Marquette upsets Michigan basketball team in semifinals of the Old Spice Classic

Marquette forward Lazar Hayward, center, puts up a shot in front of Michigan's Zack Novak (0) as DeShawn Sims, left, and Laval Lucas-Perry, right, watch during the second half Friday in the Old Spice Classic tournament. Marquette won 79-65. (Photo: Associated Press)

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - After the Michigan basketball team beat Creighton in the first round of the Old Spice Classic on Thursday, coach, John Beilein wondered if a losing a game early in the season wasn’t the worst thing that could happen to his team.

It’d give them a chance to grow and a chance to learn, he said. Whether he intended or not, Marquette’s drilling of No. 15 Michigan, 79-65, on Friday in the tournament semifinals gave the coach a lot to be critical about.

Nothing worked for the Wolverines on Friday. Now they’ll play Alabama at 5 p.m. Sunday.

Michigan’s offense stagnated from the three-point line and couldn’t establish an inside presence. The defense was befuddled as Beilein tried variations of man-to-man, the 1-3-1 zone and a 2-3 zone on Marquette.

“We dialed up everything we could do,” Beilein said. “But they are just super-quick. We’ll see that again at different times but you don’t see the skill, usually if they are really quick in the backcourt you can help off (Darius) Butler or (Lazar) Hayward and give help, but you can’t help off those two because for their size they are extremely crafty and quick.”

The combination of Hayward and Butler did the most damage - Hayward with 22 points and 9 rebounds, Butler with 17 points and 9 rebounds - but more than anything, Michigan (3-1) hurt itself.

Michigan guard Manny Harris, left, dunks over Marquette's Darius Johnson-Odom and Jimmy Butler, right, during the first half on Friday. (Photo: Associated Press)

The Wolverines shot 3-of 20-from the three-point line, including 1-of-13 in the second half. Michigan’s three most reliable shooters - junior Manny Harris and sophomores Zack Novak and Stu Douglass - were a combined 0-of-11.

The shooting struggles rendered Novak and Douglass useless, and while Harris had 22 points, he couldn’t will his team back into a game like he did Thursday against Creighton.

The misses spread. Fast.

“It’s definitely contagious,” Michigan senior forward DeShawn Sims said. “Whether someone is making or missing. You couldn’t see a lot of balls going in today, and that could have been a problem that affected some of our three-point shots, but for the most part, they did a great job defending.”

Part of that had to do with Sims, who was ineffective even when Marquette took away Michigan’s outside game and forced the Wolverines inside. Sims was 3-of-10 from the field with 8 points.

Defensively, Michigan wasn’t much better. Marquette (6-0) was too fast for the Wolverines when they played man-to-man. Using what Marquette coach Buzz Williams calls “side-top-side,” which is essentially swinging the ball from one side of the court to the other and then tossing the ball into the post, the Golden Eagles picked apart Michigan’s 1-3-1 zone.

Eventually, Michigan switched to a 2-3, but that was equally ineffective and Marquette looked more like a team merely following what Wesley Matthews, Dominic James and Jerel McNeal started than a team rebuilding from their departure.

“I didn’t think that we had a distinct advantage,” Williams said. “Maybe he thought that we did. But I thought we did a good job on missed shots and attacking and secondary.

“For the most part, except at the beginning of the second half, I thought we did a good job at handling their changing defenses.”

Michigan’s defense and offense showed life once Friday - at the beginning of the second half. The Wolverines used a 10-0 run to cut Marquette’s lead to one, 48-47, with 16 minutes left.

Marquette then had a 10-point run of its own that essentially put the game away.

“It would be a great payoff for winning that game," Beilein said after Michigan won Thursday. "But just for our own psyche right now, losing isn't the worst thing in the world, you grow from it, but I think our kids feel good about themselves right now."

A day and a loss later, Beilein stuck with his early-loss mantra but his players weren't quite as enthusiastic.

"We have to keep and stay focused," Sims said. "And remember, it is only four games into the season."

Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein.