LIVE: Michigan vs. Maryland
By Andy Reid, written on Dec. 3, 2008
We have a Daily writer (Jason Kohler, check for his datelined cover in tomorrow’s edition) at the game, but he’s too busy to blog, so we’re bringing you this blog live from the B-DUBs on S. State Street. The energy is pretty high here, which I didn’t expect. With the Wolverines fast start — including an upset over then-No. 4 UCLA — people are generally excited for Michigan basketball for the first time in a long time.
Junior DeShawn Sims started the game — I called for that in a column earlier this week. No big deal or anything.
FIRST HALF
16:50 — Stu Douglass just hit a big 3-pointer to put Michigan up 5-4. The teams look really evenly matched so far, which is a good sign for the future; Maryland beat Michigan State by 18 earlier this season.
15:28 — Harris just slashed into the lane for an easy layup. Going into the first media timeout, Michigan’s up by one, 7-6. If I had one criticism about the Wolverines the season, it would be slow starts — they’ve come out sluggishly in their last five games. But this game is different (possibly because of Sims’s presence?). Good sign for Blue.
14:33 — BDUBs is going nuts for Michigan basketball right now. DeShawn Sims just hit a clutch 3-pointer to put Michigan upt 10-6, and the whole place started cheering. I’m looking around and everyone’s eyes are glued to the TV tuned into this game. It’s really refreshing to see people pumped about this team.
13:01 — Maryland retook the lead with a 3, but Sims responded with a commanding slam-dunk that quieted the Maryland crowd. He’s really having a strong game so far; he’s the reason Michigan is in this game so far.
12:30 — A Kelvin Grady 3-pointer put Michigan back up 15-12. The Wolverines look really good so far; if they can keep it close, they could make a stronger push for an upset than I thought they would be able to.
10:05 — after a Maryland turnover, Manny Harris ran the floor, opening an opportunity for a transition dunk from Jevohn Shepherd. Transition buckets are going to be key if the Wolverines want to win.
8:48 — The Wolverines have opened a 20-14 lead. The ESPNU announcer just called them “the most improved team in the Big Ten.”
8:10 — Freshman Zack Novak just hit a 3-pointer. Michigan’s 4-for-9 for beyond the arc.
5:00 — Maryland closed the gap in a bog way, going on a 7-0 run to make it a two-point game. The crowd’s back in it, and Zack Novak just airballed a three, cause for much jeering from the student section.
1:43 — Michigan has picked up its play since the scoring drought. Sims just hit his second 3-pointer of the game (man, he really came to play today), and the Wolverines are up by five, 32-27.
1:00 — Grady knocked down another 3-pointer. The Wolverines are 6-for-13 from behind the arc — when a John Beilein-coached team is having a hot night shooting, that doesn’t bode well for the opposing team.
SCORE: Michigan 35, Maryland 27.
0.00 — Jevohn Shepherd missed a 3-pointer to close out the half. The entire restaurant just erupted with applause as the team trotted off the court for halftime. SCORE: Michigan 35, Maryland 29
SECOND HALF
The second half couldn’t have started worse for the Wolverines. The terps started off with a crowd-raising three, and that started a 14-3 run for Maryland. The Wolverines are searching for a way to get climb back into this game.
SCORE: Maryland 43, Michigan 38
15:06 - that’ll do it. Novak hit a clutch 3-pointer while getting fouled that immediately shut up the Maryland crowd, which was cheering super loudly before that. We’ll see if Novak can complete the rare four-point play after the media timeout. And it’s good, putting the game within three points, 45-42.
14:11 - Novak is going off. he just cut in, took a crisp pass from Sims and went up for a key layup.The Wolverines have silenced the Maryland run and cut the lead to just one.
13:00 - A Maryland goaltending call put Michigan up by one. The Maryland crowd seems to disagree with the call, but upon further inspection it looked like a pretty good call to me.
11:48 - Manny Harris dished a pass to Zack Novak, who hit a really deep three, his third of the game. Michigan has retaken the lead, but I’m sure the team would like to have the first five minutes of the half back.
10:36 - Maryland just got a touch floater in the lane to go up 55-51. Maryland’s crowd is really into it now, which could be a huge factor in a tight game down the stretch.
8:10 - Maryland is putting a full-court press on, which Michigan struggled mightily to break last Saturday against Savannah State. Most of the Wolverines’ offensive woes in the first half of that game were due to the full-court press. Let’s see how that pans out.
SCORE: Maryland 59, Michigan 55.
5:30 - Michigan just cut the score to one.
5:02 - Manny got a great offensive rebound and put-back. SCORE: Maryland 63 Michigan 61.
3:53 - with a 3-on-2 advantage, Maryland just got a monster, momentum-swinging dunk. Michigan is going to have to fight the Terps and the crowd in the final minutes to have a chance to win.
SCOREL Maryland 65, Michigan 61
2:44 - a game-breaking 3-pointer for Maryland. This is slowly slipping away from the Wolverines, who are now down by seven. It’s going to come down to 3-point shooting if Michigan is even going to get this game close again - fortunately for the Wolverines, they’ve been dead-on from beyond the arc tonight.
1:35 - Clutch 3-pointer from Kelvin Grady, and the Wolverines called the timeout right after the shot. They have a shooter’s lineup on the floor.
SCORE: Maryland 70, Michigan 64
0:46.3 - Michigan just turned the ball over in the paint, which will effectively end any hopes the Wolverines had of winning this game.
0:19.8 - Anthony Wright hit a quick three to pull the game within five. Michigan’s going to take this game to the end, but I don’t see how the Wolverines could pull out a win - but stranger things have happened.
0:9.5 - Wright hit the most ridiculous 3-pointer I’ve ever seen. On the run, from NBA-range, Wright threw up a prayer, pulling Michigan within three. The Wolverines fouled, and Maryland made both free throws.
SCORE: Maryland 75, Michigan 70
Stu Douglass and Anthony Wright both missed 3-pointers on the last possession to end the game.
FINAL SCORE: Maryland 75, Michigan 70. For full coverage of the game, check tomorrow’s Michigan Daily.
2 Responses to “LIVE: Michigan vs. Maryland”
Thanks for making it available to the virtual world.
Loved the discussion
Wholeheartedly agree with d point I have to be honest.
Interesting
I apologize that I couldn’t live blog. Let me point out a few observations I had. 1) The Comcast Center is a great venue. It’s huge. Attached to the basketball arena is the athletic offices and a gymnasium of other sports like wrestling. And it was loud. In the second half when Maryland went on its run, the place was deafening. In the first half, not so loud. 2) Michigan showed a lot of poise responding from Maryland 16-3 run to keep the game close. The Terrapins just outplayed the Wolverines in the first minutes of the second half, but past that, Michigan really controlled the game. 3) The players were pretty upset after the game. After all, they were beating a good team on the road. The coaches were a little more upbeat afterward and emphasized the need to get back in the gym and get better. 4) I think Michigan is in better shape for Duke than most people think. The Wolverines played pretty well last night in a very hostile environment. They now return home to a sold-out crowd and if they can shoot the ball like they did last night, they’ll have a decent shot at the upset.