Michigan basketball pulls away from NAIA Concordia to win third straight game
Michigan point guard Darius Morris dribbles by Concordia's Chad McMullen during the the Wolverines' 86-65 win Monday at Crisler Arena. Morris finished with 19 points and 12 assists.
Melanie Maxwell I AnnArbor.com
Updated 11:14 p.m.
It was the kind of night those Michigan basketball players who rarely take off their warmups during games were supposed to get their shot.
Oops.
For much of Monday night’s game against NAIA Division II Concordia of Ann Arbor, there was more worry about losing the game than there was about getting the non-scholarship players major minutes.
Recruited walk-ons Eso Akunne and Josh Bartelstein and true walk-on Corey Person fight to crack the Michigan rotation, for sure. They know they are good players, but games like this against the cross-town Cardinals are ones many expect they’ll play a lot.
They combined for five minutes of action in an 86-65 win because nearly midway through the second half, Concordia was still within five points, 59-54.
“You’d always like for J-Bart and all those guys to get in, definitely, because they contribute a lot to this team,” sophomore guard Darius Morris said. “So for them to go out there and be playing would be awesome.”
Michigan played its worst game of the season against its most overmatched opponent.
The Wolverines (6-2) missed layups. They lost simple defensive assignments. And if it hadn’t been for 21 points from redshirt freshman forward Jordan Morgan and 19 points and 12 assists from Morris, the Wolverines could have been in trouble.
“When you’re not playing, you get a little nervous because you can’t control what is going on. But we have a lot of confidence in our teammates and we’re 6-2 for a reason, because we’re playing good basketball,” Bartelstein said. “So I was pretty confident we were going to pull it out.
“But you’d like the lead to be 40 every game because it makes you feel a lot better.”
It also means more playing time for everyone.
Instead, Michigan gave up its best individual performance of the year. Concordia junior forward Rocko Holmes, who at 6-foot-5, 275 pounds is built more like a defensive end, scored 29 points. That’s more than Syracuse forward Kris Joseph or UTEP guard Randy Culpepper, the two best players the Wolverines have faced this year.
And it left Holmes shocked -- heck, it left all of Crisler Arena shocked -- at what could possibly happen.
“Oh yeah,” Holmes said. “I thought, like any other team, they were beatable. But to see it on the scoreboard was a different thing. I loved it.
“The guys loved it.”
Eventually Michigan loved it, too. The Wolverines ended up pulling away, but not before having a real scare against a team that lost to Michigan-Dearborn, 100-98, on Saturday.
This was a game that, frankly, Concordia (5-5) should have never been in. The Michigan non-scholarship guys should have been in for 10-15 minutes each if things had gone according to plan.
“I know, I know, but you’ve got to have respect, they are on our schedule,” Akunne said. “We’re trying to prove ourselves this year.”
So far this season, Michigan has proved it can compete with some of the country’s best teams at times. At other times, it will have to compete with those no one outside of Ann Arbor has heard of.
“It’s definitely in the back of your mind that there could be an opportunity to get significant playing time but, you know, that’s why they play the games,” Bartelstein said.
“I thought maybe there’d be a chance, but when you saw them score 98 points last game, you don’t do that by accident.
“They had players and they showed it today they are a good team.”
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
Ryan Munson
Tue, Dec 7, 2010 : 11:15 p.m.
@Finnish-American We need fans like you for U-M's basketball program.
sweet_life
Tue, Dec 7, 2010 : 9:10 p.m.
Congratulations to the Concordia players for playing a great game. But for all the Michigan haters who are focused on this game, a few thoughts: - In college basketball, games where teams with much more talent play down to their competition are not uncommon. MSU's 8 point win over D2 Chaminade recently is a good example. - Sloppy play in mismatched games is a characteristic of young teams. Michigan is currently one of the youngest teams in D1 basketball. - A close game at 10.5 minutes left is not the same as a near win for Concordia. The final difference was 21 points. Michigan lead the entire game. - Michigan is going to have a tough season this year. They have been picked to finish 10 or 11 in the Big 10. But they are also going to surprise some people and things are looking good for next year as they continue to mature.
Finnish-American
Tue, Dec 7, 2010 : 8:44 p.m.
I'm amazed at the lack of acknowledgement of how well Concordia played. May I remind you that Concordia was behind by 9 points with 10 1/2 minutes left in the game? What you may not know is the "rout" started because Coach Limbeck kept a promise: every player would play at least 3 1/2 minutes in the game. Might it be that Coach Limback kept his promise at the 10.5 time? Whether that be the case or not, Concordia was in the game until 10 1/2 minutes remained on the clock! "Rout?" I think not. A true rout would have been evident through out the game. The losing team would not be nipping at the heels of the winning team until 10 1/2 minutes remained on the playing clock. Rout? No, a very close, well played game... by Concordia University. Give them credit. They did far better than anyone ever expected. I think all of can agree on that.
timeatwork
Tue, Dec 7, 2010 : 4:01 p.m.
hmmm...state plays/played: uconn, wash, duke, syracuse, and texas. mich plays/played: syracuse, kansas.... those are the same?
Rob Pollard
Tue, Dec 7, 2010 : 11:50 a.m.
Johnny, what the heck are you talking about? MSU's last game was against Bowling Green (a team Michigan played). After playing Syracuse (a team Michigan played), they play Oakland (another team Michigan plays). MSU played Duke; Michigan will play Kansas. Michigan played Concordia; MSU played Chaminade. Michigan plays Bryant; MSU plays Prairie View A&M. I could go on. MSU is a Top 10 team. Their OOC schedule is a bit harder than Michigan's, but not by much (see above). Izzo has gone away from the insane scheduling he did a few years ago, as even he realized it was too much. Not every game can, or should, be a Top 200 RPI opponent, unless you want your team wiped out. There has to be a mix. Michigan has enough quality opponents in their OOC schedule to get a good read on the development of the program. That's all you can ask for in terms of scheduling.
spartyisyourlilsister
Tue, Dec 7, 2010 : 11:49 a.m.
No, No, No. I was not comparing Michigan to MSU, I was merely using MSU as an analogy there. Sparty bball is head and shoulders above Michigan bball, everyone understands that already!
Jonny Spirit
Tue, Dec 7, 2010 : 11:21 a.m.
Uh oh, here we go again, "Hey MSU remember 5 years ago when you lost, Michigan has a bunch of young players, Michigan will be ready in a couple years....." Wait maybe somebody can bring up the "Fab Five" Chris Webber taking money... It is what it is, all I was saying to make a team stronger it is OK to lose against a better team, just learn from it. Michigan only plays as good as the team their playing.
timeatwork
Tue, Dec 7, 2010 : 11:17 a.m.
if a game is played in crisler, but nobody is there to see it, does the game still count?
Rob Pollard
Tue, Dec 7, 2010 : 10:54 a.m.
I agree - what an overreaction by some of these posters. MSU, earlier this year, was actually behind in the 2nd half, before pulling away to beat Chaminade (a Div II school) by a grand total of 8 points. Not every game against weaker competition can be a 40 point blowout. U of M is going to finish 8th or so in the stacked Big 10 this year, but they are the 4th youngest team in the country and should be ready to make the tourney next year. Morris is a heck of player, Morgan is surprisingly good for a RS freshman and Douglass has really resurrected his game after a poor sophomore year. Congrats to Concordia for enjoying the game. Everyone else, relax.
spartyisyourlilsister
Tue, Dec 7, 2010 : 8:45 a.m.
Need I remind you that Grand Valley actually beat MSU a couple of years ago? Did MSU close shop and shut down their bball program? No, they went on to have a great season after that! College bball teams have games like this. They come in waaaaaaaay overconfident and a tiny school like this puts up a great game, keeps it interesting for a while, but then the better team puts them away in the end. I have never seen a more overeactionary fan base than Michigan's!!!
81wolverine
Tue, Dec 7, 2010 : 8:29 a.m.
Concordia should have been run off the floor - even by Michigan. This doesn't bode well for the Wolverines going forward. Granted you can expect some overconfidence by Michigan. But c'mon! Beilein needs to prepare his team better than this. And for Pete's sake - when are we ever going to start hitting our 3's consistently? I thought this was a hallmark of Beilein-coached teams.
Brian Bundesen
Tue, Dec 7, 2010 : 7:59 a.m.
I was there too. Michigan played sloppy and looked disorganized. Concordia looked more disciplined, had more fire in the belly, and were within striking distance on more than one occasion. I agree w/ @Insidethehall that if we get lit up for 29 by Rocco, there is cause for concern.
KeepingItReal
Tue, Dec 7, 2010 : 6:30 a.m.
If M doesn't develop apost game, they are in big trouble. M will not be able to put up 3s like last night with players who cannot get themselves open. Can't wait until the B10.
Jonny Spirit
Tue, Dec 7, 2010 : 5:23 a.m.
Is this true? Concordia has only just shy of 900 students and Michigan has 42,000 students. Why would Mich even play this teams. Stop padding your schedules with High School teams and play the big boys so you can get better. This kind of looks the same as next years football schedule. (Eastern and Western, yeah good football games to watch there) Last night was a great game to watch on the Big Ten network, the arena looked empty.
InsideTheHall
Tue, Dec 7, 2010 : 3:49 a.m.
When a guy named Rocko torchs us for 29 we can only imagaine what the big men of the Big Ten will do to M come January. M should have been able to impose it's will but couldn't and that speaks volumes of where this team is and the overall talent level.
Finnish-American
Tue, Dec 7, 2010 : 1:26 a.m.
To bad the U of M kids didn't play a better game. Thanks for the thought.
Finnish-American
Mon, Dec 6, 2010 : 11:50 p.m.
I'm amazed that U of M BB fans dismisses Concordia's game. The very fact that the first string had to play ANY part of the game is an embarrassment to an other wise great team. Give Concordia credit. I expected a blow out tonight, with the Wolverines leaving the CUAA's Cardinal beaten and bloodied by half time. The Cardinals made tonight's uneven match up a "real" basketball game. Who'd a thought?
aareader
Mon, Dec 6, 2010 : 11:38 p.m.
I was at the game too... cheering for Blue. Concordia played hard and made baskets, especially inside. Michigan played sloppy but the upper classmen poise got them through. It was a fun game to watch. As noted in the article Blue buckled down and pulled away by games end. Go Blue!
Finnish-American
Mon, Dec 6, 2010 : 11:32 p.m.
spartyisyourlilsister: An unbelievable comment! The number of students at CUAA was inflated by the inclusion of non-traditional students. The number of on campus, traditional students, is 668! That is the number of students (including female students) that were eligible to play. Lets compare with U of M: 6,300 FRESHMEN enrolled this year. In other words, CUAA's TOTAL traditional undergrads are just a bit over 10% of U of M's 2010-2011 freshman class. The Cardinals were within reach of a win a large part of the game. Your imaginary stat means nothing. With CUAA staying in the game so long, in my mind (I don't care if you disagree) the Cardinals had a HUGE "win" tonight. Loosing to a university's basket ball team whose *total undergraduate student body towers over puny Concordia's; *BB players are among the BEST in the nation; *university that takes great pride in winning; *teams typically play against other big enrollment, highly talented, heavily recruited studets; in the end, Concordia played incredibly better than anyone, including me, would ever imagine. So forget your 1000000000000000. It only brings more embarrassment to the University of Michigan's stellar athletic program. This is real: The David called Concordia University--Ann Arbor man-handled and threatened to beat the power house Goliath. This was a huge moral victory for the Cardinals. In spite of the outcome, tonight's game shows that a David-like team can compete against today's Goliath's. GO CARDINALS!!!!!!!!!!!
Rob Pollard
Mon, Dec 6, 2010 : 11:31 p.m.
Except for Rocko (who is huge) there is no one on Concordia who could play for Michigan. Concordia gave it a full effort, and I'm real disappointed in the amount of 3s THJ and McLimans continue to jack up (and miss), but it was scrappy, if ugly, 21 point win. TFR, glad you enjoyed your team, but relax. It was 83-65 with 3.5 minutes left. Literally 3 points were scored at the end of the game.
TFR
Mon, Dec 6, 2010 : 10:53 p.m.
I was at the game - screaming my head off for Concordia. CUAA out hustled Mich up and down the court. They played scrappy and took advantage of opportunities. Their shooting percentage was only 37% at the half. If they matched Mich's 45% who knows what could have become of it. Here is a bad sign for Mich - #4 waving his arms and shaking his head at Coach Belien - like a spoiled 4 year old. Coach B disappointed me by not sitting his butt on the bench. Really, he couldn't because evidently CUAA had him nervous. Hats off to Coach Limback of CUAA. He cleared his bench with 3 min and 50 seconds to make sure everyone got their play time at Crisler. Coach B pushed on the throttle until 1 min and 20 seconds left in the game. I can't wait to see Mich and especially #4 play some Big Ten teams!! It's gonna be fun!!!
spartyisyourlilsister
Mon, Dec 6, 2010 : 10:23 p.m.
Yeah maybe if they played 1000000000000000 times in a row Concordia may win once!
rnich231
Mon, Dec 6, 2010 : 9:36 p.m.
For the most part these two teams are very well matched. Concordia didnt have their best game tonight but if given another chance would probably edge the Wolverines. I think Concordia has 4 or 5 guys who could play, (maybe start) for Michigan.