Michigan 79, Illinois 69 Comment Count

Seth

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[Marc-Grégor Campredon]

Kenpom said Michigan would win by 10, and lo and behold Michigan won by 10. Matthews hit all of his shots (except the free throws) and Wagner scored in double digits for the first time since his ankle injury, driving the lane against an overmatched opponent.

I’m telling you that up front in case you watched the first 12 minutes and decided to go build that dresser for your mother in law or something.

I can’t blame you if you did, since the first quarter of this game was some of the ugliest basketball all year. Michigan came out looking not at all ready for the constant pressure a Brad Underwood team puts on opponents, turning the ball over 12 times—one third of their first half possessions. Even more lost than Michigan’s backcourt were the referees, who were calling everything and nothing, including eight rather tacky offensive fouls (six on Michigan). Charles Matthews picked up two such early whistles and spent most of the half on the bench. Illinois quickly went on a 9-2 run to take a 17-9 lead, helped by two big corner threes by freshman Mark Smith.

Beilein countered with a Poole-Livers lineup, wherein Isaiah Livers starting dunking everything in sight. Michigan finally retook the lead on a quick upcourt pass from Zavier Simpson to Jordan Poole set up outside the arc. The poor lone Illinois defender can be forgiven for thinking this would be an immediate shot—I mean, it’s Poole—but nah:

via Ace

Jaaron Simmons took over point after an Illinois timeout and the Illini climbed back to a 34-31 halftime lead that felt as flimsy as a mail order dresser held together by three cam screws in a quarter inch of particle board.

As play resumed, that lead disappeared in seconds as Michigan settled into the team they’d been since mid-December. The Illini couldn’t prevent Matthews from burning their perimeter defenders, and once Charles sat with a third foul, Poole offered a pair of threes to put the Wolverines up by double digits, with MAAR and Wagner closing it out as they do.

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as he do. [Marc-Grégor Campredon]

Zavier Simpson started and played 32 minutes, including all 20 minutes of the second half. Despite the early turnovers—he’d finish with five—he continued to demonstrate the #1 job is his, setting up Michigan’s best offensive possessions with some superb outlet passes—the resulting 10 points off fast breaks made up the Kenpom-predicted difference between these two teams. Brooks and Simmons finished with three turnovers and two assists in 8 minutes. Even Z’s missed open corner three was a rim-out that felt good off the release. Given how bad the start of this game was, it’s good to walk away with that confidence still intact.

This Illinois team could be dangerous in a year or two. Like his Oklahoma State team remembered from last year’s tournament, Underwood’s offense is good at making your centers look the wrong way before a lethal backdoor cut. When the fakes and motion didn’t work, Michigan was able to win a battle of athleticism with just about every lineup.

Whatever you went into this game believing you can probably find something from it to support that claim. I mostly believe what Ace tells me, so my eyes tell me Charles Matthews is still Michigan’s best player, Teske is a major improvement from last year as a backup to Mo, Wagner is slowly coming back to form, Livers and Poole are starting to become bigger contributors, MAAR is who he is, Simpson is fine, and this Michigan team is rounding into the kind that no #1 or #2 seed wants to face but has to thanks to bad RPI gaming.

Oh, and cam screws are awful and furniture that relies on them should be shot into the sun.

[Hit THE JUMP for the box score and an amazing photo series by MG of the dunk.]

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Some more shots of the game from Marc-Grégor Campredon:

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Oh and the dunk. One.

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Two.

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Three.

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Four.

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Five.

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Comments

True Blue Grit

January 6th, 2018 at 3:27 PM ^

This could have been one of those ugly Michigan home floor January losses.  But, they wiped out an 8 point first half deficit and eventually won by 10.  Some of the younger players have really started improving which gives Michigan more options going forward.  Livers and Poole are really becoming important players off the bench.  Yes, they still have weaknesses in inside defense and rebounding.  But by March, this team could be one of the best teams in the Big Ten. 

poppinfresh

January 6th, 2018 at 3:28 PM ^

dont get me worng, this year i think we're ahead of what i was expecting (more bubblish looking team) and im happy about it

is this team a top 10-top 5 team next year?

blueball97

January 6th, 2018 at 3:55 PM ^

No, maybe top 20. Consider Duke, MSU, Nova and UNC. Are we there? Not yet but maybe by the end of next year. If Beilein can keep these Freshmen until they are juniors and next year's class as sophomores. In two years I think we are probably top 10.

jmblue

January 6th, 2018 at 5:08 PM ^

I think that's selling us a little short.  I'd say we're borderline top 25 right now. (Just imagine if we still had DJ Wilson...) 

In a year's time, if both Matthews and Wagner stay?  I could see us in the top 10.  

Birdman

January 6th, 2018 at 4:03 PM ^

Assuming we don't have the remix to ignition like last year and retain both Charles and Mo.

Sign me up for the Hype train, this shit could launch early with even a win against Purdoo and hold on to a 5-6 line.. But then Im gussing some one gonna be gone.

Jordan2323

January 6th, 2018 at 11:11 PM ^

But Matthews could really use another year to work on his handles. You can tell he had to sit out of basketball for a year. Just have to see how the year plays out. Wagner made his big push in the tourney last year.

AA Forever

January 7th, 2018 at 12:01 PM ^

If not Matthews or Wagner, then someone else, though they would likely be a less vauable player.  

Everyone took for granted that Wagner would be going early after this year, but so far, he does not seem to have stepped up his game significantly.  Watching him this year, I don't find myself thinking "Yeah, NOW he's ready for the NBA!"  Maybe he'll go anyway, just by default, but it's far from a sure thing.  Matthews has looked better so far, but still has some holes in his game, and could definitely use another year.  But all it ould take is a few highlight games at the end of the season for the NBA to just say what the hell, and grab him anyway.

Jasper

January 6th, 2018 at 3:38 PM ^

Remarkably balanced scoring ... I wonder if there's ever been a Michigan game where six guys score in double figures with first and sixth only four points apart? There's a fun database query in there.

TIMMMAAY

January 6th, 2018 at 4:10 PM ^

Cam screws can be good, if the whole system is done properly. I have some commercial type office furniture that's all done w/ cam screws, and it's incredibly solid. 

MGoBender

January 7th, 2018 at 10:44 AM ^

I think it was the last play of the first half; Illinois' coach called out some adjustment to the play they had called during the preceeding TO.  Beilein was looking at the coach, heard what he said, then shouted out for Livers (I think) and Teske to switch their men.  Illinois proceeded to screen with the guy Teske was now guarding, leading to a disrupted pick and roll action.

I don't think I've ever seen a coach audible another coach's audible in a single hoops possession like that.  All hail Beilein.

EDIT:



It doesn't look like Beilein is really looking at or paying attention to the ILL coach, but you see their PG and the ref look over to the ILL bench where the coach is shouting a new call. So, I'd guess Beilein at least knows they are going to something they saw in the scout, Beilein is looking at the matchups and then switches Livers and Teske on the fly.  

 

jmblue

January 6th, 2018 at 7:14 PM ^

Perhaps, but against Iowa he went 3-4 and the team overall, 8-10.  Maybe we're turning the corner as a team.

Simpson's got to get better though, or else we may not be able to have him on the floor in late-game situations.

 

TrueBlue2003

January 7th, 2018 at 2:40 AM ^

our guy that gets to the FT line most often, by far, is a bad FT shooter.  Matthews has shot twice (!!!) as many FTs as the second place guy (62 to Wagner's 31) and he hits 52 percent of them. I don't think that's gonna change so we're going to keep shooting relatively poorly as a team.

The good thing is, we don't go the line much so it's not a huge hit overall to our efficiency. I'm more worried about Z struggling (10-19) because he'll have to hit some late game FTs this year.

autodrip4-1968

January 7th, 2018 at 10:33 AM ^

are tough for whatever reason. Every player has their explanation. I will say it's the isolation. Your on the charity stripe and everyone is looking at you. I know player's practice shooting these shots all the time. Shooting free throws at a home game tough enough. Shooting free throws away from home with all the noise and whatever is being seen in the stands would be a great deal of difficulty.

Seth

January 8th, 2018 at 3:32 AM ^

I wish I had. Alas I glued the broken bits and clamped them then watched the whole game while waiting for them to dry. My process for a gamer like this is to write a note about every play then use halftime to start writing the narrative. My play by play can be sorted by player who did a thing so i can quickly see who's having a good game etc. It's similar to my process for FFFFs.

The Fan in Fargo

January 6th, 2018 at 10:15 PM ^

I like this team. They look dangerous. Livers and onion. Like that kids game. Mathews and Simpson look gangster too. Blue Collar Baby!

 

See the source image

 

Njia

January 7th, 2018 at 8:47 AM ^

Those particle board backs are held together with small finish nails approximately two angstroms in length, each one pounded in by hand (1000 of them, if memory serves). It is physically impossible not to finish the job without hammering the tips of your fingers into bloody stumps. Cam screws would be an upgrade.

Oh, and you WILL nail them in crooked. That much is certain.

chad

January 7th, 2018 at 10:50 AM ^

I know Brian references Kenpom quite a bit and how accurate there predictions are. Is that premium content on there site or something anyone can access? I've looked and can't find it for the life of me.