File, obviously.
Michigan jumped out to a 7-0 lead against an overmatched Long Beach State squad and, despite allowing the 49ers to hang around for much of the game, never really allowed it to be much of a contest, pulling away late for the critical KenPom cover. The Wolverines repeatedly exploited LBSU's attempts to play zone, shooting 14/30 from downtown; Nik Stauskas (24 points, 4/6 three-pointers) and Caris LeVert (20, 4/7) led the way offensively. Michigan will face the winner of tonight's game between VCU and Florida State (7:30 p.m. EST, ESPNU) tomorrow at 5 p.m. EST.
A few scattered thoughts from a 24-point win over a pretty bad team:
- At this point, there's no question who the go-to guy is on this team: Stauskas, the only player who can consistently create his own shot inside and outside the arc. He didn't just knock down spot-up jumpers; he had a nice step-back three with a man in his face, hit three of his four two-pointers, and repeatedly got to the free-throw line (6/8).
- LeVert obviously played a big role in this win, too, and he did it mostly by working his way into the middle of the LBSU zone and becoming a triple-threat: from there, he could pull up for a short jumper, continue working to the basket, or dish it to an open shooter. He finished 8/13 from the field with four assists and no turnovers, facilitating the offense as well as anybody on the floor. His ballhandling/passing could be the key in a potential matchup with VCU, since...
- Derrick Walton had a very up-and-down game. He knocked down 3/7 three-pointers, but missed all four of his two-point shots—IIRC, all on drives to the hoop in which he either anticipated contact or had his shot blocked. Spike Albrecht did a better job getting the offense going, and the team may need his steady hand at the point tomorrow if they're facing the HAVOC press of VCU. Walton did rebound very well, leading the team with seven boards; he had some issues defensively, however, especially contesting shots after switches—a better team would've capitalized more on some wide-open looks.
- Mitch McGary didn't have to do too much in this one; when he was out there, though, he made a major impact, hitting all three of his shots—including a flying one-handed putback off a miss by Glenn Robinson III—and pulling in four rebounds. It's pretty clear he's still working his way into game shape, but despite the back injury he's still starting from a better place than he was last year.
- Two major areas for concern from this game: Michigan did a very poor job of boxing out on defense, even though LBSU didn't always take advantage, and they still have a lot of work to do on their transition defense. These are little issues against bad teams that become very big issues against good ones.
- Wanderin' Jon Horford missed a three-pointer off the backboard in the first half. I thought you should know this, especially since he's making a bit of a habit of it. He also beat a 2-3 with a slick cut behind the back line of the defense for an open 8-footer from the baseline. More of the latter, less of the former, please.
The three different stat-trackers I tried during the game (SCACCHoops, CBSSports, ESPN) all have slightly different numbers, at least when it comes to offensive rebounds and minutes played. ESPN has the most readable box score, so I'll link that if you'd like to peruse more stats from the game.