8A - Wednesday, December 10, 2014
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The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Wolverines slowed on
offense, fall to Eagles
JAMES COLLER/Daily
Sphomore forward Zak Irvin couldn't connect from long range in the final seconds to send the game to overtime.
doomedyshooting
O~me S00 l9
By LEV FACHER almost entirely to Eastern
Daily SportsoEditor Michigan's defense.
"That was as good a zone
In theory, at least, it's Jim defense as I've ever seen at any
BoeheimandtheSyracuseOrange time, anywhere," Beilein said.
who know how to run a 2-3 zone. "That was as quick a zone defense
In practice, it's Rob Murphy's as I've ever seen at any time,
Eastern Michigan squad, which anywhere."
held Michigan to just 21 first-half The Eagles' defensive
points in a historic 45-42 loss quickness deprived the Wolverine
Tuesday night at Crisler Center. offense of several of its staples.
The Wolverinesfoughtthrough Michigan's resident sharpshooter
the Syracuse zone en route to a - sophomore forward Zak Irvin
68-65 win Dec. 2, but were sur- -had a3-pointerblockedminutes
piisingly unable to crack Eastern into the game and airballed a
Michigan's defensive alignment, second soon after.
ledl by Murphy, a Syracuse assis- Junior guard Caris LeVert, who
tant under Boeheim from 2004- dropped 32 points against New
11. When they did crack the zone, Jersey Institute of Technology on
it made little difference - Michi- Saturday, missed the rim entirely
gan struggled on the few open on a 3-point attempt minutes
looks it found and went a com- later, and Albrecht found onlythe
bined 14-for-43 from the field. back rim on a deep trey attempt of
"You're always going to have his own soon after. Collectively,
'nights when shots aren't falling," the Wolverines made just four of
said junior guard Spike Albrecht. 21 attempts from beyond the arc.
"That's when you find out how "We didn't get open shots,"
good you really are." Beilein said. "If you're missing a
IfAlbrechttooktheWolverines' lot of open shots, you might have
shooting performance as an a confidence issue. We didn't get
answer, it wasn't a happy one. In many open shots."
the first frame, Michigan went Having watched Michigan suc-
1-for-10 from 3-point range and cessfully navigate the Syracuse
stumbled through a field-goal zone just seven days prior to his
drought of14 minutes, 53 seconds. team's historic win, Murphy and
Michigan coach John Beilein his staff had a chance to review
credited the offensive struggles game tape that revealed how the
Wolverines might attack the'-3.
"We play our zones very simi-
lar, if not the same," Murphy said.
"We knew the actions they would
run, but in saying that, you still
have to guard it."
The defeat marked Michigan's
second straight home loss to an
unranked opponent from a non-
power conference. But Beilein's
reasons for each loss differed.
"One of the ways (NJIT) beat
us was that we didn't have that
same hustle, that same type of
intensity that we need," Beilein
said. "This was an intense game.
Our guys really worked hard."
Reboundingtoo, distinguished
the Wolverines' markedly
different attempts at beating the
2-3 from one another.
"Who would think that we
would get 17 offensive rebounds
against Syracuse," Beilein
asked, "and two against Eastern
Michigan?"
In the end, the Eagles proved
it was their athleticism - not they
name on their jersey and longtime
status as a second-class school
within Washtenaw County - that
mattered to the Wolverines
"Because it's a local team,
they're really down," Beilein said
of his squad's postgame mood.
"We can't stay down. We've just
got to move forward."
After losing to
NJIT, Wolverines
suffer second upset
By DANIEL FELDMAN
Daily Sports Writer
If you were looking for the
Michigan men's basketball
team to bounce back against
Eastern Michigan with a
dominant
showing, E. MICHIGAN 45
you MICHIGAN 42
would've
been sorely disappointed.
But unlike against
New Jersey Institute of
Technology on Saturday, it
wasn't hot shooting from the
Wolverines' opponent that
would keep Michigan from
pulling away. It was simply
that Michigan couldn't make
a shot when it mattered, and
Eastern Michigan did, even
though .its shooting wasn't
much better.
Both teams shot 32.6 percent
in the game, and Eastern
Michigan (8-1) pulled out the
45-42 victory over Michigan,
defeating the Wolverines, for
the first time since Dec. 17,
1997.
"The intensity was there
from our side," said sophomore
guard Derrick Walton Jr. "It's
a little different from the last
loss (against NJIT) when the
team just hit tough shots.
When we don't shoot the ball
as we're accustomed to, you
try to get it going in other
areas. It's tough. It was just a
tough night. It was hard to get
it going today."
Despite shooting just 6-for-
25 in the first half, Mi
(6-3) entered the secon
up by two, simply becau
Eagles shot even more
- 5-for-19.
The theme would hol
to the end, as Michigan
be down three with 42 s
left following an E
Michigan turnover i
backcourt. With a fres
clock, Michigan had its
of shots, and it went to
guard Caris LeVert 1
the 3-point line. But j
Michigan had so many
it missed.
Michigan would
another chance in thev
seconds of the game, af
Eagles missed the froi
of a one-and-one, but ti
got loose near
midcourt,
ultimately
rolling into "
the backcourt
where senior gel
forward Max
Bielfeldt
picked it up
and called ma]
timeout.
With 2.4
seconds left,
sophomore
guard Zak
Irvin would
force up a heave fron
midcourt, but again, ti
found no twine.
Going against anoth
zone defense, though q
than Syracuse's from las
Michigan struggled o
offensive end. After rec
17 offensive reboundsa
the Orange, Michigan
just two on Tuesday, at
outrebounded, 36-27.
chigan "When we did get open
d half shots, which was rarely, we
ise the didn't make enough of those,"
poorly said Michigan coach John
Beilein. "And we had some
Id true costly turnovers that are
would uncharacteristic, but it had a
econds lot to do with their quickness
astern and their style of defense."
n the With a first-half field-goal
h shot drought that lasted 13:43,
option nothing seemed to go right for
junior Michigan on Tuesday night.
behind Besides Walton's nine first-
ust as half points, there truly wasn't
time another siginicant positive
statistic for the Wolverines.
have With the rest of the team
waning contributing just 12 points in
ter the the stanza, the Wolverines
nt end would need late-game stops
he ball and clutch baskets to have a
chance.
But with
Irvin and
1hen we did Leertj
tallying just
open shots 10 points a
piece, the
. we didn't Wolverines
came out
le enough of short once
7 again,
those." snapping
their Big
Ten leading
59-game
streak
n near without losing back-to-back
he ball games.
Despite the loss, though,
er 2-3 Beilein still believes the season
quicker is young, even with No. 3
t week, Arizona nex on deck.
n the "This is the way it is all year
ording long," Beilein said. "So there's
against no panic button.
n had "It is December 8 -
nd was December 9 - and it is a long
way."
4
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A SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR
WONDERFUL SENIORS FOR ALL
THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS THIS YEAR
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