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Posted on Sat, Jan 15, 2011 : 11:46 p.m.

Indiana sends Michigan basketball to its first four-game losing streak since 2007-08

By Michael Rothstein

Updated 11:46 p.m.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — It was a game Michigan needed for confidence and for results. Losses to some of the top teams in the country were understandable. The Wolverines had hung around, with all of their losses except one coming against ranked teams.

Then came Saturday night.

Michigan played its worst game of the year at Assembly Hall, being crushed by Indiana 80-61 in a game that never felt that close.

It wasn’t a must-win — at least in the eyes of the players — but considering the road Michigan still must travel to reach any sort of post-season - and just to stop a losing streak - it was critical.

The result wasn’t pretty, giving Michigan its first four-game losing streak since 2007-08, when juniors Stu Douglass and Zack Novak were seniors in high school.

“This one hurt pretty bad,” Douglass said.

It is understandable why. Despite being on a three-game losing streak, Michigan was confident. It believed in itself.

And Indiana was on a six-game losing streak. The Hoosiers hadn’t played well.

On Saturday, Michigan made them look like the best team in the Big Ten.

It looked like the worst performance Michigan had this season. Was it the most frustrating for the players?

“Probably,” Novak said.

Nothing went right for Michigan (11-7, 1-4 Big Ten). It scored 15 points in the first half, its worst opening half of the year and the first time Indiana has held a team to that few points in a half since playing Purdue on Jan. 31, 2002.

Offensively, the Wolverines looked lost. Defensively, for the first time since maybe Purdue on Dec. 28, Michigan looked baffled.

Indiana (10-8, 1-4) shot 67.4 percent against Michigan, a season-high for a Wolverines opponent by 18 percentage points. The 80 points allowed tied a season high.

Those 80 points were also 12 over Indiana’s season average.

“A little bit of youth shown through,” said redshirt freshman forward Jordan Morgan. “Lots of lack of execution on offense and mixups on defense and the game kind of gets away from you.”

Michigan couldn’t do anything well until it trailed by 21 points, 44-23, after a Matt Roth 3-pointer. At one point early in the second half, Indiana guard Verdell Jones III had outscored all of the Wolverines, 16-15, before he finished with a game-high 24 points.

The Wolverines eventually cut the deficit to 11 points three times. But each time Indiana guard Jordan Hulls made a 3-pointer to extend the Hoosiers' lead again. After the game, Michigan hung to that as the reason it couldn’t make a comeback.

But it was more than that. Michigan struggled in every facet. When it had chances, it missed 3-pointers, making 4 of 16 in the second half. Sophomore guard Darius Morris had 22 points, but most of those came when Michigan already trailed by double digits, which it did the entire second half.

Then again, Michigan had another rough start — something becoming all too typical for this team. The Wolverines had two players in foul trouble and sitting for most of the first half: freshmen forwards Tim Hardaway Jr. and Evan Smotrycz.

At the end, though, none of it mattered. As Novak summed up in four words: "We just got beat."

Michael Rothstein covers 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.

Comments

vi4mi4

Mon, Jan 17, 2011 : 9:43 a.m.

..well, at least these guys have a shot at a nice degree, because basketball is clearly not their focus..no intensity, no fire, no desire..if your going to lose at least go down fighting.. bline is more interested in proving points to players and creating good "citizens' than playing his best 5 to win..sitting your best players for extended stretches..(where was jr. for most of the 1st half??).. ok coach, i think they get your point..your the man! question is..could they beat the girls team??..man up and save your season.. Go Blue! v

Dennis

Mon, Jan 17, 2011 : 1:12 a.m.

Tommy was the ONLY coach who I ever watched coach whose athletes had their best seasons during their freshman year! Sims and Hunter to name two. I love how some Michigan fans can come up with a plethora of excuses for INEPT play/performance. I know, I know, we're not good fans and we have jumped off of the band wagon when we call ugly as when we see it. The stunk up the joint and were thrashed by a mediocre team. How many years does JB get to build a competitive program? Bombs away and pray that they go it because we bolt from the offensive boards!

Jaxon5

Sun, Jan 16, 2011 : 10:11 p.m.

Michigan has not been relevant in basketball for the last 15 years. MSU took M's spot back in the 1990s and has held it and even surpassed Michigan by a mile with its NCAA tournament success. Michigan remains mired in the mediocre, without much differentiating it from the number 75 to 125 teams of the RPI. Heck, Harvard is ranked far above Michigan in the RPI. Go Tommy!

Mick52

Sun, Jan 16, 2011 : 2:01 p.m.

Thanks BigTenKnight for the live by/die by in re to 3s, my favorite saying on that point. I see no offense. Five guys way out on the perimeter. No one under the basket. Shoot from as far as possible. Pass up open short shots. No rebounding, especially offensive rebounding. When a shot goes up from the outer limits, all five turn and run to the other end of the court. I was taught to follow my shots. Offensive rebounds turn into points. Two players should be committed to rebounding. The TV announcers were laughing about no rebounds at all for Michigan ten minutes in to the first half. Picks (aka screens) should be set so that the player being picked cannot go through or around the pick. Pick a defensive player properly and your team mate will be open or you will. No one seems to understand how to set a pick on this team though it looks like they are supposed to. No team will win by taking 3 pt shots like this. Passing up shots near the basket to toss the ball way out for a missing 3 is silly. Players who are open cutting to the basket should receive a pass. That happens a lot with this team. Nobody goes up hard to the basket up close unless they are wide open. This team likes to do the loop de doop, ballet style, one handed sweeping shots, that miss. Get the ball, go up HARD. Make the bucket or get fouled. Defense means not standing around and watching your opponent walk past you for an easy layup. Cannot understand how this team almost beat the No 2 and 3 ranked teams and play this poorly but it appears there is little emphasis on basic fundamentals. Last year I was surprised that Zack Gibson did not start. Sure he is not much of a scorer, but at 6-10 he should have been developed as a rebounder. Muscle him up and make his job rebounding the ball to at least 10 per game, not 2.1 where he ended up last year.

Macabre Sunset

Sun, Jan 16, 2011 : 11:36 a.m.

Oscar, I agree. I'm so used to Michigan basketball being thoroughly mediocre that I don't care so much anymore, but it still bothers me from time to time, like yesterday. What I hated most about the Rodriguez era was the understanding that the football team was headed down the same path under his "leadership".

oscar

Sun, Jan 16, 2011 : 9:57 a.m.

@rensational -- 67 0r 68 teams make the dance... many are mediocre. Most of the 8,9,10 seeds are mediocre every year. And then you say Michigan will not make the tournament.. At the most I will give you is that they are mediocre. Anyway, I am tired of this "we are young" crap. I understand they have young players.. But the question that we should ask is "WHY DO WE HAVE MOSTLY FRESHMAN PLAYING?" What was wrong with the last 3 years of recruiting? And I did say 3 years! Why aren't we holding people accountable for the fact that we are playing so many young players. Michigan Hoops bums me out. I want to have a good hoops team again. I want Michigan to put emphasis on it! I have a friend that went to IU and we chatted about the game earlier in the week and said that we should beat them by 20. He said that they are really bad and have lost 6 in a row with many blowouts. Losing to a team like IU doesn't seem to warrant calling your team better than mediocre.... Does it?

sasmjjsly

Sun, Jan 16, 2011 : 9:01 a.m.

You will NOT win playing this "system" of bball. You NEED big men to open up the shot for your 3-pt shooters. Beilein does not recruit big men who play with their backs to the basket, bang for rebounds, and block shots. He recruits tall, skinny kids who sets screens and will shoot 3s. Enough already! I have not seen anything to make me believe Beilein will make this a tournament program. And save the "he made the tourney 2 years ago" argument---he did it with Amaker's players. I think Mr. Brandon can bring in a coach who can run a clean program and win. It's time to move from Beilein and his "system."

Veracity

Sun, Jan 16, 2011 : 8:51 a.m.

FLAT, meaning no energy, emotion or focus. I offer this description of Michigan's "performance" at Indiana last night, following three days of rest since their last game. Split screen on your computer and run any of the previous four games in one window and yesterday's game in the other and see if you agree with me. There was no aspect of the game of basketball that Michigan did well yesterday: Michigan shot 36.4% for the game while Indiana was allowed to shoot 67.4%; Michigan had only 18 rebounds while Indiana had 37; and despite Indiana turning the ball over ten more times than Michigan, Michigan lost the game by 19 points. Michigan could not convert 3-point shots but they did not convert shots under the basket either. Even Darius Morris' 22-points is not impressive since many of his points were scored late in the game when Indiana was playing "soft", knowing that a win was certain. This loss was a team loss and, therefore, coach Beilein is mostly responsible, even though he can not get out on the floor and play. The coach is responsible for preparing the team for each game and that includes motivating the players. Michigan basketball players should never look a step slower or less aggressive than their opponents but they did yesterday. When the Big Ten schedule started I had hopes that Michigan would win six or even seven games and visit the NIT for post-season play. Now I am not sure that Michigan can beat Iowa two games or beat Indians during its visit to Ann Arbor on February 12th. Michigan is struggling to avoid a losing record and an NIT appearance is overly optimistic this year.

NoBowl4Blue

Sun, Jan 16, 2011 : 8:38 a.m.

Michigan emptied their tank against Kansas and OSU. Close only counts i horseshoes. At least there will be the NIT.

rensational

Sun, Jan 16, 2011 : 5:51 a.m.

Gosh, what is it--are a bunch of Michigan State fans coming out the woodwork right now? Michigan is not a bad or mediocre team. I don't know why anyone expects more than this from a bunch of freshmen and no seniors. The real problem is whoever made up Michigan's schedule this season needs to be smacked across the face. We didn't need no-name teams in a row and then murderor's row in a row--there needed to be some mixing and matching. Michigan just came off a stretch of three ranked teams in a row, the last two being the #3 and the #2 teams in the nation, and Michigan played all of those teams close. If you look at what Penn State has been doing...Michigan played them before they got started on this stretch, as well, and beat them. A bunch of young Michigan players didn't have anything left after those four games, and I don't blame them. Michigan's not going to the NCAA Tournament this season, but they weren't supposed to. It's funny--people act like we as football fans are nuts because of our high standards for the football program, but some of the comments I've seen this season regarding Michigan's basketball team...gosh, that's where "Michigan fans" really show ridiculous, overly-harsh criticism. People act like Michigan is still living in the Fab Five era when we haven't been that in over 10 years. In general, what I've seen from Michigan basketball this season gives me hope for next season. Michigan will bounce back and play Northwestern, Minnesota and Michigan State tough.

Dennis

Sun, Jan 16, 2011 : 12:58 a.m.

We play tough against #3 Kansas and #2 OSPU this week and we go to Bloomington and and get thrashed. Did John say anything about being young in the post game Press Interview? How is it that we keep getting young? The fountain of Belein (:

trigg7

Sun, Jan 16, 2011 : 12:14 a.m.

Ouch, that was a joke, geting blown out by a crapy team. Nice job West arbor!

larry kramer

Sat, Jan 15, 2011 : 11:38 p.m.

Beilein is on the NCAA committee on ethics. So Mary Sue doesn't care if he wins--just be clean, but mediocre is ok! I hope Brandon has the guts to dump him. I feel sorry for the players. He still gets his millions.

bigtenknight

Sat, Jan 15, 2011 : 10:36 p.m.

Rothstein did use the correct word: atrocious. This team is bad. Sure, Michigan can beat anyone on any given night based on one fact: If you shoot enough 3 pointer's and you make enough of them, they are a great equalizer. However, as in many of the losses, you live by the 3, you die by the 3. Michigan will not be a Big Ten contender until they get some size and actually utilize it during a 40 minute span. Sure, in a few games here, Michigan will get the opportunity to play a great program in East Lansing who is not playing their best basketball as of late, yet the game will be the Wolverines 'One Shining Moment' opportunity. Close losses look good to Wolverine Nation, but to the selection committee, 11-7 (1-4) gets you a 'better luck next coach'. I'd hate to see what Michigan's record would be if the schedule had future NCAA tournament teams on it instead of North Carolina Central, Bryant University, and Concordia.

Macabre Sunset

Sat, Jan 15, 2011 : 10:32 p.m.

That wasn't youth, or inexperience. That was just a mediocre team laying an egg out there. Better hope there wasn't anyone on any tournament committee watching, because that's the kind of effort that keeps you home in March.