Manny Harris Ejection Leads to Blowout Loss at Purdue
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3 CommentsWith Zack Novak suspended for throwing an elbow at the end of the Ohio State game earlier this week, Michigan’s bench was going to have to step it up for an upset to happen today at Purdue. Despite a terrible start that left Michigan scoreless for almost the first seven minutes of the game, the Wolverines only allowed Purdue to score 4 points during that stretch. The tough defense continued throughout the first half and allowed Michigan to keep it close and even take the lead once the offense started to do something. The offense got a spark from bench players, which was why they ended up playing pretty well by the end of the half. Michigan was outscoring Purdue in the bench points category quite a bit, which was exactly what had to happen.
After trading the lead for the final eight or so minutes of the first half, Michigan put together a great finish to go to the locker room with a 1-point advantage. Manny Harris made a tough shot with 24 or so seconds left to make cut the lead down to 1. Michigan then decided to foul Purdue a couple of times on the next possession since they had a few to give. That decision actually led to a turnover on a Purdue inbounds pass, allowing Michigan to take the lead at the buzzer. Harris drove the ball down the floor and missed a shot, but Zack Gibson was there to tip it in just before the buzzer sounded. At the half, Michigan surprisingly led 26-25.
At the 18:28 mark of the second half, Michigan lost this game. The Wolverines led 29-27, but any hopes of winning went out the window when Manny Harris inadvertently elbowed Chris Kramer in the nose. This wasn’t anything like Zack Novak’s elbow in the Ohio State game, which was clearly intentional. Harris simply swung his arms up to put the ball above his head and caught Kramer in the face with his elbow in the process. Cramer was playing close to Harris and probably got his nose broken on the hit. He was bleeding pretty badly and later returned with a mask.
Here’s the problem: The refs decided to eject Harris for the elbow, even though it was clearly not intentional. It didn’t seem like Harris would be ejected until the refs saw that Kramer was bleeding. After that, a flagrant foul was called and Harris was sent to the locker room. This was a ridiculous call simply because Harris didn’t intentionally hit Kramer. I can’t stress that enough. It was an accident.
John Beilein and referee Jim Burr argued over the ejection for a few minutes, but that didn’t change anything. It was obvious that Michigan was going to lose this game, even though they were ahead at the time of Harris’ ejection. Although Harris had only scored 5 point, Michigan couldn’t afford to lose him, especially with depth already being an issue for this game. Besides, without someone like him to drive to the basket and draw fouls, this game quickly got out of hand. The refs were quick to call fouls on Michigan when Purdue drove to the basket, which I’m sure was a result of Harris’ ejection and Beilein arguing with Burr.
After Harris left the game, Michigan was outscored 40-20 and went on to lose 67-49. Michigan was flat and just couldn’t do anything. Shots weren’t falling for Michigan, and Purdue was making their shots and getting to the free throw line. Add that to the fact that Michigan didn’t have someone like Harris to lead a comeback when the lead hit double digits and this turned into a blowout.
Michigan is now 4-6 in the Big Ten and 14-8 overall. Penn State comes to Crisler Arena on Thursday for the second meeting between the Nittany Lions and Wolverines this season. The first one was a blowout for Penn State, so hopefully things go better for Michigan this time around. Then, a week from today, Michigan heads east to play at Connecticut. The Huskies may be ranked #1 when this game happens, so it certainly has the makings of an ugly day for Michigan.
I’m not going to completely write off the season just yet, but it would take a miracle for Michigan to make the Big Dance now. They have a very tough schedule the rest of the way, and they just aren’t playing well. Although expectations rose greatly after the UCLA and Duke wins, this is more like the team most expected before the season. All it took was Big Ten play to make us all realize that.
“Jim Beilein and referee Jim Burr argued over the ejection for a few minutes, but that didn’t change anything.”
That would be John, honest mistake though
Whoops, thanks for pointing that out. I was thinking Jim because of Jim Burr.
ESPN Game Day was almost in complete agreement that a flagrant personal foul should have been called.
For those not aware of the specific rules (I wasn’t until today), Rule 10 (e) 2 (a) states that: “Any flagrant personal foul shall result in ejection of the offender”. Manny was ejected because it was ruled a flagrant foul. Once that was decided, his ejection was automatic.
Another thing to consider is that Manny was not going to get the benefit of the doubt considering the Novak incident and the krabbnoft (sp?) incident last week. krabbnoft threw an elbow while setting a screen. IMO, that was a very dirty play, similar to Novak’s elbow. (Krabbnoft basically threw a punch with his elbow while setting the screen.)
My point is that throwing elbows was something the refs had on their mind before the game and any close calls would lead to an ejection, unless it involved puke, of course! lol