Lost in the fact that Michigan bigs Jon Teske and Isaiah Livers only played four minutes total in the first half of Friday’s loss at Iowa was that forward Ignas Brazdeikis played much of the stanza with two fouls himself.
Brazdeikis, one of the few Wolverines making shots in the first half of a 72-59 defeat, was one of the bright spots in the early going at Iowa City. Redshirt junior wing Charles Matthews struggled to a 2-for-12 shooting performance and sophomore shooting guard Jordan Poole only made three of nine from long range.
“Iowa was not a good game,” head coach John Beilein said. “It was probably our worst performance of the year … certainlyour worst of the year, and probably our worst defensive performance in over a year.
“Nebraska at Nebraska [last year] was very similar. I think we were down 13 points at half. Iowa has done it several times over our visits there, and they did it again … we made so many defensive mistakes, it just did not bode well. Offensively we were as inept as we’ve been a couple other times this year, so we have to find better ways to get better shots, and we’ve got to make shots, too.”
The Wolverines had a number of good looks inside and out that didn’t fall, but they also took too many shots from NBA range when they could have stepped in a few feet. Poole, Beilein noted, is 33 percent from NBA range and 45 percent at the collegiate line.
U-M assistant DeAndre Haynes is literally pushing him toward the line in practice when he sets up too deep.
Foul trouble Friday night, meanwhile, prevented the Wolverines from ever getting into a rhythm.
“We had six minutes with our starting lineup on the floor, self-inflicted,” Beilein said. “Six minutes. That’s tough for us to win.
“We played Iggy with two fouls because we felt the game could get away from us, and our issue … that’s not the issue. The issue was the way we got those two fouls. Jordan Poole and Isaiah had really poor fouls to start the game. We fouled them, and I say on the [white] board every day, ‘avoid bad fouls.’ We went out and here’s bad fouls; ‘I‘m going to make a bad foul.’
“If it’s close, you don’t go there [and play a guy with two in the first half]. How’d it work out for Romeo Langford when we played there?”
Langford picked up his third foul in the first half and sat much of the rest of the game. The Wolverines ran the Hoosiers out of the gym in a 23-point win.
“You can’t trust your player because he’s playing, and you can’t trust the officials, because sometimes it’s just going to be a 50-50 call,” Beilein said. “You just can’t trust it, to not have them out there the whole time. You’d have no chance.
“And don’t think the other coach [doesn’t know] he’s in foul trouble; says, ‘I’m driving at him. Our guy says, ‘okay, I’m not playing.’ He’s not going to play any defense with two fouls on him, so what’s the point?”
Flat out, Beilein said, they just need to get more from other people when guys are in foul trouble.
“Let’s just say the bench did not play well,” he said. “The bench needs to play well, and it did not.”
NOTES
• Rutgers, Tuesday night’s opponent, is now 11-10 and 4-7 in the conference after falling 76-62 at Ohio State. The Scarlet Knights have steadily improved.
“They hang their hat on defense. It’s going to be really hard to score,” Beilein said. “Each time we’ve gone to Rutgers, we were fortunate to win, but every game is gut wrenching, down to the last second where the ball bounced our way and we won. It’s going to be very similar to that; we’ve got to do best we can.
“The one constant they’ve had all three seasons is defense. They also ended Ohio State’s season two years ago, as well. They just have a defensive presence, bodies, rebounding. It takes time to grow that, grow your culture. You’ve got to have some breaks, and they’ve lost a lot of close games over the years, as well.”
Michigan will be favored, but Beilein knows it won’t be easy. Michigan State lost at home to Indiana, and N.C. State scored 24 points in a loss to Virginia Tech Saturday.
Beilein’s lowest output in a win was 2001 when his Richmond team beat UNC-Wilmington, 41-37.
“You look at scores in the Big Ten and around the country. Crazy things happen this time of year, so you have to plow through them, look at the future and try to get better,” Beilein said.
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