3-point play: Michigan not making excuses after Louisville loss
Michigan shot just 25.9 percent from the field and 20 percent in the first half, in which they only scored 18 points.
By Ashley Bastock / The Blade
Wed, 04 Dec 2019 16:06:30 GMT
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LOUISVILLE — No. 4 Michigan dropped its first game of the season to No. 1 Louisville on Tuesday night, as cold shooting doomed the Wolverines.
Michigan shot just 25.9 percent from the field and 20 percent in the first half in which they only scored 18 points.
The Cardinals stifled any chance of a Michigan comeback by holding the Wolverines scoreless for minutes at a time down the stretch in the second half. Jon Teske was Michigan’s only scorer in double-figures with 18 points and 10 rebounds in the 58-43 loss.
Here are three takeaways from the game:
1. Michigan wasn’t making excuses
Conventional wisdom suggests Michigan came out slow offensively, because it was gassed after the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas last week. Michigan played three games in three days and took out two top-10 teams in North Carolina and Gonzaga to win the tournament. The Louisville game was Michigan’s fourth in seven days.
But when asked if his team was gassed, coach Juwan Howard simply said, “We don't make excuses, sir. Nope.”
Teske and Isaiah Livers agreed, with Teske pointing out players are used to short turnarounds because of AAU tournaments.
“When you play AAU, you play four or five games, a couple days in a row,” he said. “So how we practice and our offseason training, we've got to get our bodies ready for these types of games and these types of weeks.”
2. Defense wasn’t half bad
Michigan and Louisville were hot-shooting teams coming into this contest. Louisville was shooting 40.8 percent from 3-point territory and 51.9 percent from the field in its previous seven games; but Michigan held the Cardinals to 21.1 percent shooting from 3 and 36.7 percent from the field. Michigan prevented Louisville from scoring in transition, and as Howard said, showed it can close out effectively on the 3-point line against a top-shooting team.
“We made them work for every shot,” Howard said. “They're a very good 3-point shooting team. Tonight, they only made four. We're one of the best defensive teams, too, in college basketball, and tonight proved it.”
3. Don’t panic
Sure, if you watched even five minutes of this game, you know it wasn’t exactly an enjoyable outing, no matter you’re rooting interest.
But this one game doesn’t erase everything Michigan has done up until this point. The Wolverines didn’t knock off two top-10 teams in the Battle 4 Atlantis by accident. In fact, they did so authoritatively, and Teske in particular has proven he has taken his game to a new level under Howard.
Coming out of this loss, Michigan has plenty to work on, including more effectively setting up ball screens and hitting mid-range jumpers. But this one game isn’t the end all, be all of the season. In fact, if Michigan learns the right things from the loss, it could be one of the best things to happen.