Northwestern comes back, holds off Michigan basketball team, 68-62
Michigan senior Anthony Wright works between Northwestern junior Ivan Peljusic, left, and freshman Drew Crawford on Sunday at Crisler Arena. Northwestern beat Michigan, 62-68. (Photo: Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com)
Why not? If it weren’t for Crawford, Northwestern likely wouldn’t have knocked off Michigan, 68-62, in a game where the Wildcats trailed by 17 points early and then used a run from Crawford to spark what Northwestern does best.
Trailing 31-14, Crawford scored 11 points in a row - he finished with a game-high 25 points - to cut Michigan’s lead to six points, 31-25, late in the first half. From there, the Wildcats’ 1-3-1 defense took over.
They trapped. They tipped balls. And the Northwestern frustrated Michigan (8-7, 2-2 Big Ten).
DeShawn Sims works around Northwestern freshman Drew Crawford in the first half Sunday in Crisler Arena. Crawford finished with 25 points on 7-of-9 shooting. (Photo: Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com)
“Everybody rotated and played their position right, and it caused a lot of turnovers,” Northwestern junior guard Michael Thompson said. “They turned their backs on us a lot, opposed to them being comfortable dribbling the ball. That played into our advantage.
“They just didn’t seem comfortable dribbling the ball.”
Michigan wasn’t. Playing a freshman, Darius Morris, and a sophomore, Stu Douglass, in its main ball-handling roles, the Wildcats (12-3 overall, 1-2 Big Ten) often forced Michigan back into its block “M” near the middle of the court midway through possessions.
It kept the Wolverines from making entry passes to senior forward DeShawn Sims, who scored 17 points but just four after halftime. It forced the Wolverines into 11 second-half turnovers, mostly coming from mistakes at the top of the key.
Michigan coach John Beilein even told his team in preparation for the 1-3-1 to penetrate the lane. Except the Wolverines couldn’t.
“Coach was talking about attacking it, and I was just kind of looking at it, reading it, instead of just attacking and playing basketball,” Douglass said. “That was where I faulted. It’s just hard to find (Sims) inside.
“They are very good at that zone. I just didn’t attack.”
As the defense started creating purple havoc, the Northwestern offense started hitting 3-pointers to cut into and eventually take the lead from Michigan.
As focused as Michigan was on Thursday against Penn State, when the Wolverines overcame a 16-point halftime deficit to knock off the Nittany Lions on the road, they looked sloppy and lackadaisical once they had a lead on Northwestern.
The Northwestern zone took care of that.
“That certainly took us out of rhythm,” Beilein said. “And then, because that took us out of rhythm, our defense in the second half was not good. We just got distracted by our lack of offense.
“That’s just the story of this team, so we got to keep working at that.”
It resulted in Northwestern taking a 10-point lead with 7:28 left after a 3-pointer from Wildcats junior forward John Shurna. Only then did Michigan awaken and rediscover the crisp passing and attacking style that got the Wolverines the 17-point lead in the first place.
Except Northwestern had the momentum and almost fittingly, when Michigan took a one-point lead on a Morris 3-pointer with 1:28 left, the Wolverines had three turnovers and a missed shot in their final four possessions culminating in junior guard Manny Harris, who scored 24 points, tripping over his own feet on a turnover.
“They just outplayed us in the second half,” Michigan sophomore guard Zack Novak said. “They deserved to win. They were down big, (we) let them get back in the game.
“I don’t know what happened.”
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.
Comments
81wolverine
Mon, Jan 11, 2010 : 1:23 p.m.
This was a majorly disheartening loss for Michigan. One step forward, two steps back. Beilein is right on one thing - where's the leadership on this team? I don't think Sims or Harris are leaders at all. They play well much of the time. But, there's a lot more to leadership than just scoring and rebounding. Most of this team needs a big, figurative "kick in the butt". Beilein seems too nice of a guy to do that. One person described him as "cerebral" - maybe that's a good description. Sometimes a coach needs to challenge his players by getting in their faces. As good as Sims is, he dogs it on defense a lot. I watched him yesterday dragging his rear end slowly down the court on several occasions when his rebounding ability was needed. This is one area where leadership comes in. Our defense was uninspired most of the game yesterday. But when we got behind 10, all of a sudden, we started playing good D. Where was that effort the rest of the game? And ball-handling is another area where effort and being lackadaisical really hurt us. Beilein needed to make some adjustments when Northwestern started trapping, but I couldn't see anything he did. This team is going nowhere this year, that's pretty certain. But, I hope they can play for self-respect and at least put in a "Michigan effort" every game.
Dan Blair
Mon, Jan 11, 2010 : 12:26 p.m.
I never see any intensity on Harris' face and eye expression. The same goes for Simms. Are they afraid to get hurt and damage their pro prospects? They don't even seem to sweat. The inconsistency is maddening. From Game to game, from one half to the next. That's been Beilin track record. It is coaching when the players are so all over the place - hot and cold, cold and hot, etc. Maybe Beilin is a great tactician but the players need discipline and a desire to win. Look at the Duke coaches and players. That's why they're such winners. Everything matters to them, most of all performance!
vi4mi4
Mon, Jan 11, 2010 : 10:26 a.m.
...overcoached, scared, weak, passive, why is the best player on the team defering to role players that won't shoot open 12 footers? who is teaching the one-handed bounce pass? where is the crisis management from the bench? sorry to say, but winning the big ten tourney will be this teams only chance to make the dance (sigh), Go Blue! v
discgolfgeek
Mon, Jan 11, 2010 : 10:04 a.m.
Incredibly disappointing -- the ballhandling was pathetic. Expect other teams to press until UofM proves they can deal with it.
John Agno
Mon, Jan 11, 2010 : 7:15 a.m.
Michigan was in the "zone" in the first half with multiple player substitutions that produced scoring results. In the second half, the momentum changed, little substitutions resulted in player fatigue with less team work and poor scoring results. Perhaps, the Michigan coaching staff was focused more on teaching than maintaining the positive emotional confidence of the team members from half time on...
guns4me
Sun, Jan 10, 2010 : 10:40 p.m.
All in for michigan,what a joke!!!
JonesM
Sun, Jan 10, 2010 : 9:49 p.m.
Is it just my imagination or is there a correlation between how well we play and how often Beilein subs? In the Ohio State game, Beilein brought the subs in on a regular rotation and kept the starters fresh. In this game, he didn't sub at all except for playing Morris (who should have started) over Lucas Perry. To only play Zach Gibson for 30 seconds in the second half is ridiculous. It's no wonder that the subs don't contribute much when they're in there because they're worried that they're going to get pulled and they play that way. I used to think that Beilein was a basketball genius, but no more. Game after game, we get outplayed at the end of each half. Could that possibly be because we're tired? Either way, it's coaching. Our subs are good when they play with confidence. I think Beilein has destroyed that confidence. If somebody has the stats of how many minutes the subs play in our wins versus how many minutes they play in our losses, I would love to see it.
TXteacher
Sun, Jan 10, 2010 : 8:51 p.m.
Any more coaches UM can hire from WVU? Are the baseball and women's BB coaches available?
Jaxon5
Sun, Jan 10, 2010 : 8:05 p.m.
What a great strategy it is to continue to attempt what isn't done very well - shoot the 3. Most learn from their mistakes and try someting else. This team continues to try the 3-point shot even after it's proven to be a serious problem for them. What a great strategy it is in the first season after the arc is moved further away from the hoop.
LakeErieMaize&Blue
Sun, Jan 10, 2010 : 7:56 p.m.
We have got to learn that when we are not hitting from outside(Novac,Douglass)to get the ball to the post-player inside!Or Manny Fresh,either or!!What happened to those two(Novac,Douglass)this season?They have really regressed.Novac can't shoot and Douglass has trouble shooting(and dribbling/passing this gm.)We have to try and do other things besides throw up threes every game.Lets go blue!!!
azwolverine
Sun, Jan 10, 2010 : 6:43 p.m.
Dan, Don't get me wrong, I still like Beilein and respect what he did last season, but the reason Michigan doesn't have better coaches is that Bill Martin sucked at hiring. Tommy Amaker was completely mediocre and hung around forever, and the football coach's record speaks for itself. While I think Beilein is a class act and did a great job last season, there does seem to be some inconsistency with the program. The season's still not over, let's see if these guys can get it together and put some wins together.
Dan Blair
Sun, Jan 10, 2010 : 6:23 p.m.
I find it completley desgussting that Beilin and his "cerebral" approach to coaching has yet to result in building any consistency in his team's performance. Look back to all of the games under him and one can see this to be true from the onset. Why can't Michigan have better coaches?
Val Losse
Sun, Jan 10, 2010 : 6:01 p.m.
There use to be a day when the score was 90 UM to 68 whoever. It just seems to me that it isn't coaching as much as they cannot shoot a basket. I see a player holding the ball and they are wide open. Do they take the shot? No they pass the ball and stand around. So what happened to making baskets at 10', at 15', at 12'? We spend 20 seconds looking for an opening at 3' or a lay-up. How about shooting a basket when you are open from any position or is that too much to ask? It looks like high school.
Macabre Sunset
Sun, Jan 10, 2010 : 5:41 p.m.
Oh well, that's about it for Michigan's NCAA hopes. It has not been a good year for Michigan sports. Class of '10 will not have wonderful memories.
2sweetblue
Sun, Jan 10, 2010 : 5:35 p.m.
Thanks Bill Martin.. You will be remembered as the Athletic director who ruined Michigan sports!!!
2sweetblue
Sun, Jan 10, 2010 : 5:25 p.m.
Thanks Bill Martin!! We need to recruit more then 2star shooters. We Suck. Manny is the only tough one on our team. The future is not bright we lose Manny and Courtny..... I mean DeShawn Simms next year please JB figure out a good offense and have someone lock down on D!!!
bigtenknight
Sun, Jan 10, 2010 : 5 p.m.
One game closer to being in the Top 25 again, right Tater?!? Bwahahahaha. Maybe they finally 'got it'.
leathercouch
Sun, Jan 10, 2010 : 4:56 p.m.
the difference in this game was the last 3 mins. every time northwestern had the ball crawford had it in his hands. every time michigan had it manny harris was looking to pass.
ChiTownSprty
Sun, Jan 10, 2010 : 4:52 p.m.
NIT bubble is being pretty optimistic, Detroitrocks. This team is awful.
miatamich
Sun, Jan 10, 2010 : 4:50 p.m.
Great performance by the Wolverines in the last minute of the game...a turnover and missed layup by Douglass, a turnover by Harris and to end the game, another turnover by Morris. Bo Glue!
Detroitrocks
Sun, Jan 10, 2010 : 4:46 p.m.
Back on the NIT bubble.