GAME SUMMARY: Well, the last game I live-blogged, Michigan lost an awful game to Minnesota at home. The team has come a shockingly long way since then, but still has a VERY long way to go, and not just in talent level. Manny Harris is a talented offensive player but needs to improve his decision-making--however, he IS a freshman, so these things are somewhat to be expected. Somewhat. Michigan's gotten a lot better at just about everything except shooting, and it's paid off as they've won 4 of their last 5 after losing 9 of their first 10. People are starting to show up at the games--and yes, not just the seemingly unavoidable opposing student section--and I think Michigan's generating at least a small amount of optimism for the future. Beilein has to be happy with the contributions from C. J. Lee, who started this year as Michigan's 18th string guard, and Ekpe Udoh got more blocks than I think I've seen anyone get in a game. Grady was also clutch down the stretch, and that's a happy development. All in all, a tough game to watch most of the way, and incredibly angering toward the end. (I love ya, #3, but...wow.) And in the very end, another solid win.
6:00 -- Great block by Udoh, Michigan grabs the ball, and C. J. Lee makes the wise decision not to go for the fast-break and just slow down. The clock runs down.....
5:59 -- Okay, no harm done, I guess. Michigan gets a 6-point lead back as Udoh hits 1 of 2 FTs.
5:57 -- Grady, who has been great today and has 12 points, hits two clutch FTs to restore Michigan to a 5-point lead. Whew.
5:55 -- Manny Harris gets the outlet pass, then notices there's a three-on-two and tries to go coast-to-coast. Two misses, Illinois gets it back, then hits a three plus a foul. Terrible, terrible decisions. I'm incredibly bitter about that. And Brock mercifully misses the FT. 46-43, U-M.
5:54 -- Illinois puts Manny Harris on the line, which pays off...he only hits one, uncharacteristically. 46-40 Blue.
5:52 -- Sims not having a good game, but he gets his 6th and 7th points on free throws to give Michigan a 7-point lead.
5:50 -- Meacham takes a shot while Illinois gets called for the foul in a scrum. "He thinks he's in East Lansing." Why, because it's such a painful place to be? I get it.
5:49 -- Illinois commits the offensive foul away from the ball. The announcer mentions that Illinois has scored 3 points in the last 11 minutes--all free throws. Incredible.
5:48 -- Now after a missed Meacham free throw--definitely a gift--Harris drives and draws the foul. That was key. He makes both to put Michigan up by 5, 43-38.
5:47 -- Harris makes another spectacular move to score, 41-37.
5:43 -- Clutch jumper by Grady to break the deadlock. 39-37.
5:41 -- Michigan continues to play good defense in the post, but Manny Harris continues to make poor decisions.
5:39 -- One of the announcers mentions that Michigan has 11 offensive rebounds. Craziness.
5:38 -- Manny Harris hits a ridiculous runner to give M the 2-point lead!
5:35 -- Sims wastes the possession with a crazy shot right off the inbounds pass.
5:34 -- Anthony Wright, great hustle play to get another possession somehow!
5:31 -- Another turnover by Harris. *sigh*
5:30 -- Lee draws ANOTHER offensive foul. He's stepping up on defense.
5:29 -- Good dish from Harris to Sims on the fast break for the first points since I last posted...seriously. Tie game at 35!
5:20 -- Illinois's defense has really stepped up in the second half, but so has Michigan's. Both are now creating turnovers rather than lucking into them through bad offense. 35-33 Illinois.
5:19 -- GIBSON! A spectacular rebound and putback...Illinois leads by 2.
5:16 -- Grady hits a J to stop a small Illinois push, after a good defensive play by M. Illini by 2.
5:13 -- Jalen Rose has been fighting to get the Fab Five back to Michigan; good for him! He's here on behalf of the Jalen Rose Foundation, by the way, and does a lot of charity work.
5:10 -- Harris nails the three to tie!
5:09 -- Good ball movement and Ekpe Udoh...hits a three? Nope, a long two. Wow. Illini by 3.
5:07 -- Michigan loses another perimeter shooter and they capitalize. Illini by 3.
5:06 -- Harris draws the foul and hits Michigan's first two free throws of the game. Wow.
5:05 -- Very good defense by Michigan starting out, with a turnover and a severely harried shot.
HALFTIME UPDATE: I'm reconsidering my earlier statement. Illinois's defense has been good, but nothing special. Michigan isn't hitting shots and is committing bad turnovers, especially Manny Harris. That's starting to worry me. Michigan's defense, except for the holes I mentioned earlier, has been good; Udoh's gotten an absurd number of blocks--it's no fluke that he leads the Big Ten--and we've apparently, according to the halftime guys, held Illinois to about 2/3 of their average points at the half. Huh.
HALFTIME: Well, Michigan started very strong, on the whole. They were running the offense and passing and rebounding well. They then reverted to their old ways, committing turnovers and taking bad shots. Their defense seems extremely vulnerable to dribble penetration and three-point shots, probably because of their lack of perimeter athleticism and numbers; not much can be done about that. The Blue will have to continue to rebound well, because Illinois's defense is much better than Michigan's. Ugly first half by the way; neither team shot better than 40%. "Not exactly a scoring explosion," says the BTN halftime guy. They're on pace to score 92. Combined.
4:48 -- Dang. Illinois responds with a drive-and-kick for a wide-open three. We'll go to the half with Illinois up 2, 24-22.
4:47 -- OHHH!!! DeShawn Sims hits the three at the shot-clock buzzer!
4:44 -- Meacham makes an amazing shot, then Wright puts another three in and out. Illinois's up by 2.
4:40 -- C. J. Lee draws the offensive foul! He's playing well today.
4:39 -- FOURTH block of the day for Udoh; he's producing so many blocks that pretty soon the Democrats will have to tax him.
4:38 -- It was a good thought, but Harris's pass turns into a turnover. Tie game at 19.
4:35 -- Oh MY goodness! Jevohn Shepherd with the ridiculous rebound put-back and one. But he missed the free throw: 19-17.
4:31 -- Turnover by Illinois, but before that Frasier hit a long, long three and Meacham hit a fast-break 1-on-2 lay-up. It's tied at 17.
4:29 -- GREAT hustle play, then great pass from Harris to Udoh for the assist! 17-12 Michigan.
4:28 -- Wright nails the three to take the lead!
4:27 -- Coast to coast for Manny Harris! That was fantastic! 12-12.
4:25 -- Great defense...until allowing a bad, easy lay-up for Tisdale. Then a turnover by Mich. 12-10 bad guys.
4:21 -- Michigan succumbs to a bad inbounds pass allowed, but Illinois misses the and-one. Tie game. Uuugly.
4:18 -- "Move over and let the BIG dog eat!" That's NEVER going to get less annoying.
4:14 -- ANOTHER THREE FROM GRADY! And a nice pass to him from Sims. A bad start on both ends turns around...on both ends! Michigan, 10-6.
4:13 -- DEEP three from Grady! And a beautiful block by Udoh before that. *contentment* 7-6 good guys.
4:11 -- Beautiful shot by Udoh after another Illinois three. 6-4.
4:10 -- CLANG. Bad-looking three from Sims. 3-2 Illini.
4:09 -- Harris botches a three badly, then gets a beautiful feed from Wright. Illinois responds with a three--typical.
4:08 -- Illinois wins the tip. Illinois misses a contested lay-up, then out of bounds to Michigan.
4:06 -- Another large-ish crowd, by the way, because Jalen Rose is in attendance. Some students are wearing "Jalen" T-shirts. I like this.
4:03 -- Michigan starts Wright at the 4 rather than DeShawn. Interesting. Otherwise, Grady at 1, Coleman at 2 (he hasn't been playing well lately), Harris at 3, and Udoh at 5.
Some pre-game notes: We've been playing relatively well lately, just didn't shoot well at Minnesota. Manny needs to work on this whole trying-to-drive-against-the-whole-other-team thing, because he had a bunch of turnovers against the Gophers, and C. J. Lee is going to have to step up, as Michigan is basically down to three guards. Illinois's Brian Randle is out, so that might give Michigan an advantage. Winnable game for us, so, geez...we'd better win. Because those only come around so often...
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