Men’s Basketball: Michigan beats Indiana 69-55 to go 1-0 in Big Ten Play

Men’s Basketball: Michigan beats Indiana 69-55 to go 1-0 in Big Ten Play

It was the earliest that Michigan has played Indiana in the season. It proved that Michigan was ready to go after the loss against North Carolina as they beat Indiana 69-55 to go 1-0 in Big Ten Play.

Indiana got behind early in the game after 4 straight 3 point baskets to start for Michigan. Head coach Archie Miller, who is coaching his first Big Ten Game at Indiana, talked about the loss to Michigan. “You can’t go on the road and play the first 10 minutes of the game with just 4 points,” Miller said. Miller also talked about all the three pointers for Michigan at the start of the game. “They got good looks and they got those because our offense let Michigan get out of transition,” Miller said.  “We just did not get good looks in the game,” stated Miller. Miller was asked if it was a step back for the Hoosiers and Miller didn’t think so because it was Indiana’s first conference game. “This is the first conference game of the year,” Miller remarked. “Most teams that are going to play conference games on the road are going to lose. We play Iowa in the next 48 hours and we need to learn from what we did and get better in the next one,” Miller continued. Miller also talked about what his biggest struggles on offense were. “We did not share the ball and over dribbled. We also did not read the defense very well and when we had opportunities in and around the basket, we were very soft,” stated Miller. Despite the loss, the Hoosiers did get a great performance out of Juwan Morgan who had 24 points, 8 rebounds and was 9-14 from field goal range. Indiana only had 7 assists in the game as well as 11 turnovers.

Michigan came out strong after a bad loss to North Carolina on the road and Head Coach John Beilein was impressed by how his team responded against Indiana. “Coming out of the locker room our defense was very focused on the scouting report.  Our kids prepared very well for this game,” Beilein said.  Michigan got a great performance out of Jordan Poole who had 19 points in the game and was also 7 for 12 from field goal range. But, don’t expect a point guard starter to be named according to Beilein. “We will go by who is playing well at that position. We go by who is playing well in practice and in the games,” stated Beilein. Another player that played well today was Moe Wagner who had 13 points and 6 rebounds. It was the earliest that these two teams played each other. But with anything you have to move on to the next opponent as Michigan will be traveling to Columbus to take on Ohio State. Like Indiana, Ohio State also has a new coach in Chris Holtmann and Beilein does not know what to expect from Ohio State but it will always be a hard fought battle whenever Michigan and Ohio State get together. “Ohio State is not an easy place for us to play, but I look forward to having Tuesday and Wednesday off and that will help us prepare for two huge non conference games,” remarked Beilein.  Muhammad Ali Abdur Rahkman had 8 points and 11 rebounds in the game. Eli Brooks had 6 assists in the game.

Michigan will next travel to Columbus to take on Ohio State on Monday. Tip Off is at 6:30 on FS1.