Wolverines stunned by Penn State as title chances slip away

Quick Recap: The Wolverines suffered an inexplicable mental collapse in State College, falling 84-78 to Penn State, previously 0-14 in Big Ten play. Michigan led by 66-51 with over 10 minutes to play, but did not convert a field goal in the last 6 minutes and 37 seconds of the game. With the loss, Michigan has fallen out of contention for the Big Ten title, now trailing Indiana by two full games with three to play.

The Defense…Disappeared: Penn State scored 48 points in the 2^nd half of tonight’s game. There is not much that can be said to justify that sort offensive output from the worst team in the Big Ten. This erased much of the progress on defense that was made in the previous matchup against Illinois. The presence of Jordan Morgan back in the starting lineup did not have much of an impact on Michigan’s ability to rebound the basketball or defend the pick-and-roll, as Penn State carved up the Wolverine defense, just like many other teams have in the past seven games.

Moving Forward? This game only illuminated many of the flaws in the Wolverines that seemed to reveal themselves throughout the tough February schedule. Most observers tended to pass off those flaws due to Michigan’s youth and the level of competition Michigan faced going up against the likes of Wisconsin, Michigan State, Ohio State and Indiana all in a two-week stretch. However tonight, it was clear that those flaws still exist. Michigan’s defense is below average. Their crunch time offense is very one-dimensional. The Wolverines rarely open basketball games with energy and urgency. And John Beilein can’t seem to find an on court combination of players that balance good offense and good defense equally.

Big Picture: Michigan can easily erase this mentally debilitating loss by beating Sparty on Sunday. For now though, Michigan has probably slid out of contention for a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament and will now need to fight just to get a first round bye in the Big Ten Tournament. There are still many opportunities for the Wolverines to correct their flaws and end the season on a high note. But they will have to do it against superior competition and can ill-afford any more mental lapses like tonight. We will find out a lot about the character of the players on this team and their coach on Sunday against Michigan State.

Wolverines use energized defense to outlast Illini

Quick Recap: The Michigan Wolverines played their most complete basketball game in what seemed like quite a long time, topping the Fighting Illini by a score of 71-58. Michigan kept pace in a crowding race for second place in the Big Ten, improving to 23-4 on the season and 10-4 in conference play. The Wolverines turned a 31-28 halftime deficit into a blowout in the second half, putting up 43 points while looking like the Wolverines that rose to #1 in the country earlier this season.

Finally….Some Defense: After a lackadaisical defensive performance allowing 71 points to Penn State, following a rough stretch of 4 games where Michigan’s defense was, well, not very good, John Beilein finally found a combination that worked for him on that end of the floor. After starting center Mitch McGary picked up his 3^rd foul early in the 2^nd half, Beilein went back to the veteran Jordan Morgan and Michigan went on a 12-3 run and never looked back. Caris LeVert played the majority of the final 10 minutes of the game in place of Nik Stauskas, whose poor defensive performances of the past month have made him somewhat of a liability when his shots aren’t falling. Sporting the lineup of Burke, LeVert, Hardaway, Robinson and Morgan, the Wolverines put on an absolute clinic on defense, holding Illinois to 18 points over the first 17 minutes of the 2^nd half. Illinois’s 3 starting guards combined for 10 turnovers and Michigan held the hot shooting Illini to 32% from 3-point territory.

Glenn Robinson III is Back: Sure, a modest 10-point and 3 rebound performance is not anything to get overly exited about. But Glenn Robinson appeared as if his energy level has heightened back to the point where it was earlier in the season when his athleticism was such a crucial part of Michigan’s success. Robinson was on the receiving end of 2 dunks, one on a nifty pass from Jordan Morgan, and he took his jump shots with a confidence that was unseen in the past month against the Big Ten’s best. This performance, along with last week’s dunk-fest against Penn State, will hopefully restore Robinson’s confidence back to the point where he’ll be able to make an impact on a bigger stage against better competition.

Trey Burke’s Stats Continue to Impress: Trey Burke, amid all of Michigan’s recent struggles, is quietly amassing performance after performance of unparalleled efficiency. Burke scored 26 points on 8-11 shooting, including 8-10 from the free throw line, to go along with 8 assists and only 1 turnover. This followed a 29-point performance on 16 shots against Penn State. The more Trey Burke impresses, the more Michigan fans realize that they might not see another player like him come along in the next 20 years. I’m not sure if he’ll win national player of the year, but if he continues to operate at this high level of play, he might singlehandedly lead Michigan deep in March and potentially April.

Big Picture: This was a game Michigan absolutely could not afford to lose if they wanted to keep their slim Big Ten title hopes alive. Michigan’s home winning streak is up to 15 and they remain the only in the Big Ten without a loss at home. Positive momentum heading into matchups against Michigan State and Indiana will be crucial. Next matchup is Wednesday at Penn State.

LISTEN LIVE To Mike Lewandowski and Kevin Carpenter call the Michigan Michigan State hockey game live from Yost at 6:35