Tag: Jon Teske

5 takeaways: No. 5 Michigan loses at Illinois

Five takeaways from the No. 5 Wolverines road trip to Illinois as Big Ten Conference play continues for Michigan basketball.

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Michigan traveled to Illinois on Wednesday night for a conference clash in the Big Ten.

The Illini were inches away from knocking off a Top 5 last week, falling on the road to Maryland by a score of 59-58. Illinois was chomping at the bit for another shot at another highly-ranked opponent, as the fifth-ranked Wolverines rode into Champaign.

The went toe-to-toe in the first half, trading blows for 20 minutes. Michigan trailed 30-28 at halftime. But in the second half, Illinois seized control, building a lead as large as 12 points. The Wolverines used a late surge to get back to within four points with two minutes to go, but were unable to complete the comeback, falling by a score of 71-62.

1. POOR HALFCOURT OFFENSE

Illinois, defensively, was determined to play tight on wing shooters like Isaiah Livers and Eli Brooks, and force Zavier Simpson to create his own offense. It proved to be a sound strategy, as Simpson struggled mightily from the floor (4-of-14) and finished with just 9 points. Michigan’s coaching staff didn’t seem to have an answer, as their halfcourt offense looked stagnant throughout the game. The ball stuck in Simpson’s hands too much, and there wasn’t enough movement from the other four players on the court. Simpson did finish with 8 assists against just 1 turnover, but it wasn’t enough. If future opponents employ a similar strategy — playing off Simpson to stay on shooters — against the Wolverines, they’ll need to have a response.

2. BULLIED IN THE PAINT

Michigan struggled with the quickness of Illinois’ guards and the physicality of their bigs throughout the night. Dribble penetration led to buckets for the guards, and offensive rebounds led to more buckets for the bigs. The Wolverines were out-scored 44-26 in the paint. In addition, the Illini protected their rim very well, finishing with 6 blocks as a team.

3. WOLVERINES STRUGGLE ON THE GLASS

The Illini have been an outstanding rebounding team all season, and that continued on Wednesday night. Illinois leads the nation in rebounding margin, entering the game at plus-15.7 per game, and they were right on pace as they out-rebounded the Wolverines by a 44-28 margin. The offensive glass, in particular, is where Illinois did their damage, as they tallied 15 offensive boards while surrendering just 6. Michigan finished the game with zero second-chance points.

4. THREE-POINT SHOOTING VITAL

In Michigan’s only other loss this season, at Louisville, they shot a dismal 16 percent from behind the three-point arc. On Wednesday, it was a strikingly similar showing as the Wolverines were just 3-of-18 from deep to finish at 16.7 percent. It’s clear that the three-point shot is key to Michigan’s success. They can beat anyone in America when it’s falling, but are susceptible against any team when it’s not falling. The Wolverines need to fins other ways to score when their perimeter game is taken away like it was against the Illini and the Cardinals.

5. POOR BENCH PRODUCTION

Michigan has gotten solid production off the bench in recent outtings, but that came to a grinding halt against Illinois. David DeJulius was limited to 7 points on just 3-of-7 shooting, and that was the most the Wolverines got off the bench. Colin Castleton, Brandon Johns Jr. and Adrian Nunez combined for just 2 points on 1-of-4 shooting off the bench. It will be tough to win Big Ten games, particularly on the road, with just 9 bench points on 4-of-11 shooting.

5 takeaways from the Big Ten-opener for No. 4 Michigan

No. 4 Michigan bounced back from their loss to No. 1 Louisville with an impressive 103-91 victory over Iowa to open Big Ten Conference play.

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Hosting Iowa for their Big Ten season-opener, No. 4 Michigan bounced back nicely from their first loss of the season at No. 1 Louisville by defeating the Hawkeyes by the score of 103-91.

The two teams traded blows early in the game, before the Wolverines ended the half with a 7-0 run to take a 50-38 lead into the locker room. In the second half, Iowa got within 78-71 but Michigan’s offense was too much as they pulled away again, improving to 8-1 overall and 1-0 in Big Ten play. The Hawkeyes fall to 6-3 on the season.

Five takeaways from the Wolverines’ victory:

1. BACK TO (SHOOTING) FORM

Michigan had an ugly shooting night against Louisville, finishing at just 26 percent from the floor and 16 percent from three-point range. However, the Wolverines returned to form against Iowa, shooting 32-of-58 from the floor (55 percent) and 10-of-24 from deep (42 percent). It was a welcome sight, and a product of better ball movement and fluidity on offense than Michigan had against the Cardinals.

2. SHARING THE WEALTH

As mentioned above, the Wolverines’ ball movement was noticeably better on Friday night, leading to 21 assists on 32 made shots. As a result, Michigan was able to get several guys going offensively, finishing with an impressive six players scoring in double figures (Franz Wagner, Jon Teske, Zaver Simpson, Isaiah Livers, Eli Brook, Brandon Johns Jr.). The offensive outburst led to the Wolverines scoring their most points in a Big Ten game since 1998, when they scored 112 against Indiana.

3. BATTLE OF THE BIGS

Iowa center Luka Garza, the Big Ten’s leading scorer, had a career-high with 44 points and added 8 rebounds to lead the Hawkeyes. Michigan had no answer defensively for the Iowa big man, and Wolverines center Jon Teske picked up four fouls trying to defend Garza. However, Michigan countered with the combined efforts of Teske (16 points, 5 rebounds), Brandon Johns Jr. (12 points, 8 rebounds) and Austin Davis (8 points, 3 rebounds). The Wolverines will need to tighten up their post defense moving forward, but it was good to see the response from Michigan’s big men on offense.

4. OWNING THE BOARDS

One area that Michigan appeared to struggle in early this season was rebounding, but the Wolverines have seemed to correct that as of late. Michigan held their own on the glass throughout the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament — out-rebounding their opponents by 10 over the course of three games — and that trend continued against the Hawkeyes. The Wolverines won the rebounding battle 38-30 over Iowa. It was a team effort to win on the glass, as five Michigan players finished with five rebounds or more.

5. YOUNG WOLVERINES BREAK OUT

A pair of young Wolverines had their best outings in maize and blue uniforms, as freshman Franz Wagner finished with a career-high 18 points to lead Michigan in scoring. He was aggressive throughout the game and went 9-of-10 from the free throw line. Brandon Johns Jr. also had a career game for the Wolverines, scoring 12 points (career-high) and adding 8 rebounds (tied career high). John Jr.’s minutes off the bench were vital with fellow sophomore Colin Castleton being limited due to a non-serious first half injury, and junior Isaiah Livers struggling with foul trouble.

Halftime Analysis: No. 4 Michigan vs. Iowa

Halftime analysis from Michigan basketball’s Big Ten opener against the Iowa Hawkeyes at the friendly confines of the Crisler Center.

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Coming off its first loss of the season at No. 1 Louisville, the fourth-ranked Michigan Wolverines welcomed Iowa to the Crisler Center.

After facing three straight teams ranked in the Top 10, the unranked Hawkeyes are no slouch for Michigan either. Iowa already has wins over Texas Tech and Syracuse this season.

After trading blows early on, Michigan’s hot shooting eventually allowed them to pull away towards the end of the half. At the break, the Wolverines lead by a score of 50-38.

POSITIVES:

  • After finishing with 9 points, 3 assists and 4 turnovers against the Cardinals, Michigan point guard Zavier Simpson got off to a fast start and looked more like himself in the first half against Iowa. At the break, the senior is already up to 7 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds and a steal. The senior and has 2 turnovers.
  • The Wolverines got off to a great start shooting the ball, which was a welcome sight after they struggled so mightily in that department at Louisville. After opening the game by shooting north of 60 percent from the floor and 50 percent from three-point range, Michigan ended the half 17-of-31 from the floor (55 percent) and 6-of-13 from deep (46 percent).
  • Freshman Franz Wagner was active in first half for Michigan. While he only attempted two shots, making one, Wagner was assertive on offense and got to the free throw line on several occasions, going 6-for-6 from the charity stripe to finish the half with 8 points.
  • Brandon Johns Jr. provided some nice minutes off the bench for the Wolverines. At the break, he’s up to 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting, including 2-of-3 from three-point range. It was perhaps the sophomore’s best half of basketball since donning a Michigan uniform.

NEGATIVES:

  • Iowa’s Luke Garza came into the contest as the Big Ten’s leading scorer at 20 points per game, and third in the conference in rebounding with 10 per game. Michigan did nothing to slow down the Hawkeye center’s fast start to the season, as Garza finished the first half with 27 points on 11-of-19 shooting, and added 4 rebounds. It didn’t matter who coach Juwan Howard had guarding Garza, the Iowa big man had his way.
  • Sophomore Colin Castleton left the game with an injury early in the game after he took an elbow to the mouth from Garza on a rebound attempt. Castleton did return to the game with 2:30 remaining in the half, sporting a cut lip. He went to the free throw line shortly after and converted both of his foul shots.

5 takeaways from No. 4 Michigan at No. 1 Louisville

Five takeaways from No. 4 Michigan’s first true road trip of the season, as they battle No. 1 Louisville in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

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Michigan’s jump from unranked to No. 4 in the Associated Press poll was the largest leap by a team in the 70-year history of the poll. The Wolverines spot in the Top 5 was challenged right away on Tuesday night.

Louisville, hosting Michigan for the ACC/Big Ten challenge, came in as the No. 1 team in the AP Poll. In addition to the challenge of playing the top team in the country, it was also the Wolverines first true road game of the season.

Michigan got off to a dreadful start, missing nine of their first ten shots and finishing the first half on 6-of-30 shooting (20 percent). Louisville led at the break, 28-18.

The Wolverines began the second half with a miniature spurt, cutting their deficit to 30-24, but Louisville responded to stretch the lead back to as many as 16 points.

Michigan was never able to make a run and put a scare in the Cardinals, as they fell by a final score of 58-43.

1. WOLVERINES GO COLD ON OFFENSE

In their win over Gonzaga, Michigan shot 54 percent from the floor and 52 percent from three-point range. In the win over North Carolina, the Wolverines were 50 percent from the floor and 42 percent from three. But against the Cardinals, Michigan struggled mightily from the floor, shooting an ugly 26 percent overall (15-of-58) and just 16 percent from deep (3-of-19).

2. FATIGUE A FACTOR?

The Wolverines played three games in three days in the Bahamas to win the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament. It was an exciting run, but playing three games back-to-back-to-back challenges a team’s stamina, especially this early in the season. Perhaps Michigan hasn’t fully recovered from that run yet. The shooting woes could have been a result of tired legs. Still, give the Cardinals credit for playing very good defense throughout the contest.

3. LIVERS, SIMPSON MUST BE BETTER

Isaiah Livers had a very poor performance, finishing with just 3 points on 1-of-9 shooting. He had 5 rebounds and 2 blocks. Livers’ shooting ability is far superior than what he showed against Louisville, and Michigan struggled to score as a result. Meanwhile, senior point guard Zavier Simpson struggled as well. He finished with 9 points on 4-of-11 shooting, but the bigger issue was that Simpson had only 3 assists against 4 turnovers. Coming into the contest, the senior led the nation in assist percentage. The Wolverines rely on Simpson’s ability to create on offense, but he was contained well by the Cardinals.

4. JON TESKE STAYS CONSISTENT

Jon Teske continues to be very reliable for Michigan. He finished the night with a double-double, scoring 18 points and adding 10 rebounds. Like the rest of his team, Teske did struggle with his shooting however, finishing just 6-of-18 from the floor. Still, the big guy has been a steady presence on the floor all season long. He was the MVP of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, and was really the lone bright spot for the Wolverines in this game.

5. NOT AN UNEXPECTED OUTCOME

It was disappointing to see Michigan shoot as poorly as they did in this game, and the final score is a bit ugly. However, this isn’t an entirely unexpected outcome in this game. Louisville is a really good team that’s already generating Final Four buzz. The Cardinals are the No. 1 team in America for a reason, and this was an extremely tough place for the Wolverines to play their first road game of the season. Michigan’s start to the season remains very impressive, despite this loss, and it’s a defeat that can be used to keep the team motivated to continue improving.

Michigan basketball reacts to jumping to No. 4 from being unranked

What Juwan Howard and a slew of players had to say about going from unranked to No. 4 with the No. 1 Cardinals up next.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. —  It was huge news on Monday, when the Wolverines came in at No. 4 in the latest AP Top 25.

Michigan was previously unranked, but impressed the entire nation by storming into the Bahamas and winning the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament last week, having to go through both the No. 6 North Carolina Tar Heels and No. 8 Gonzaga Bulldogs.

Under the previous regime in Ann Arbor, there’s be little attention paid attention to about the rankings. With Juwan Howard now leading the charge, it’s not that there’s more of a focus on it — but there’s a recognition of the hard work it took to get the nation’s attention.

Still, Howard says, the team has to focus and worry more about taking things one game at a time, because true championships aren’t won in the first month-plus of the season.

“I saw it – my son called me and told me about it,” Howard said. “He was excited as well as surprised, but he also felt that we earned it. I agree with him. At the end of the day it’s early. Championships are not won – yes, we won a championship during Thanksgiving play, but the NCAA Championship in April – you can’t get there yet until you start playing the Big Ten (Conference). We have many of those to try to go out there and achieve.”

The new rankings certainly are resonating in Crisler Center, helping galvanize the team as it prepares to take on the newfound No. 1 in the country on Tuesday night in the Louisville Cardinals.

Michigan is hoping that it can repeat the current trend of taking down, not only a top ten team, but the No. 1 overall squad, as Louisville is the fourth top-rated team in five weeks — with preseason No. 1 MSU losing in the opening contest to Kentucky, Kentucky getting similarly upset to unranked Evansville, and Duke getting surprised by Stephen F. Austin.

But like their head coach, the Wolverines players, while they’re happy to see a number — a high one — next to their name after last week’s accomplishments, they’re aware that it means little if they don’t take care of business moving forward.

“For sure, I would be lying if I didn’t say it was refreshing,” DeJulius said. “It’s really helping us for our confidence. But it’s gonna be the same mindset, same approach that got us here. Just continuing to work hard each and every day in practice, continue to trust each other, have fun together, trust this coaching staff. When you do those things, those are the recipe to win it.”

“It’s big news for us, being unranked and jumping up that high,” senior center Jon Teske added. “But, at the same time, we’re not really worried about that. We were unranked and people weren’t talking about us and we were just doing our job. We gotta come in each and every day with that mentality that, yeah, people are talking about us now. Continue to come in everyday and do our job, and continue to do what we did to get to this point.”

But will they be able to keep the pedal down on the floor, that’s the question?

Howard is sure that his group will remain focused, given how they’ve handled the offseason, the early season, and the success they’ve had to this point.

“I have a very hardworking, humble, driven, focused team that understands what we set out to do,” Howard said. “We’ve always been very – kept everything in house, pride on how we approach things. As a family, we feel we have team goals that we have to achieve. We’re going to keep driving and forging ahead.”

Michigan and Louisville tip-off at 7:30PM at KFC Yum! Center on Tuesday. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.

Five takeaways from Michigan hoops vs. Elon

Five takeaways from Michigan basketball’s win over Elon University in the opening round of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament.

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Michigan hosted Elon University on Friday night in the opening round of the Battle 4 Atlantis college basketball tournament.

After a slow start the game, the Wolverines settled in to cruise to a 70-50 victory to improve to 3-0 on the young season. Juwan Howard is off to a strong start in his first stint as a head coach, though far bigger tests await than Michigan’s opening three games against Appalachian State, Creighton and Elon. The Wolverines will potentially play North Carolina later in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, and have future out of conference games against No. 4 Louisville and No. 14 Oregon coming in December.

Below are five takeaways from Friday’s victory for the Wolverines:

1. RESPONDING TO A SLOW START

Michigan opened the game sluggish and uninterested. Through the first ten minutes of play, the Wolverines shot 3-of-12 from the floor — including 1-of-7 from three-point range — and turned the ball over five times. Michigan finished the first half strong however to take a 31-22 into halftime, and carried that into the second half. The Wolverines finished the game 28-of-58 from the field (48 percent) and had just 5 turnovers in the final 30 minutes of play.

2. TESKE DOMINATES THE PAINT

Jon Teske’s game mirrored the Wolverines’ in that he responded after a slow start of his own. The 7-foot center was easily the biggest guy on the floor Friday night, and started to play like it around the midway mark of the first half. Teske finished with 16 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals to help the Wolverines pull away. The big man also help Michigan dominate the Elon in the paint, as the Wolverines outscored the Pheonix 34-16 down low.

3. DAVID DEJULIUS CONTINUES TO IMPRESS

The Wolverines needed a spark after the slow start on Friday night, and that spark came in the form of sophomore David DeJulius. In the first half, the combo-guard had 8 points and a team-leading 8 rebounds for Michigan despite being the shortest player on the floor for the Wolverines. DeJulius finished with 10 points but did not add to his rebounding total in the second half.

4. SHARE THE WEALTH

Michigan finished the game with four players (Teske, DeJulius, Zavier Simpson, Eli Brooks) scoring in the double digits, and junior Isaiah Livers was close to double figures with 9 points. The Wolverines moved the ball well offensively, and got multiple people involved once they settled into the game. Michigan finished the game with 12 assists — Simpson led the Wolverines with 7 assists.

5. REBOUNDING STILL A CONCERN

Michigan has struggled to rebound in the early goings this season, and that continued to some degree in this contest. The Wolverines out-rebounded Elon 38-31, but edging the oversized Pheonix by only seven is disappointing. This has become a trend for Michigan this season. The Wolverines were out-rebounded 38-27 against Creighton, after giving up an ugly 18 offensive rebounds to the Bluejays earlier this week. Michigan also struggled to out-rebound lowly Appalachian State in the opener (34-33).

Five takeaways from Michigan hoops vs. Creighton

Michigan moved to 2-0 in the Juwan Howard era with a 79-69 win over Creighton on Tuesday night. Five takeaways from the Wolverines win.

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Coming off a season-opening win over Appalachian State last week, Michigan welcomed Creighton to Crisler Arena on Tuesday night for their second consecutive home game to start the year.

After a back-and-forth first half saw the Bluejays take a 41-38 lead into the locker room, the Wolverines responded in the second half, taking the lead and pulling away late for a 79-69 victory. Michigan moves to 2-0 on the year, and will return to game action on Friday against Elon University.

Below are five takeaways from the Wolverines’ win over the Creighton:

1. LIVERS, TESKE LEAD THE WAY

Junior forward Isaiah Livers played phenomenally for the Wolverines, leading the way with 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting. The junior shot well from deep as well, hitting 4-of-7 shots from behind the three-point arc. After a bit of a slow start, senior center Jon Teske had a big second half to finish with 17 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals. The senior center asserted his will in the second half, and was a go-to player on offense as the Wolverines put the game away down the stretch.

2. BLUEJAYS DOMINATE THE GLASS

Creighton had their way on the boards, out-rebounding Michigan by a 38-to-27 margin. The Bluejays hit the offensive glass especially hard, with 18 offensive rebounds leading to 13 second chance points for Creighton. Following the game, head coach Juwan Howard said his Wolverines were out-muscled and out-hustled, particularly in the first half. Michigan will have to do a better job rebounding going forward, especially when Big Ten play begins.

3. SIMPSON RETURNS TO FORM

Zavier Simpson had a tough opener against Appalachian State, finishing with six turnovers and shooting just 2-of-8 from the field. Against Creighton, however, the senior returned to what fans have come to expect of him. Simpson finished with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting. More importantly, the senior finished with 9 assists against 4 turnovers, a much better ratio than he had in the season-opener. The senior will need to continue to cut down on his turnovers — he’s averaging 5 per game so far — but this was a step in the right direction.

4. DAVID DEJULIUS STRONG OFF THE BENCH

Sophomore combo-guard David DeJulius played well off the bench as the Wolverines’ sixth man on Tuesday night. DeJulius had 9 points — including an impressive step-back three-pointer while defended closely — and added 7 rebounds in a gritty performance for the second-year guard. The sophomore went 4-for-4 from the free throw line, and his 28 minutes were the fifth-most for the team.

5. GOOD ADJUSTMENTS FROM HOWARD

Creighton got in the lane via the dribble drive at will in the first half, leading to 24 points in the paint, and several kick-out threes after 20 minutes. However, the Wolverines defended better in the second half, cutting down the Bluejays paint points to 18 in the second half. More impressively, Michigan limited Creighton to just 2-of-7 shooting from the three-point line after the break, after the Bluejays hit five triples in the first half. Head coach Juwan Howard and his coaching staff clearly put an emphasis on shutting down the driving lanes during halftime, and the Wolverines responded well. Michigan held Creighton to just 28 points in the second half.

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