Michigan Basketball Notebook: Beilein Shines In First Tournament Games
Michigan head coach John Beilein isn’t perfect in first round, postseason tournament games, but he’s close.
In fact, Beilein has only lost one — one — first round postseason tournament game in his 10 years at Michigan, an NCAA Tournament setback to Ohio U. in 2011-12 after the Wolverines won a share of their first Big Ten Tournament title since 1986. U-M has won 16 first games in postseason tournament play under Beilein, including a perfect 10-0 in Big Ten Tournament play.
| Year | Opponent | Tournament | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
|
2008 |
Iowa |
Big Ten (9 Seed) |
W, 55-47 |
|
2009 |
Iowa |
Big Ten (7 Seed) |
W, 73-45 |
|
2009 |
Clemson |
NCAA (10 Seed) |
W, 62-59 |
|
2010 |
Iowa |
Big Ten (8 Seed) |
W, 59-52 |
|
2011 |
Illinois |
Big Ten (4 Seed) |
W, 60-55 |
|
2011 |
Tennessee |
NCAA (8 Seed) |
W, 75-45 |
|
2012 |
Minnesota |
Big Ten (2 Seed) |
W, 73-69 OT |
|
2012 |
Ohio U. |
NCAA (4 Seed) |
L, 65-50 |
|
2013 |
Penn State |
Big Ten (5 Seed) |
W, 83-66 |
|
2013 |
South Dakota St. |
NCAA (4 Seed) |
W, 71-56 |
|
2014 |
Illinois |
Big Ten (1 Seed) |
W, 64-63 |
|
2014 |
Wofford |
NCAA (2 Seed) |
W, 57-40 |
|
2015 |
Illinois |
Big Ten (9 Seed) |
W, 73-55 |
|
2016 |
Northwestern |
Big Ten (8 Seed) |
W, 72-70 (OT) |
|
2016 |
Tulsa |
NCAA (11 Seed) |
W, 67-62 |
|
2017 |
Illinois |
Big Ten (8 Seed) |
W, 75-55 |
|
2017 |
Oklahoma State |
NCAA (7 Seed) |
W, 92-91 |
|
TOTAL |
16-1 Overall 10-0 Big Ten 6-1 NCAA |
Today's opponent, Iowa, is a familiar one, both in Big Ten Tournament openers and this season. The two teams have met twice, U-M handling the Hawkeyes easily in both match-ups — however, Iowa can shoot and score. The No. 12 seed Hawkeyes shot 56.3 percent and made eight of 14 triples in a 96-87 victory over No. 13 seed llinois in a Wednesday win.
Iowa put up 93 in a loss to No. 1 seed and Big Ten champion Michigan State earlier this month, but gave up 96. The Illini got a number of open looks Wednesday, too, in making 14 of 29 from three-point range.
“We’ve got to defend better [to win]," Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery said after his team's Wednesday win. "[Michigan] is not an easy team to guard. They share it, they spread you out, they have multiple three-point shooters and multiple drivers ... an incredibly unselfish team."
Michigan senior guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman was one of the heroes in the second meeting, a 74-59 U-M win that followed a 75-68 early January road win in Iowa City. McCaffery said at the time he always thought the U-M senior was a good player in the league, not just this year.
More and more people are realizing it after his 28-point outburst at Maryland last Saturday.
“Nobody talks about him, but he’s one of the best players in our league," McCaffery said. "I thought he was a star this year. But again, they have a lot of weapons .. depth, speed, size. They can go small, play big. Everybody they put out there can score.”
Iowa ended the regular season with six straight losses before beating Northwestern, 77-70, Sunday on its senior day. The Hawkeyes are one of the country's worst defensive teams, checking in below No. 250 in defensive efficiency, but rank in the top 30 in offensive efficiency. Several pundits, including Big Ten Network's Joe Crispin, had them in the top four or five in the league heading into the season.
Anything can happen in tournament play, too. Former Penn State star Crispin, in fact, took down No. 1 seed Michigan State in 2001 with a late triple to beat the Spartans.
Iowa's only shot at the postseason is to win the tournament, and that makes them a bit more dangerous, junior big man Moritz Wagner said.
"It's tough even when you're up 30 [like at Maryland]," he said. "It seems like a lame excuse, but it's hard to play with the same intensity ... but you can't [let up]. Those teams, that’s their only chance to get in the tournament, to win games now, and you've got to be aware of that and play accordingly."
He tells the first-timers like Jordan Poole and Isaiah Livers to simply have fun.
"It will be a great memory as a connected group, so just enjoy it and play with the best effort and it will work out fine," he said. "Just trust what we do as a team, what the coaching staff is giving you."
Today's winner will play No. 4 Nebraska in Friday's quarterfinals at 2:30.
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