Wednesday Quick Hits: Penn State Destroys Michigan 73-58
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Leave a Comment- Michigan’s hopes of making the NCAA tournament are quickly fading, as the Wolverines lost their third straight game last night. Penn State beat Michigan 73-58 in what was yet another pathetic performance on the road. Michigan again struggled shooting the ball, especially from behind the arc. Out of 30 attempts, Michigan made only 5 three-pointers. That alone should sum up how bad this game went, but it really doesn’t. What does is this stat: Penn State shot 58% from the field (and 52.9% from three-point land). Michigan’s defense was nearly as bad as its offense, making for a game that quickly became a blowout in the second half.
- At this point, it doesn’t look like Michigan is going to make the NCAA tournament unless they have a drastic turnaround in the immediate future. I don’t know what has happened to them, but this is not the same team that beat Duke and UCLA. I guess there’s always the risk of falling apart when a team relies on the three-pointer so much, but Michigan’s poor shooting is only one of the many problems with this team.
The lack of an inside presence, for example, is right at the top of the list of problems right now. Although DeShawn Sims had a good night with 19 points and 10 rebounds, Penn State absolutely killed Michigan in the paint, which opened up their outside game in the second half. I guess this was to be expected with a four-guard lineup, but Michigan was able to make it work up until the last few games.
- Like Sims against Illinois and Ohio State, Manny Harris disappeared last night, scoring only 6 points and going 2-10 from the field. He missed all five of his three-point attempts and had only 4 rebounds.
- Laval Lucas-Perry and Zack Novak also struggled from three-point land. Lucas-Perry missed all 6 of his three-point attempts and Novak missed all 3. The two each scored 6 points and went a combined 3-12 from the field.
- Stu Douglass scored 9 points and made 3 of his 8 three-pointers. He didn’t play great, but this was his second decent game in a row.
- Jevohn Shepherd actually played for a change and made a couple of plays in the first half that kept Michigan hanging around at the time. He made a basket and was fouled, but missed the free throw. Shortly after, he made a ridiculous move and somehow got to the basket off his pivot foot to score. Those two baskets were the only ones he made, though.
- There was also an Anthony Wright sighting in the final minute or so. Wright took one three-pointer and missed it.
- Michigan returns to Crisler Arena on Saturday to host Northwestern. This game is absolutely a must-win if Michigan wants to keep their NCAA tournament hopes alive. A loss would not only hurt their tournament resume, but it would likely commence an end of season collapse.
Following the Northwestern game, Michigan’s schedule looks like this: at Ohio State, at Purdue, vs. Penn State, at Connecticut, vs. Michigan State, at Northwestern, vs. Minnesota, at Iowa, vs. Purdue, at Wisconsin, and at Minnesota. There aren’t a whole lot of games that seem winnable right now, so like I said earlier, Michigan better get things turned around ASAP. Saturday’s game starts at 8 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
- Courtney Sims, a former Michigan center, was signed to a 10-day contract by the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday.
- Michigan’s softball team is ranked 8th in a preseason poll.
- Former Michigan football player James Whitley was charged with rape on Tuesday.
- Michigan graduate Stephen Ross is now the owner of the Miami Dolphins.
- Jake Long is now a Pro-Bowler.
- It seems all of the Jon Gruden to Notre Dame rumors didn’t originate from South Bend. Notre Dame’s director of football media relations actually released a statement about the rumors and called them “ridiculous.” He said that the rumors are trying to sabotage Notre Dame’s recruiting efforts, as the speculation is that Charlie Weis would be fired and replaced with Gruden after signing day.
I’m all for sabotaging Notre Dame’s recruiting efforts, and there does seem to be an awful lot of smoke out there. However, it doesn’t seem like these rumors are accurate now that a statement has been released. Obviously the statement could just be part of the charade until signing day, but if that were the case, Notre Dame would have a big image problem to worry about in the future. I just don’t see them making such a concrete statement if there is any chance it could be false.
- All of the local shows on WDFN were cut yesterday and replaced with Fox Sports Radio.
