The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/262939
MICHIGAN BASKETBALL not smart enough. They didn't play smart enough today, and I believe they'll get better from it." MICHIGAN RIDES OFFENSE TO TOP OF BIG TEN Michigan entered the week of Feb. 17 in a dead heat with Michigan State for the Big Ten regular-season crown, both at 10-3 a week before their showdown at Crisler Center Feb. 23. The Wolverines in particular have gotten there on the strength of a highly efficient offense. U-M reached that date third in the Big Ten in average scoring, at 75.0 points per game. Only two confer- ence squads ranked as more prolific on the scoreboard, with Iowa (83.6) and Michigan State (76.9) above the Wolverines. M i c h i g a n ' s s c o r i n g d e f e n s e , meanwhile, hovered in the mid- dle of the pack, the Wolverines al- lowing an average 64.8 points per game. Ohio State (58.5) featured far and away the league's stingiest de- fensive effort. That left Michigan with the fourth- best scoring margin in the Big Ten, posting an average 10.1 points per game more than opponents. Iowa (16.4), Michigan State (12.2) and Ohio State (12.0) each established bigger margins. The Wolverines remained the best free throw shooting team in the con- ference at 76.5 percent, ahead of Penn State (74.6) and Wisconsin (74.4). In fact, U-M reached Feb. 17 sweeping the triple crown of Big Ten shooting, also topping the Big Ten in field goal and three-point percentage, at 47.9 and 39.3 percent, respectively. Iowa (47.0) and Michigan State (46.7) were the next best in overall shooting percentage. The Spartans (37.9) and Badgers (37.2) were the next best from long range. On the flip side, Michigan stood dead last in the league in field goal defense, opponents shooting at a 43.6 percent clip. Michigan State led the league in that category, allowing foes to shoot 38.8 percent. The Wolverines were somewhat better against the three (ninth in the Big Ten at 33.3 percent) but a far cry from Ohio State limiting foes to a league-leading 27.3 percent. Michigan stood sixth in the confer- ence in rebounding margin, beating opponents off the glass by an average 1.8 caroms per game. Indiana ranked first in the conference, winning the battle of the boards by an average 9.9 rebounds. The Wolverines also stood last in the league in shot blocking, averag- ing 2.7 per game, compared to league leader Purdue's 5.6. U-M stood ninth in steals with 5.2 per game, while Minnesota (7.8) paced the conference in that statistic. U-M held up well as usual in han- dling the basketball, its 14.4 assists per contest good for third in the league behind Michigan State (17.2) and Iowa (16.2). Michigan's assist- to-turnover ratio of 1.5 was only frac- tionally worse than league-leading Michigan State's 1.5. The Wolverines' turnover margin stood seventh at 1.16, compared to