It’s no secret that Michigan has struggled immensely on offense in its last two games.
The Wolverines shot just 40.7 percent and only posted 54 points in Saturday’s loss at Wisconsin, and then followed that up by shooting a season-worst 33.9 percent in Tuesday’s 59-57 victory over Minnesota.
Both games were unsurprisingly very close, a far cry from the double-digit victories Michigan enjoyed in 15 of its first 17 contests.
Sophomore guard Jordan Poole admitted this afternoon that the recent adversity is needed, however.
“We’re learning from situations we hadn’t been in before,” he explained. “We’d rather have these close games occur now than in March when you’re in a win-or-go-home scenario.”
Junior center Jon Teske echoed Poole’s sentiment to a tee.
“[This recent adversity] is definitely good for us,” he insisted. “A lot of games come down to the last few minutes in a season, and it’s all about how you execute — we didn’t execute late against Wisconsin.
“We’ve learned from these last two games, though, and it’ll help us so much in the future.
“It’s actually been needed, especially with such a young team. Basketball is a long season — Coach [John] Beilein told us we’re at practice No. 70 or so now, so that just goes to show how long we’ve been at it. We’re working toward something big.”
Winning the Big Ten would certainly qualify as ‘something big,’ and coming out victorious at Indiana tomorrow night would be a significant step toward achieving that goal.
Michigan State currently leads the conference at 8-0, but the Wolverines are only a game behind at 7-1.
If the Spartans fall tonight in Iowa City, Michigan will have a chance to tie MSU for the conference lead with a win in Bloomington.
Despite the Hoosiers riding a five-game losing streak, Poole knows it will be incredibly difficult to win at Assembly Hall nonetheless.
“Playing there will be a task,” he insisted. “They’re looking for something to get them going right now, so there’s no doubt they’ll come out with a lot of energy.”
On top of that, the Wolverines — at 18-1 and one of the best teams in the country — have been getting every opponent's best shot.
A win over the Maize and Blue would help turn IU’s season around and get them back on the path toward gaining an eventual berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Poole admitted he’s noticed U-M (and perhaps himself) has a target on its back while playing other teams, and that opponents have since began to guard him differently.
“I’m starting to see defensive schemes change a lot against me,” he noted. “Guys are face guarding me now and not helping off.
“It impacts my shot selection a little bit, but I’m still going to take the same shots I usually do. You notice a difference when opponents try not to let you even touch the ball.
“The same guy on our team isn't going to go for 20 points every night — we have different people step up each game.”
Redshirt junior guard Charles Matthews (13.3 points per game) and freshman forward Ignas Brazdeikis (14.9) have each helped lead U-M’s offense for much of the year, but lately Teske has been picking up the slack (13 or more points in each of the team’s last four games) in the aforementioned duo's struggles.
“Nothing has changed,” he shrugged, referring to his scoring outburst. “I’m just shooting it when I’m open and hitting shots.
“If I don’t have a shot, I’ll pass and create offense for someone else. I’ve just been playing through the flow of the game.”
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