Crean, as is his MO, had his team well prepared and fired up. Some homecourt calls, but there are always going to be some homecourt calls, so accept that and move on. I was surprised at Michigan on two fronts. First, they never went to the 1-3-1 zone that Bielein perfected at WVU and that Northwestern stymied IU with for a half. Stunning in its omission. Second, they stood around on offense more than they have all year. IU plays a nice man-to-man, but Michigan's MO this year has been to attack and kick. Way too much standing around 30 feet from the basket and shooting 3's off of the dribble.
Zeller, Watford, and Oladipo played well, and the game went pretty much according to script for IU. Congrats to them on a big win and their new ranking.
Missed the first half, but caught the second half. Wasn't surprised by the 1-3-1 as they haven't used it much this year at all. They were the #1 team coming in, go with what brought you there.
Zeller played well. Oladipo is a beast and for a kid that was only a 3 star recruit, he's come a long way. Watford drives me crazy, this was one of his "good" games. Hulls hit some big shots, but he was inconsistent.
IU's defense is so much better this year and their scoring balance is incredible. Last year Zeller had to do more on offense, this year they have weapons all over where he doesn't have to do as much offensively. At the party last night, Mark Cuban (IU grad also) was pumped up to put it mildly. They have some tough road games coming up and I figure they will lose at Michigan and Ohio State.
I saw 1 possession of 1-3-1 in the second half, and it was terrible. I think it was Oladipo who split a trap at the top that was slow in coming. Then I believe he passed to the outside. The guy on the outside passed it to the baseline for a layup. It was a free two points. I'm guessing with all the young guys they play, Michigan has not put enough time in on the 1-3-1 to be very good at it.