Shameless Self-Promotion Time: Arizona

Michigan took on No. 1 Arizona in chilly Ann Arbor this afternoon, looking to snag a huge resume-booster of a win. As usual, my post-game recap can be found at Maize n Brew.

Despite leading for most of the game, the Wolverines couldn't quite hold off the big, athletic Wildcats late in the game. Nik Stauskas had a chance to regain the lead for Michigan with under 20 seconds to play, but his jumper landed off the mark and the Wolverines ultimately fell, 72-70.

With the loss, Michigan fell to 6-4 on the season with two games remaining before the Jan. 2 Big Ten opener at Minnesota.

Michigan 107, Houston Baptist 53: Houston, You Have A Problem

No. 22 Michigan 107, Houston Baptist 53

Coming off of a 3-3 record in Michigan's last six games, a visit from Houston Baptist was perhaps just what the doctor ordered. 

However, after a particularly brutal loss at Duke, in which the Wolverines couldn't throw it in the ocean for most of the game, a sluggish start this afternoon against the 3-5 HBU Huskies was far from a surprise. 

The Huskies battled Michigan to a 9-9 tie early, but it was a productive opening few minutes for Mitch McGary, who scored five points --including a nifty free throw line jumper-- and an assist to Nik Stauskas. 

A Derrick Walton triple just over four minutes in gave the Wolverines a 12-9 lead, a lead which they held for the remainder of the game. 

Free from the stifling perimeter defense of Duke, the Wolverines rattled off a 3-for-5 mark from beyond the arc to start the game. The bad news? The Huskies started 3-for-3 themselves, not to mention a 7-for-7 from the field overall. The Huskies couldn't miss; but, one assumed that they wouldn't continue to hit those shots. 

A quick 8-2 run, including a pair of triples from Stauskas and Glenn Robinson III, extended the lead to 29-19. 

HBU's 2-3 zone did little to impede Michigan's quest for points; if they game were on ice, HBU's defense might have been called a sieve. The Wolverines dribbled through HBU's zone, shot over it and rendered it irrelevant by simply beating it down the floor in transition. 

The Huskies finished 7-for-14 from the field on the heels of their 7-for-7 start; ordinarily, 50 percent would be pretty good. Against Michigan, however, it meant going into the half down by 26, 60-34. 

Defense was optional in the first half, for both teams. Even so, unless you're John Beilein, it's difficult to be too upset about a half in which the Wolverines scored 60 points. 

Stauskas and Robinson led the way for Michigan with 17 and 14 points, respectively. Stauskas went 5-for-7 from 3-point land, with one his two misses, amusingly, being perhaps the best look of the seven attempts. 

The second half continued on like the first, save for one scary play that resulted in Mitch McGary on the floor in pain. McGary went up to block Cody Joyce's shot. Both Joyce and McGary crashed to the floor, and McGary's left leg buckled under him. 

After a harrowing 10 seconds or so, McGary got up and seemed to be fine. He tried to wave Beilein off, but McGary was forced to the bench, but not before he took the time to exhort the Maize Rage to make some noise, as if Michigan State or Ohio State were in Ann Arbor and not HBU. 

The second half was showtime for the Wolverines, with McGary leading the fast break time and time again. Without revisiting the tape, it's likely that McGary led more fast breaks in this game than did Walton. If Michigan were to start every position with a defensive rebound and a little momentum and some spacing, Mitch McGary, 6-foot-10 point guard, would be only a somewhat laughable notion. 

McGary finished with 12 points, nine rebounds, six assists, four steals and a block, a prolific afternoon for a guy who, more than any other Wolverine, simply needs minutes at this point. 

As always, level of competition caveats aside, this game once again showed how the Wolverines look much better when they can run. In a way, this is faint praise, as it an indictment of the Wolverines' half court offense. During Big Ten play, everyone knows that Michigan will need to convert on a much greater percentage of its half court sets if they are going to be anything better than 9-9 or 10-8 in conference play. 

Beilein got the walk-ons in the game with a few minutes remaining, and the Wolverines cruised to a 107-53 victory, moving to 6-3 on the season. Michigan next hits the Crisler Center floor next Saturday against what will likely be a No. 1 in the country Arizona squad. 

NIT Season Tip-Off Final Observations: Arizona 72, Duke 66

Fouad Egbaria

For those with unrealistic expectations, Michigan's 5-2 start to the season could be considered a disappointment. However, when tethered to reality and understanding the difficulties of breaking in a new point guard --not to mention replacing a player of Trey Burke's caliber, not to mention Tim Hardaway Jr., who is having a solid start to his NBA career in New York-- then perhaps such a start is not so surprising. 

With that said, if Michigan is planning on entering the Big Dance with a decent seed, they will need to grab a big non-conference win or two before entering what should once again be a brutal Big Ten slate. Fortunately for the Wolverines, Duke and Arizona (and even Stanford, to a lesser extent), present the Wolverines with that opportunity. 

I was lucky enough to attend Friday NIT Tip-Off final between Duke and Arizona at Madison Square Garden, so I figured this would be a good space to kill two birds with one stone with some of my observations on both teams. 

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First, a general outline of the game itself is probably in order. After sitting through the triple overtime Alabama-Drexel game, the first half of Duke-Arizona provided an enormous step up in the speed and level of play. The Blue Devils and Wildcats battled it out in what was an incredibly entertaining first half of basketball, one in which the largest lead was only five (11-6, Duke). 

Duke went into the half up, 36-33, with eight points from Jabari Parker in the half's final five minutes (he finished the first half with 10). Brandon Ashley led the Wildcats at the half with 11 points of his own. 

A Quinn Cook three six minutes into the second half gave Duke a 43-37 lead, its largest of the game. Sitting in MSG, however, you got the sense that if Duke got a stop and scored again, things might start to get out of hand. 

Luckily for Sean Miller U of A squad, a dunk and an Aaron Gordon three a minute later cut the lead to one, and it was back to being the tight game it had been all along. 

The Wildcats kept rolling, rattling of a 12-2 run that eventually gave them a 4-point lead with 8:16 remaining. The pressure was then squarely on Duke's shoulders, but especially Parker's, who had only scored two points in the second half to that point (from the free throw line). 

Rodney Hood, by far Duke's best player on Friday, pitched in an and-1 to cut the lead to one, but the Wildcats kept pushing, this time with an 8-0 run to gain a 57-48 lead, ultimately the knockout punch, with about six and a half minutes to play. 

Hood answered the call again, this time burying a shot from beyond the arc, but Duke couldn't defend the paint, allowing consecutive Arizona dunks. 

Shameless Self-Promotion Time: Puerto Rico Tip-Off Reaction

The Michigan Wolverines traveled to San Juan to compete in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, where they advanced to the tournament final before being knocked off by Charlotte on Sunday, 63-61.

I compiled some scattered thoughts and observations into a reaction post over at Maize n Brew. In short, it's November: there is no reason to panic at this point, even with a loss against a non-name brand team like Charlotte. After all, look at North Carolina. Last week they lost to Belmont at home, only to go on to beat No. 3 Louisville on Sunday.

In any case, Michigan still has a few more opportunities to notch quality non-conference wins (Duke, Arizona, Stanford) before the Big Ten opener on Jan. 2 at Minnesota.

No. 7 Michigan 70, Iowa State 77: Hilton Magic

No. 7 Michigan 70, Iowa State 77

The pace in the first half was exactly as advertised: lightning fast, a speed which seemed to become augmented by the sheer loudness of the Hilton Coliseum.

Iowa State got on the board first, but Michigan's hot shooting in the first minutes propelled it to a 22-13 lead almost halfway through the first half. The Wolverines couldn't miss, but that deadeye shooting came to an abrupt end, as the Wolverines went on to go scoreless for about four and half minutes of play.

Iowa State dominated Michigan on the boards in the first half, especially Melvin Ejim, who scored 12 points and reeled in five boards in the opening 20 minutes.

Mitch McGary's return to the floor was almost as successful as Ejim's. McGary took a couple of minutes to find himself, but, once he did, he did all of the things that made him a big name at the end of last season. The sophomore led Michigan with 8 points on 4-of-6 shooting in the first half, including a slick finish in transition.

Down 35-34 at the half, Michigan would need to do some combination of the following: 1) Check Ejim 2) Start hitting the 3-point shot again 3) Continue hitting up the pick and roll for easy buckets.

The Hilton Coliseum sounded like it was emitting the fiendish roar of a fleet of fighter jets, and one can only imagine what it sounded like to freshman point guard Derrick Walton Jr., who committed a pair of turnovers in the first half.

Keyed by its defense, the Wolverines went on a 9-0 run early in the second half, including a thunderous Glenn Robinson III dunk in transition. Of course, it would only take one big play from the Cyclones to wake up the crowd, but the run was an encouraging sign for a Wolverine squad that struggled to end the first half.

Nik Stauskas slammed home a monstrous dunk at the 8:53 mark, a moment brought to you by Not Just A Shooter Inc. However, Ejim anwered from downtown at the other end.

Michigan continued to stay a bucket or two ahead, but also continued to have no answer for Ejim, who had 22 with just under eight minutes left in the game.

A 10-0 Cyclone run gave them a 5-point lead with just over five minutes to play. Michigan was scuffling on the offensive end, and the pace was leading to some questionable decisions with the ball.

Michigan drew within one late after a Stauskas three and an assist to Robinson for an easy layup. However, Caris LeVert, matched up against Georges Niang, got beat on the low block for a pair of crushing buckets.

Without Trey Burke to save the day, Michigan had to start firing from beyond the arc; unfortunately, the shots did not fall when it counted.

In truth, this was a difficult game for Michigan to win if you had ignored the Wolverines' shiny No. 7 ranking. Iowa State can play, especially at home.

What is actually somewhat concerning is that Michigan was beaten on the boards far too often despite having a size advantage; that will be emphasized in practice in the coming week, I'm sure.

Mitch McGary was also mostly shut down in the second half, but that's probably to be expected from a guy getting his first minutes of the season. Barring any injury-related setbacks, McGary should be rounding into form by the time Michigan begins its Big Ten schedule on Jan. 2 at The Barn.

A loss is a loss. With that said, Michigan's young players gained a valuable bit of experience playing against solid competition in a difficult environment. That might not be what Michigan fans want to hear right now, but, as always, it's March that counts, not November.

The first loss is always tough. However, the good thing for this young Michigan squad is that a college basketball season is a marathon, not a sprint.

Shameless Self-Promotion Time: UMass-Lowell

The Wolverines began their regular season at home last night against UMass-Lowell, managing a 69-42 win after being tied at the half. I wrote about it last night at Maize n Brew.

Despite being unable to hit a shot from the perimeter in the first half, Michigan hunkered down with an 18-0 run early in the second to put the game out of reach. Derrick Walton and Zak Irvin continue to impress, although via a small sample size, it does not seem as if Walton is a pure scorer on his own just yet. Of course, with options like Nik Stauskas, Glenn Robinson III and eventually Mitch McGary (not to mention an improved Caris LeVert), Michigan will be okay relying on him as a transition havoc-wreaker and occasional three-point shooter.

Next up for Michigan is South Carolina State on Tuesday at the Crisler Center.

Shameless Self-Promotion Time: Michigan State and Wayne State

Halftime of Bears-Packers is my chance to post my usual reminder that my Monday recap went up at Maize n Brew this morning.

Also, I posted a quick recap just after Michigan's exhibition victory against Wayne State tonight. Michigan wasn't incredibly impressive tonight, but the outcome was never really in doubt; the closest it got in the second half was a 13-point Michigan lead. Nik Stauskas, Caris LeVert and Glenn Robinson III filled it up and the freshmen impressed once again.

Exhibition No. 1: No. 9 Michigan 117, Concordia 44

NB: Just like last season and the season before, most of my basketball writings will go up at Maize n Brew. With that said, I'll still be putting some stuff up here, starting, well, tonight. 
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With Mitch McGary on the bench in street clothes and the Wolverines taking on Concordia, an NAIA squad, in an exhibition contest, the stakes were about as depressed as Eeyore on a bad day.

Then again, it is a sign of the times that someone such as myself, who has always held college football aloft as the apex of amateur athletics, is legitimately excited about such a matchup. The game itself might not have meant anything, but it does mark the beginning of the next installment of the John Beilein era. On the heels of finished runner-up in 2012-13, the Wolverines have several questions to answer before the real question--Can they do it again?--can be addressed in earnest.

The Final Four run has etched itself in the minds of Michigan fans everywhere; once the afterglow of that campaign started to fade, the logical array of questions bubbled to the surface. No Trey Burke? Tim Hardaway Jr.? What about Derrick Walton? Can Mitch McGary, Glenn Robinson III and Caris LeVert take the next step? Can Spike Albrecht run the show full-time? 

And so on. Although the final outcome of these sorts of games is generally immaterial, it is worth watching just to see how various lineup combinations play together, whether the ball is ultimately being scored or not.

Michigan began with a starting five of Albrecht, Robinson III, Jordan Morgan, Jon Horford and Nik Stauskas. At the 16:27 mark, Walton, Max Bielfeldt and LeVert subbed in (Stauskas and Robinson remained in).

It wasn't a particularly great start for Albrecht; he missed an open layup in transition and also turned it over on another possession in which Michigan mostly stood around. He did take a charge down on the block before being subbed out.

Elsewhere, Stauskas started things off with a familiar sight: him driving hard to the rim and going to the line after not quite being able to throw it down. Upon hitting his patented corner three, Stauskas had scored seven of Michigan's first nine points.

Abotu four minutes into Walton's shift, Concordia brought a little full-court pressure. Walton took the ball up the right side, saw two defenders beginning to collapse on him, and left his feet to lob a doomed pass well past No. 21 Zak Irvin. In case you needed reminding, Walton is a true freshman, and he will likely make those sorts of mistakes early on in the season.

Stauskas got into the double-digits in scoring after nailing his second trey of the game, executing a seamless shot fake and one dribble left into an effortless stroke from the the left wing. Level of competition caveats aside, there probably shouldn't be any concerns about the added muscle affecting Stauskas's shot.

Despite not playing a perfectly clean game, the Wolverines jumped out to a 30-9 lead just about 12 minutes into the game, partially aided by nine Concordia turnovers. Stauskas once again put the ball on the floor, taking it from the corner and ripping through challenging defenders into an uncontested layup.

For the sake of history, let it be known that Walton tallied his first points with about 7:12 to go in the half. The freshman buried a three from the left wing, then added two more buckets in the span of about 30 seconds. Shortly thereafter, Walton lasered a no-look pass to a wide open Jordan Morgan under the rim for an easy two and dropped another easy dime to LeVert in transition. After committing a careless turnover earlier, Walton had clearly picked up some confidence during this later stretch in the first half.

Michigan went into the half up 60-19, with an eFG% of 89%. Five Wolverines tallied seven or more points in the first half. Stauskas and LeVert led the way with 12 points apiece. Not that this means anything at all, but Michigan scored at a clip of 1.71 points per possession in the first half (Concordia was at 0.56 PPP).

Also of note, late in the half Beilein rolled out a lineup of LeVert-Stauskas-Morgan-Irvin-GRIII, with LeVert running the point. There have been rumblings about the potential for LeVert to run the show some this season, so perhaps that is the lineup we'll see when he does.

Miscellaneous Minutiae, 10/22/13

Hey, would you look at that, we're just one week away from the start of Michigan basketball. Ah, I remember that Final Four run as if it were yesterday.

• Speaking of basketball, Alex Cook has a breakdown of Michigan's nonconference schedule that's worth a read to get you up to speed. 

• Spencer Hall went to Ole Miss this past weekend. "Ole Miss is never more afraid than when Ole Miss is winning." This sounds oddly familiar. 

• Things are not looking so good for my other school; disillusionment is the word of the day in Evanston. 

• Bucky's 5th Quarter talks about Adam Miller, one of the few positives for the Badgers hockey team this past weekend out east. 

• Aided by teams ahead of them in the rankings losing, Minnesota hockey moves to the top spot in the polls. The Gophers have a big test against Boston College coming up this weekend. BC pasted the Badgers last Friday, 9-2, at Conte Forum. 

• Joel Stave's accuracy continues to be an issue; he badly underthrew a wide open Jared Abbrederis deep on Saturday for what would have been a touchdown. To be fair, it sounded like there was a pretty stiff wind in Memorial Stadium. Also at that link, Chris Borland should be ready to go for UW's next game against Iowa (the Badgers are off this week). 

• In unfortunate injury news, Alabama safety Vinnie Sunseri is out for the season with a torn ACL. 

• The NCAA will announce its ruling on the Miami investigation this morning.