 5-0 lead thanks to a Jordan Poole finish and an Ignas Brazdeikis three. Zavier Simpson would hit another hook shot, find Brazdeikis for a dunk, then feed Poole for a three to make it 12-6. Brazdeikis scored five more to make it 17-7, and Michigan was executing early. The Spartans fought their way back into it, but, again, three-point shooting made the difference. David DeJulius showed great fire when driving on Cassius Winston and finishing with an and-one to make it 27-19. Michigan State would cut it to 29-23, but Winston would pick up his second foul of the game in this stretch and sit for the rest of the game. For Michigan, a quick 6-0 run made it 35-23 and gave Michigan a twelve-point lead. It would be their biggest of the game. Michigan State had a quick 6-0 counter-run to close the half featuring points from Thomas Kithier (four) and Aaron Henry (two). Michigan had a chance for the last shot, but a long-range three from Poole could not drop and Michigan would find themselves up 35-29, but surely wishing they had capitalized more frequently.
From the get-go, while Michigan would have the control to at least start the half, Michigan State would plant seed for their comeback. There was the Kenny Goins three to get scoring started. There was the Matt McQuaid and-one answer to another Jon Teske tip-in. Michigan had a counter to one of these punches with a Brazdeikis three after a Winston and-one, but the eight-point lead would be the final peak for Michigan. McQuaid hit first three of the half and Kyle Ahrens made a lay-up, both assisted by MSU big men. Then it was one of those big men, Goins, to hit a three, and the other one, Xavier Tillman, to hit a couple of big free throws to put the Spartans level. From then on, it was time for Winston to turn it up a notch. He banked a three home to give the Spartans their first lead of the game and followed that up with one of his unstoppable twos in the lane. Aaron Henry followed that up with a right-handed floating turnaround in the lane and the Breslin Center really got rocking. Winston would lay another shot in, then find Tillman for the jam to make it 61-52. Michigan would go from the 12:24 mark till the 5:01 mark without a field goal made. In that same stretch, Michigan State would go just two trips on the offensive end without points on the board: an offensive foul called on Winston, and a missed three by McQuaid at the 5:35 mark. That spell-breaking shot was a Poole three to cut it to 66-56. Another miss was forced by Michigan, but a Simpson turnover and Henry offensive rebound meant Winston got to add to the MSU second chance points. From there, Michigan could trade a couple of buckets, but there was nothing else they could do. Michigan State was able to comfortably substitute their seniors off the court and allow them to kiss the Spartan at center court. The Spartans swept their in-state rivals with a final score of 75-63 and clinched their share of the Big Ten Championship.
What Happened:
I could simply write 'the first game, but in East Lansing' and there would be some semblance of truth. That, however, is not the whole story. The first half of the game, especially early, saw a well-executed game plan on defense. Michigan switched nearly everything early and that allowed coverage on Cassius Winston straight up, while avoiding the necessity to roll back quickly to seek out the center down low. When Winston checked out with two fouls, Michigan already had Isaiah Livers and Ignas Brazdeikis out of commission with two fouls each of their own. Michigan would roll out a line-up that included Brandon Johns seeing plenty of minutes, which meant wing scoring was not an option. For that reason, the Wolverines went cold. The second half was, indeed, much of what happened in the second half of the first meeting. Winston was able to run the show after going one-for-seven early and he would finish with seven-for-seventeen with a game-high 23 points and seven assists. Xavier Tillman was constantly available on the block and an absolute menace to Zavier Simpson and Jordan Poole on drives. Tillman blocked five shots, but perhaps most impressive was his nine-for-twelve night from the charity stripe. He would finish with seventeen points on just five shots. The key point for Michigan State was that they followed their game plan and were not flustered when things did not go their way early.
For Michigan, the offense went similarly cold to the first meeting. Michigan State is an elite defensive team in the fifteen-to-five minute stretch of the second half, and they completed a nineteen-point swing from the Brazdeikis three at 13:55 to Xavier Tillman's free throw make at the 5:10 mark, the same stretch where the Spartans went just two offensive trips empty-handed. Brazdeikis fouling out, especially when he was the key source of offense, was brutal. He finished seven-for-twelve, two of those misses being tipped back in by Jon Teske, and went three-for-three from three with twenty points. Jordan Poole was the only other Wolverines in double-digits points, he finished with fifteen on six-for-fifteen shooting, a team-high in shots. For the second meeting in a row, Teske could not get going. He hit a mid-range two and had two tip-ins, but he missed two threes badly. Michigan State clung to him on the perimeter and simply did not let him get free. Finally, the other two starters, Simpson and Livers, combined for just eleven points. Simpson went three-for-thirteen with three of those misses coming from long range. He deserves credit for trying to get to the rim, but Tillman gets more for being mobile enough to close the lane and swat multiple shots away at the rim. The offense shot 40.3% as a collective, but when giving up 46.9% on the game, and a stretch of very few misses, Michigan was susceptible to losing control, and they did.
What this says about Michigan is nothing as harsh as may first appear. This is a mentally-tough Michigan State team whose leader is a dynamic scoring point guard that finds teammates at will. That is not to say Michigan is not mentally-tough, or that their own point guard is not able to find Wolverines teammates himself, but rather it is a statement of the Michigan State teams that have been able to historically find success. Michigan swept the two games last season against a Michigan State team that featured two lottery picks. Yet this season, against a banged-up Spartan team, they played some of the worst defense they have all season. The mobility of the Michigan State big men is a problem. As was falling victim to the old habits of not switching back quick enough to the post-man off a hedge screen that were so prevalent in the meeting of these two teams in Ann Arbor. There is, of course, the chance that Michigan and Michigan State could meet again in Chicago with a Big Ten Tournament Championship on the line. With seeing this MSU team twice, Michigan would surely know what to expect, and what traps to avoid. For now, it is about just one game at a time, though.
What's Next:
It is postseason tournament time for the Michigan Wolverines. Michigan are the number three seed in the Big Ten Tournament, meaning they are in the bracket region as Purdue, whom they played just once in the early conference game-set. A likely opponent would be Iowa, who are locked into the six seed, but two of the past three Big Ten Tournaments have seen either the eleven or fourteen seed advance to the quarter-finals. So who could that be? Northwestern are locked into the fourteenth, and bottom, seed of the conference, but the eleventh team could be any combination of Indiana, Illinois, Rutgers, or Penn State. Penn State sits at 6-13 while the other three teams are 7-12, but combinations of all four play each other on Sunday March 10th. Rutgers will take on Indiana, a meeting where the winner will guarantee themselves a higher seed number than eleven, while Illinois takes on Penn State. An Illinois win makes life easy, it sinks Penn State to the twelve seed and puts the loser of Rutgers and Indiana into the eleven seed, as they would be the only team in the Big Ten with a 7-13 conference record. A Penn State win means tiebreakers will be involved. Either way, the Wolverines will have time to rest and scout their opponents as they look to threepeat as Big Ten Tournament Champs.
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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