Greg Bartram- USA TODAY Sports
For Michigan, a day that could have been one of celebration after becoming the no. 1 team in the country, became a real embarrassment. They lost 56-53 to an Ohio State team that is inferior to them in talent, in a raucus atmosphere in Columbus. The Wolverines did not decide to start playing until midway through the second half, after falling behind 29-8, to start the game.
One of the major factors in why Michigan lost was the poor play of their stars. From the onset of the game, Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr, Glenn Robinson III and Nik Stauskas were horrendous. The only thing that kept them within 20 points in the first half was the play of freshman backup point guard Spike Albrecht.
Burke was pressing from the start. A homecoming that could have been special for the Ohio product was a nightmare. Burke finished with 15 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. However, he was just 4-13 from the field. Ohio State’s Aaron Craft dominated Burke in the first half, before falling in to foul trouble. He often had tunnel vision on offense, missing open teammates and forcing bad shots. Late in the game, Burke had multiple oppurtunities to put Michigan on top, but often settled for bad jumpers, opposed to attacking the defense.
Even worse, however was Nik Stauskas. It should not be surprising that the hot shot freshman played so poorly in his first tough road environment. But the degree of his ineptitude was astounding. Stauskas did not score a single point, going 0-3 from the field, all three point attempts in 23 minutes.
The most disappointing performance for Michigan had to be that of Tim Hardaway Jr. Hardaway has had a tendency to shrink in big games and big moments in his first two years with Michigan. I thought he had moved on from that, this season. I was wrong. Hardaway played scared Sunday, making big mistakes and lacking the poise of a star junior. He too often settled for three point attempts, and when he chose to drive the ball he was not aggressive with it. Hardaway made two big flaws at the end of the first half, when Michigan had a chance to cut the lead under 10 points. First, on a fast break, with a chance to attack the rim and get fouled, Hardaway instead panicked and threw the ball away to an Ohio State defender. The, with 10 seconds remaining, instead of driving against his undersized defender, Craft (who was in foul trouble), Hardaway settled for a lame, off balanced three point attempt that clanked off the rim. Hardaway had a chance to make a statement today, and instead regressed to his prior form.
Defensively, Michigan was atrocious in the first half, before tightening up in the second half. The 2-3 zone seemed to solve some problems for them,as the held Ohio State to just 22 second half points. But, the two elements that hur Michigan was its interior defense and Deshaun Thomas. Ohio State was able to score inside too easily. Whether it was perimeter players driving in to the lane and scoring or Evan Ravenel and Thomas muscling their way inside, it was too easy for Ohio State. Before the game, I said that if Michigan could contain Thomas, they would win. Well, he went off for 20 points, on 8-18 shooting. Thomas was superb, and Michigan had no answers for him.
Despite all of this, Michigan still had a good chance to win the game at the end. They had cut the once 21 point lead down, to a 46-46 tie, with over 5 minutes to go. The Wolverines then proceeded to shoot 6 jump shots in a row, including 5 threes. They made none of them. Meanwhile, Ohio State went back to pounding the ball down-low and pulled away with a 6-0 run that Michigan could never make up. Even at the end, with Michigan down 2 points, Burke settled for an off-balanced three point attempt that bounced out, instead of being aggressive.
It was clear to anyone watching the game that Michigan should stop settling for three pointers, yet they continued to hoist up bad shots. Considering the fact that they came back from a 21 point deficit, losing this game and the opportunity to become the no. 1 team in the country has to sting for Michigan. All they can blame is themselves, however. They played stupid basketball, on the road against a decent Ohio State team and paid for it. That they still had a chance to win at the end, despite all of this, and blew it, which makes this even tougher.
For Michigan, things do not get any easier, as they play no. 8 Minnesota at home on Thursday. They blew their chance at being no. 1, now they must rebound, as the Big Ten schedule will show no pity.
