Michigan basketball drops its third straight game on European tour

Posted on Wed, Aug 25, 2010 : 8:08 p.m.

Throughout the past week, a world away from Ann Arbor, the Michigan basketball team is learning exactly what professional basketball is all about.

The Wolverines dropped their third straight game to a Belgian pro squad, this time a 70-55 loss to Oostende on Wednesday.

Junior guard Stu Douglass led Michigan with 15 points, including 4 of 9 shooting from beyond the 3-point line.

The Wolverines shot 32 percent from the field, 31 percent from the 3-point line and only made 32 percent of their free throws.

"The second quarter was the story of the game today," Michigan coach John Beilein said. "Whether it's rotation or whatever would be a mix of youth and they are a good team, that was our demise right there."

Michigan was outscored 28-10 in the second quarter.

Every Michigan player saw at least a minute of action except for freshman Colton Christian, who missed his third straight game.

Beilein, though isn't concerned about the 0-3 record.

"We are playing a very tough schedule," Beilein said. "It's not set up to win. It's set up to experience some things, see what we have to work on.

"Winning, we're trying to get better so we can win during the season."

Through three games, freshman Tm Hardaway Jr. has led the Wolverines with 11 points per game. As a team, Michigan has averaged 59.3 points, 31.7 rebounds, 11.3 assists and 14 turnovers.

Michigan finishes its four-game tour with Mons on Thursday.

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

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