Michigan Avoids Being Stung By Hornets

In a contest that appeared to be a tune-up for the game against the UCLA Bruins on Saturday, the Wolverines had their hands full with the Delaware State Hornets and had to fight to hold on to victory once again, 55-50.

Amaker tells his team to get it together!

Click to enlarge

Sometimes the better team loses…or so the saying goes. While that statement might sound cliché’, it describes what happened last night at Crisler arena. There isn’t any question that the Wolverines were far more talented than the visitors from Delaware were. However, when the final few minutes began to tick off the clock, the Hornets were right within striking distance of Amaker’s bunch. It’s hard to pinpoint what the single overriding factor in Michigan’s poor floor game was. Was it poor shooting (17/44 from the field and 5/20 from behind the arc)? Was it the careless turnovers (16 in all)? Was it the continued struggles of their floor leader Daniel Horton (2/6 from the field, 0/3 from three-point range, 2 assists, 3 turnovers, and 4 fouls)? Were they playing down to the level of their opponent? The truth of the matter is, it’s probably a combination of factors. Whatever the case may be, Coach Amaker readily admitted that his team was extremely fortunate to walk away with the W. “Sometimes you win the games you don't deserve to win,” Amaker said. “I certainly thought Delaware State deserved to win tonight. We were fortunate to come out with a victory. We are disappointed with the way that we played tonight. I have to give Coach (Greg) Jackson and his team credit; they had a tremendous game plan to shorten the game. I thought that we definitely did not deserve to win this game tonight.”

Dion Harris

Click to enlarge

The game started off well enough for the Maize and Blue. Lester Abram picked up right where he left off against Central Michigan, netting the Wolverines first four points. Pretty soon after that, backcourt mate Dion Harris followed him up with two straight threes to put Michigan up 12-4 with 13:40 remaining. The Hornets would get the deficit down to 6 points, but the Wolverines, despite going relatively cold from the field, went on a 16-6 run to close the half. They went into the locker room with a comfortable 30-14 lead. One would think that the letdown against CMU (which allowed the Chips to come back from a huge deficit) would have left Michigan prepared to fend off any such attempts by the Hornets. That, however, did not prove to be the case.

Bernard Robinson Jr.

Click to enlarge

After turning the ball over only six times in the first half, Michigan threw several ill advised passes that resulted in 10 turnovers in the second half. Many of those turnovers led to easy buckets for Delaware State, who upped their shooting percentage form 33% (on 7/21) in the first half to 55% (on 11/20) shooting in the second half. Conversely, Michigan shot the same percentage both halves (about 39%) and hit threes at a far lower rate (4/11 in the first half vs. 1/9 in the second). Luckily, Bernard Robinson Jr. hit 4/5 from the line in the second stanza and Graham Brown asserted himself a bit more in the post (for 6 of his 8 points). The home team was also aided by the awakening of Daniel Horton in the final minutes. After going scoreless the entire game, Horton answered the bell once the Hornets whittled the lead to 3. He drove into the lane and nailed a running rainbow jumper to make the score 47-42 with 4:20 remaining. However Delaware State wouldn’t let up. They had a few opportunities to tie the score late in the game, but they helped Michigan out with mishap after mishap.

• With 1:50 left and down 2 (49-47), DSU’s Aaron Williams missed two free throws and then compounded his gaff by committing a foul at mid-court (UM converted 1/2 free throws).
  
• With 1:30 left and down 3 (50-47), DSU’s Aaron Matthews hit a layup and was fouled in the act of shooting, but he missed the free throw that would have tied the game.
  
• After Daniel Horton hit a huge lay-up to put Michigan up 52-49 with 50 seconds to go, DSU got fouled on offense, but only converted 1/2 from the free throw line. They then inexplicably commited an intentional foul on the man in-bounding the ball. Michigan converted one of the free throws. Michigan retained possession and Daniel Horton iced the game with a couple of free throws after he was fouled.

Lester Abram

Click to enlarge

On the night Michigan was led by Lester Abram (with 12 points and 2 assists), Dion Harris (with 11 points and 2 assists), and Bernard Robinson Jr. (with 10 points and 3 assists). J.C. Mathis spearheaded Michigan’s 37-20 rebounding advantage by pulling down 7 boards. The Hornets were led by 6-7 225 lbs. Jr forward Terrence Hunter who had 22 points (7/10 from the field, 6/6 from the line), 8 rebounds, and 2 steals. For the boxscore, more quotes, and game notes, click the following links: (boxscore, quotes, notes).

The silver lining to the last two games is they were victories. As ugly as they might have been, the still team found a way to win. It’s important not to lose sight of this teams relative youth. They are going to go through some growing pains. That said, Coach Amaker certainly isn’t allowing the victories to obscure the way Michigan has played the last few games. “I am worried about our team,” Amaker said. “We are not a very good basketball team right now. I told that to our kids. The season is a long season and you always have to be honest where your team is at that point and time. At this point and time we set a goal of being 3-0 heading into the holiday break and we did that. We accomplished that goal, but I am not confident that we are a very good team right now."

A lot will be learned about this team this weekend versus the Bruins. Game time is Saturday at 5pm (EST) at Crisler Arena. The contest will be nationally televised by CBS.