Michigan vs Indiana Basketball Recap

Indiana 71, Michigan 65

 
The Michigan Wolverines played with fire at Assembly Hall for the second time in 2009. This time, they got burned.

Nearly 12 months ago - on January 7 of 2009 - Michigan waltzed into Indiana's home building and drifted through a largely sluggish outing, but a furious late rally enabled Coach John Beilein's team to skate past Tom Crean's crew in overtime, 72-66. But as 2009 came to a close on the very same slab of hardwood, the Hoosiers gained a delicious measure of revenge, while the Maize and Blue continued their baffling basketball ways.

When Indiana lost heralded freshman Maurice Creek to an injury on Monday, Dec. 28, a team that was trying to emerge from the rubble of the ill-fated Kelvin Sampson era was dealt a devastating blow. Creek's team-leading scoring average of 16.4 points per game, plus a scorer's innate willingness to take charge on offense (Creek threw down 31 points against big, bad Kentucky earlier in December), made Indiana an appreciably balanced ballclub at the offensive end of the floor. Teams had to game plan to contain Creek, which in turn allowed IU's supporting cast to thrive. When Main Man Maurice got knocked out for the season earlier in the week, it appeared that Tom Crean would be paddling upstream without a Creek, to put a spin on a familiar phase.

Long story short, Michigan had to love its chances when the Beilein Bunch returned to Indiana's home gymnasium. Instead, the Wolverines were left to lament a familiar litany of problems, while the Hoosiers' rebuilding project gained a crucial dose of forward momentum.

Indiana's six-point home loss to Michigan in January of this year was pleasingly canceled out by a six-point triumph on the final day of 2009. As was the case in the January game, this December duel was defined by the Hoosiers' intensity, which wore down the weak-minded Wolverines.

Michigan forward DeShawn Sims is clearly the most imposing big man on the floor in this matchup, but for the second straight year, Sims faded into the background in Bloomington, Ind. As is normally the case when the Maize and Blue fall apart, Michigan hoisted too many threes - at least when Zack Novak and Stu Douglass weren't taking them. While Novak and Douglass - a pair of Indiana-born boys - hit 8 of 15 treys, the rest of the Wolverines went just 1 of 13 from 3-point range.

The passive play UM displayed on offense carried over to the defensive end of the floor. Michigan allowed Indiana to repeatedly penetrate to the middle of the lane, as the hungrier and hyped-up Hoosiers attacked the rim and then crashed the glass when they missed. Indiana out rebounded Michigan, 31-28, as guards Jeremiah Rivers and Verdell Jones III combined for 17 boards. Sims, Michigan's main man in the middle tallied only 3 rebounds in a lame and limp effort. Loose balls and hustle plays normally cut in Indiana's favor, especially when Rivers was involved. 

The transfer from Georgetown made his famous father; Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers, a proud papa on this afternoon. In addition to his bold boardwork, Rivers broke a 61-all tie with an old-fashioned 3-point play with 1:12 left. By driving to the hoop against Michigan's slow-footed defense, Rivers made the game's most important basket. When the Wolverines missed a series of threes in the final minutes, the Hoosiers were able to put the game away at the foul line, and this time, a superior Indiana effort was rewarded against Michigan.

The Tom Crean project scored a significant scalp, even without Maurice Creek. As for Michigan, a reeling 6-6 ballclub is headed straight for the NIT unless things change very quickly. The School up North is quickly flying south, just one game into the Big Ten season.

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