Five Thoughts on Michigan’s 92-91 Win Over Oklahoma State

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Oklahoma State fell to the Golden State Warriors Michigan Wolverines 92-91 in a first round NCAA Tournament game on Friday and also fell to 1-6 in the NCAA Tournament since 2005. That’s not great, but this game was exceptional.

Jawun Evans led the way for the Pokes with 23 points, 7 boards and 12 assists. Jeffrey Carroll had 19 and 5, Mitch Solomon had 8 and 8, and Phil Forte and Davon Dillard chipped in 12 a piece. Oklahoma State shot a scorching 55 percent from the floor but got out-shot by the Maize and Blue (more on this in a minute).

Thus ends a terrific first season for Brad Underwood as the head coach as the Pokes take a four-game skid into the offseason. Five thoughts on a wild one Friday morning in Indianapolis.

1. Game of the Tournament

I’m sure it will be topped at some point, but that was the game of the first two days so far. People cried “no defense just like Big 12 football” which is partly true, but there was also a ludicrous amount of offense being played.

Two of the top five offensive teams in the nation letting it hang a little bit. It was a pleasure to watch even if the Pokes were on the wrong side of the ending.

We can talk about defense (and we will all offseason), but when this is what most of Michigan’s 3s looked like, I’m not real sure what you’re supposed to do.

Did OSU lapse a bit in the second half? Yes (more on that momentarily). But this game was different than the Iowa State losses to end the year where ISU guys were just left wide open for kick-outs over and over again (Michigan was limited to just six offensive boards). Michigan was hitting 30-footers, creating off the dribble and flinging daggers in guys’ eyes.

On a scale of 1 to “Klay Thompson in Game 6 of the 2016 Western Conference Finals,” Michigan was probably rocking a “Dion Waiters with three guys on him and 10 seconds left from 33 feet” level of smoking.

The one thing I’m not sure Oklahoma State expected is for Michigan to roll with them all the way until the very end. The Wolverines essentially played just seven guys, and they finished stronger than OSU wanted. The Pokes raised the pace of play in the second half (which is what Underwood wanted), and it basically did not matter.

It left Underwood with some existential questions to ponder afterwards.

“It’s one I’ve got to grasp, out-rebound an opponent 40-21 and lose,” said Underwood. “The game’s changing. The 3-point line is changing that way. We saw teams in our league that did the same thing.”

Unfortunately they saw a similar formula to what Big 12 teams used all season — rocking point guard and shooters everywhere. Can we not get a Michigan State or a Dayton just one time?

2. Second-Half Shooting

It was just a joke. Both sides. A clinic. Let’s jump into the numbers.

Both squads scored 51 points in the second half. Oklahoma State shot 60 percent from the field. Michigan shot 64 percent. The teams combined to hit 37 of the 60 shots they took in the second half, and 16 of 23 of those were 3s.

Combined, they shot 70 percent (!) from 3-point range.

Michigan from 3 in this second half pic.twitter.com/oZYuCKerGj

— Brennen (@BSawer) March 17, 2017

They also both scored 1.58 points per possession. For the sake of context, a raw number of 1.21 points per possession would have led the nation this season.

Final ridiculous numbers: Michigan and Oklahoma State both scored 1.58 points per trip in the second half.

— John Gasaway (@JohnGasaway) March 17, 2017

I’m not sure we’re totally comprehending what we just saw. Oklahoma State shot 60 percent from the field and Michigan bested that from 3-point range by 13 percent. Michigan almost shot better from 3 (73 percent) than it did from the line (80 percent) in the second half!

Of course now they’ll miss their first 28 against Louisville, and Rick Pitino and Co. will waltz into the Sweet 16 unscathed.

3. Evans loves March

One more year!
One more year!
One more year!

I don’t know if No. 1 is coming back for a victory lap, but I do know that if he does, Oklahoma State will be a force in 2018.

Evans had too many turnovers (4) and missed too many shots (16) on Friday, but he made up for it with 12 impeccable dimes to his teammates. He also did gross stuff like this that was unfit for children under the age of 16 to view unsupervised.

Oh my. Jawun Evans is leading @OSUMBB with absurd moves like this. pic.twitter.com/FJi5Lt12uA

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 17, 2017

Listen, I get it. Evans made some poor decisions on Friday, missed a one-and-one late and couldn’t finish around Michigan’s bigs. The rest of OSU’s team shot 66 percent while he shot just 38 percent.

But why do you think they’re shooting that well? Because he’s the most clever passer OSU has seen since Mo Baker Doug Gottlieb, and he literally had Michigan running in circles for much of the day.

If you want to say Evans played poorly, I would understand where you’re coming from. But I implore you to think about how many points OSU would have lost by without him on Friday.

Also, his final March splits:

Jawun Evans' final March splits.

Points: 24.7
Rebounds: 5.0
Assists: 10.3

Filthy.

— Pistols Firing (@pistolsguys) March 17, 2017

4. (Overall) Defense Must Improve

Year 1 is in the books, and Oklahoma State is on the right trajectory. If you’re one of the people who doesn’t think this season was a success, then you’re either unrealistic or using the wrong metrics to measure college basketball teams.

However … despite all the fun on offense, this team was Texas Tech football: All show and no stops late in the season. That’s nice, and it makes for fun stats and great blog posts. But it doesn’t get you to Sweet 16s.

https://twitter.com/GottliebShow/status/842809855622758400

Yeah, Michigan shot the lights out, but Michigan is not shooting like that against West Virginia or Gonzaga or Virginia. I thought Underwood did a nice job in the first half throwing a bunch of different looks at the Big Blue and limiting their options.

Michigan coach John Beilein said as much.

“Their pressure bothered us early,” said Beilein. “Once we settled in, we were fine. Really proud of these kids and looking forward to playing the winner of this game right now.”

They were better in this game than they’ve been in the past, but they got lit up by flare screens in the second half (along with Michigan losing consciousness). That’s not a good combination.

The trick for Underwood will be turning that pressure up defensively and maintaining a high level on offense. Evans, whether he leaves this year or next, won’t be around forever, and Underwood’s O will come back down to earth a bit.

I’m fine with that, as long as he makes it a point to crank up the intensity on the defensive end. Case in point: OSU gave up 90+ points 10 times this year. That can’t happen unless you’re playing NBA games.

5. Game Was What We Thought It Would Be

I got a text from my buddy Quade this morning asking how I was feeling about today. I told him I legit thought it was 50-50, and I had no clue who would win it. Vegas was right.

There were 16 lead changes and 12 ties. The game could have flipped on any number of plays. The Solomon foul at the end of the first half. The Forte three that went all the way down and came all the way out. Several no calls on travels and questionable calls on balls out of bounds in the final few minutes.

OSU ran with one of the hottest teams in the country and probably should have beat them — it’s much easier to replicate what the Pokes did (doubled up UM in rebounding and grabbed over 50 percent of available offensive boards) than what Michigan did (shot 73 percent from 3-point range in the second half).

Still, March Madness is March Madness, and Underwood has a long offseason to think about what could have been. The good news?

He also has a long offseason to think about what could be.