Notes from Michigan/Ohio State

My notes from the first half can pretty much be summed up by this picture:

Michigan went 0-11 from three, 5-25 from the field overall, and turned the ball over 12 times in one of the ugliest halves of basketball I've ever seen. Although U-M heated up in the second half, cutting an 18-point halftime deficit down to eight with 6:35 left, they couldn't dig themselves out of the early hole. Some thoughts:

• The Ohio State press killed Michigan in the first half. Kelvin Grady was the only player who could consistently break it without turning the ball over.
• Laval Lucas-Perry came out cold (as did everyone else), but he did hit two threes early in the second half. Hopefully he builds off of that success.
• I feel like this every game, but we really didn't go inside enough. Sims flashed open across the middle of the Buckeye's 2-3 zone several times, and often didn't get the ball when he was open. He needs to be touching the ball more regularly.
• Manny Harris played a great game, especially in the second half, and was a force on both ends of the court.
• Harris and Stu Douglass did a good job of getting into the passing lanes on defense. Their steals kept the Wolverines within reach in the first half.
  
• After the hockey events of last weekend, it would be a bit hypocritical of me to not point this out: Zack Novak got booted from the game with around a minute left for throwing an elbow at P.J. Hill (not that P.J. Hill) (hooray for ripping off MGoBlog) after an Ohio State free throw. It was a frustration foul, and Novak shouldn't be playing like that. Keep it clean out there, guys.

Michigan goes to Purdue on Saturday. I get the feeling fans are flying off the bandwagon already, but I was encouraged by how we came out in the second half. We just need to put together a solid 40-minute game of basketball. Tonight we put in 15.