From the jump, Indiana men’s basketball had nothing going for it against No. 3 Michigan. The Wolverines’ smothering defense prevented the Hoosiers from finding any space in the half court, while their potent offense frequently found open space and knocked down shots.
The Cream and Crimson posted 10 turnovers and were blocked six times in an 86-72 defeat to the Wolverines on Tuesday night inside the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
While Michigan didn’t play its cleanest first half, Indiana showed no signs of life in the early minutes of action. The Hoosiers missed each of their first eight field goal attempts, falling behind 9-0. A layup from senior forward Reed Bailey put the Cream and Crimson on the board after over five minutes without a point.
After a pair of free throws from fifth-year senior guard Lamar Wilkerson, the Wolverines responded with a 10-0 run to jump out to a 19-4 lead with 11 minutes left in the first half. Michigan junior guard Elliot Cadeau scored 10 of his 19 points in the first nine minutes of the game.
As the Wolverines began to take control, the Hoosiers’ offense was kickstarted by an unlikely source: Aleksa Ristic. The Serbian freshman guard had only registered 17 minutes across six games prior to Tuesday, but he entered the rotation for sixth-year senior guard Tayton Conerway. Conerway was listed as questionable with an ankle injury and was subbed out after just two minutes of action.
Ristic knocked down a 3-pointer during his four-minute run in the first half. The shot was the first Indiana longball of the game — the Hoosiers started 0 for 10 — and sparked a stretch of six consecutive field goal makes after Indiana began the game 1 for 15.
During the run, junior guard Nick Dorn hit a 3-pointer, and redshirt senior guard Conor Enright nailed two shots from beyond the arc as Indiana rallied and cut the deficit to eight points with just over five minutes to play in the half.
Despite being outshot 57.1% to 33.3% and shooting 4 for 17 from 3-point range, the Hoosiers entered the half down by just 11 points. In the opening frame, Michigan turned the ball over nine times while shooting 1 for 8 at the free throw line, leaving the door open for Indiana.
Coming out of the break, Michigan imposed its will on Indiana through 7-foot-3 junior center Aday Mara. Graduate forward Yaxel Lendeborg found Mara inside just 11 seconds into the half for an easy score. Over the next two and a half minutes, Mara registered a steal, a block, an assist and another layup as the Wolverines took a 15-point lead into the under-16 media timeout.
As the half went on, Michigan’s lead continued to grow. Graduate guard Nimari Burnett drained two 3-pointers and Lendeborg scored nine points in the first eight minutes of the final half as the Wolverines extended their lead past 20 points.
For the final 10 minutes, the Cream and Crimson couldn’t close the gap. Indiana never led and trailed by as many as 25 points. Michigan’s suffocating defense limited the Hoosiers’ primary scorers to lackluster performances. Wilkerson finished with 8 points and failed to hit a 3-pointer for the first time since Nov. 16 and redshirt senior forward Tucker DeVries was held scoreless until 7:43 left in the second half.
Michigan’s dominant performance extended the Cream and Crimson’s losing streak to four games while dropping the Hoosiers to 3-5 in conference play. Indiana will aim to snap its losing skid against Rutgers at 6 p.m. Friday inside Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, New Jersey.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames and jamesdm@iu.edu) and Nathan Shriberg (@NShriberg and naashri@iu.edu) and columnist Kasey Watkins (@KaseyWatki8773 and kaslwatk@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana men’s basketball season.
