April 5, 2011 - 2:10pm
LiveBlog: Men's Basketball at Indiana
BY GJON JUNCAJ
- Darron Cummings/AP
The Daily is coming at you live from Bloomington, Ind. this New Year's Eve for the Wolverines Big Ten opener against the Hoosiers. Michigan has had a nine-day break since their blowout win against Coppin State, while Indiana will be playing their first game with out their leading scorer Maurice Creek.
Creek was averaging nearly 17 points per game and was on the fast track for a Freshman All-America selection before dislocating his knee cap against Bryant on Dec. 28. With Creek done for the season, the Hoosiers will have to rely on Christian Watford (12.4 ppg, 6 rpg) and Verdell Jones III (11.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 3 apg) to have some monster games at the start of the conference season.
On the other side, Michigan's poor nonconference performance has left practically no margin for error going to Big Ten play if the Wolverines have any hopes of making the NCAA Tournament. Michigan historically struggles mightily at Assembly Hall, but they did steal a win here last year, and the Wolverines (on paper) have the better team.
Keep checking The Game for live updates throughout the early afternoon.
FIRST HALF
20:00 REMAINING, FIRST HALF Your starters for the game are Douglass, Lucas-Perry, Harris, Novak and Sims.
16:10 REMAINING, FIRST HALF Stu Douglass takes an LLP outlet pass and streaks in alone for a two-handed dunk. No one in press row knew he could do that.
MICHIGAN 4, Indiana 2
13:16 REMAINING, FIRST HALF Novak and Douglass hit a combined three triples as the Wolverines grab a quick eight-point lead. All the shots have been relatively open. With the early success, don't expect any two-point shots from Novak and Douglass for the rest of this half.
MICHIGAN 13, Indiana 5
11:46 REMAINING, FIRST HALF Harris picks up his second foul, trying to draw a charge on a Christian Watford attempted layup. Harris hasn't had any luck on offense so far; sitting out the majority of the next 12 minutes won't do him any good either. It's going to be all up to Sims and the three-point shooting to weather this.
MICHIGAN 17, Indiana14
9:49 REMAINING, FIRST HALF Devan Dumes nails a triple from the wing to cut Michigan's lead to one. Both teams' perimeter defense has been very suspect and slow to react all afternoon.
MICHIGAN 21, Indiana 22
5:10 REMAINING, FIRST HALF Watford catches the Wolverines' interior defense napping and takes the bounce pass for the easy lay-in. That's a 15-0 run for the Hoosiers.
MICHIGAN 22, Indiana 29
2:34 REMAINING, FIRST HALF Novak's three-point shot from the wing rims in and out. That's eight consecutive misses from behind the arc. The poor defense on the other end of the court is compounding all the problems the Hoosiers are causing.
MICHIGAN 25, Indiana 31
HALFTIME Indiana's winning this game because of good shot selection (not one of the nien attempted threes was blatantly ill-advised), and also because Michigan's best players (Harris and Sims) aren't playing like their best players. Becuase of two quick fouls, Harris has been limited to 1-4 shooting. It'll be interesting to see if Beilein intends to just play him nearly all of the second half, or sits him for a few minutes at the start to not risk picking up an immediate third foul.
Regarding Sims, he's being doubled-teamed nearly everytime he receives the entry pass in post. Teammates are going to have to start slashing around him to get themselves open, or Sims might have to get super-aggressive and start attacking the baseline. Either way, adjustments need to be made.
Novak and Douglass are 5-10 from behind the arc, but most of that success was before the Hoosier's 13-0 run changed the complexion of the game. The shot selection between the two (for the most part) has been fine. But if Harris and Sims continue to struggle, Novak and Douglass are going to be Michigan's only hopes.
MICHIGAN 28, Indiana 34
16:36 REMAINING, SECOND HALF Harris picks up this third foul and heads to the bench. He'll likely sit out until about the 10-minute mark, barring another big Indiana run.
MICHIGAN 36, Indiana 37
14:50 REMAINING, SECOND HALF Dumes darts his way around Gibson from the perimeter and streaks in for the lay-in. Harris has been put back out on the floor despite his three fouls, and Indiana is already in the bonus. Barring a sudden Wolverine hot streak, Indiana has this game for the taking.
MICHIGAN 36, Indiana 42
11:57 REMAINING, SECOND HALF Morris charges toward the basket on the fast break and draws Indiana's sixth team foul. One more team foul by the Hoosiers and Michigan will be in the bonus shooting free throws as well. It's a one possession game, but it feels like Michigan's down double-digits given the shooting ills.
MICHIGAN 43, Indiana 44
10.5 SECONDS REMAINING Indiana just sunk two free throws to make it a four-point game with eight ticks left. This one is over.
FINAL SCORE: Indiana 71, MICHIGAN 65
