Thoughts on a 81-73 win against the Wolverines:
There were Michigan runs to keep it interesting, some sloppy missteps by Indiana, but the fact was this: The Hoosiers owned this game. They owned it because they were at home, and when you come at the king on Branch McCracken Court, you best not miss. They owned it because they never trailed. They owned it because Christian Watford and Cody Zeller, who have been labeled soft, played so big and so strong, overpowering Mitch McGary and the rest of Michigan’s frontline.
Zeller had three putbacks dunks; his array of post and offensive moves were in full effect. He chased down a loose rebound all the way out to the perimeter late in the game to keep the possession with Indiana and further seal the victory. He finished the night with 19 points on 10 shots and 10 rebounds. This is not the time or place to go the rabbit hole about Zeller’s declining draft stock or the criticism he’s taken of late or whether he’s better or more important to this team than Victor Oladipo, but this is the time and place to say there was clearly more fire in his humble spirit tonight and Indiana needs it the rest of the season. Watford looked more confident and coherent around the rim and quietly put up a great night: 14 points, 10 rebounds.
Yogi Ferrell further cemented himself as an emerging defense rock, doing great work on Trey Burke. When he went out with his second foul in the first half, the frustration he showed when he took a seat on the bench showed how much he was looking forward to this matchup, how much he wanted to be out there sliding and shuffling and keeping Burke from turning the corner and getting into the lane after the high ball screen. Speaking of Burke, Michigan’s offensive second half mostly lacked him getting into the lane and creating easy looks for his teammates. Burke would get his buckets and looked filthy on a couple of stepbacks and treys. But he was also nowhere near his hyper-efficient self tonight: He needed 24 shots to score 25 points. It was a collective effort at times with Oladipo, Ferrell, Will Sheehey and Christian Watford seeing some time on him.
And there was Jeremy Hollowell, in maybe his best performance of the season. Hollowell aided in Indiana’s defensive effort, recording three blocks. He would also score four points in 10 minutes of action. Michigan would try to get back into this late off the strength of some quick 3-pointers, but Indiana would continue to hit free throws down the stretch and have now had back-to-back strong performances at the line dating back to the Purdue win on Wednesday. It hit 22-of-25 including an 8-of-8 performance from Ferrell. (Michigan shot only seven.) This is an encouraging sign as the Big Ten schedule continues to give Indiana challenge after challenge.
Defense earns Indiana win over No. 1 Michigan
While it will go down as an upset by the rankings, these are the kinds of games the Hoosiers are expected to win these days. That’s a credit to Tom Crean, who has rebuilt this thing from nothing.
No. 3 Indiana 81, No. 1 Michigan 73.
“Indiana is a heck of a team,” star Michigan guard Trey Burke said. “I’m glad we got an opportunity to play them tonight.”
I’ve been critical of Crean in the past for his occasional failure to make adjustments (See: Wisconsin), but he came up with a masterful game plan against the Wolverines. He figured Burke would get his, but Crean devised a defensive game plan to keep any other player from going off.
The Hoosiers almost completely took freshmen Nik Stauskas and Glenn Robinson III out of the game, holding them to a combined 12 points on 4-of-16 shooting.
“They were locking down on Glenn and Nik, not letting them get the ball, and then putting good pressure on us,” said Michigan coach John Beilein.
Added Burke: ”They kind of made us win the game just from the point guard and the center position. Indiana did a good job of denying them. It was tough getting them the ball.”
This is not the same team that so often won games because of its ability to outscore teams. With Victor Oladipo and Yogi Ferrell leading the charge, this Indiana team now prides itself on its defense.
When shots stopped falling as they occasionally did Saturday night, the Hoosiers’ defense kept a Michigan team full of offensive firepower from claiming the lead.
“We felt that the Indiana defense they saw last year was what they remembered,” Crean said, “and we wanted to give them something different because we did not guard them as well as we should have a year ago. We really wanted to prove to ourselves tonight that we were a much better defensive team against a team that’s that good.”
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