The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
6-3
Michigan
9-3
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan | 32 | 27 | 59 |
| Texas | 20 | 32 | 52 |
Men's Basketball falls to Michigan, 59-52
12.12.2017 | Men's Basketball
Junior forward Dylan Osetkowski led the Longhorns with 17 points.
AUSTIN, Texas – Junior forward Dylan Osetkowski tallied a team-high 17 points, but Texas Men's Basketball (6-3) fell to the Michigan Wolverines (9-3), 59-52, at the Frank Erwin Center on Tuesday night.
Osetkowski's 17 points came on 6-of-11 shooting from the field, including 2-of-4 from three-point range, and he added five rebounds and two steals in 29 minutes. Freshman forward Mohamed Bamba recorded his second straight double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds along with four blocks, while junior guard Kerwin Roach II added 11 points and six rebounds.
Michigan raced out to an early 16-6 advantage at the 7:30 mark. A Bamba 3-pointer with 6:08 to play trimmed the lead to five (18-13).
Texas was outscored by a 14-7 margin the remaining six minutes and headed into halftime trailing 32-20. The Longhorns were 7-of-23 from the field (30.4%) in the opening period, while the Wolverines shot 51.9 percent on 14-of-27 shooting. Roach II led Texas in the first half with eight points on 3-of-5 shooting and three rebounds.
Texas opened the second half on a 14-5 run in the first three minutes to cut the deficit to 37-34, fueled by 11 points from Osetkowski. Michigan responded with 11 straight points to push the lead to 48-34 with 11:17 remaining.
A 7-0 spurt by UT brought the Longhorns within seven points (50-43) at the 6:08 mark, forcing a Michigan timeout.
Michigan led 53-47 with two minutes to play after a jumper from freshman Matt Coleman, but the Wolverines connected on four free throws in the final minute to seal the victory.
Texas held Michigan to just 28.6 percent (8-28) from the field in the second half, including 4-of-13 from 3-point range. Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman paced Michigan with 17 points.
Texas will be back in action on Saturday, Dec. 16 to face Louisiana Tech at the Frank Erwin Center. Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m. Central, and the game will be nationally televised on Longhorn Network.
Texas Basketball Postgame Notes
Michigan 59, Texas 52
December 12, 2017
Frank Erwin Center (Austin, Texas)
Attendance: 12,504
Team Notes
- Texas fell to 2-5 in the all-time series against Michigan. Tonight's game marked the first contest played in Austin in the series with the Wolverines.
- UT fell to 491-120 all-time in games at the Erwin Center. Texas dropped to 219-37 at the Erwin Center in the last 16 seasons (dating to the start of the 2002-03 season). UT is 28-11 at home during the Shaka Smart era (4-1 this season).
- The Longhorns held Michigan to 27 points on 28.6% FG shooting (8-28) in the second half.
Mohamed Bamba
- Registered his third double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) of the year (8 games)
- Reached double figures in scoring for the fifth time this year
- Reached double figures in rebounds for the sixth time this season
- Recorded 4 blocked shots (one shy of his season high) in a season-best 35 minutes
- Has registered at least 2 blocks in each of his first eight contests to start his collegiate career (has 32 total in his first 8 games)
Dylan Osetkowski
- Reached double figures in scoring (team-high 17 points) for the eighth time this season (9 games)
Kerwin Roach II
- Reached double figures in scoring (11 points) for the sixth time this year (9 games) and 31st time in his career (74 games)
Postgame Quotes
TEXAS
Head Coach Shaka Smart
On the game: Well, I thought that we started the game really well. Defensively, I think that we stopped them four times in a row or maybe five times in a row and we only scored one time. I think that there was some frustration there on the part of our guys, but it's not acceptable to let that affect how you play moving forward. You're going to have games where the ball might go in and out early or something might not go your way, but you've got to continue to follow the plan. I thought that we got away from what we practiced in the first half and that the pace of our offense really slowed, and that allowed Michigan to really guard us well. Then as the half wore on, our defense let up some because of that frustration that the guys were focusing on. They really attacked us on their offensive end, that's why they shot 52 percent from the field in the first half.
On their strategy against Michigan: Well, we wanted to get the ball inside. We need to continue working on getting it deeper. The further out it is, the harder it is for that guy to move before the double team comes. But what our plan was to find the open man and we worked on a couple of different things that they could do, whether it was digging or helping off the guard or coming on the big trap. They did it early, we got it out and moved around and didn't take the shot. When the ball comes to you and you're open, you've got to take the shot, or if the guy is flying at you then you've got to drive it. We have to work on that more, we have to get better at attacking when we throw the ball out, or getting it back in.
On regathering after the loss to Michigan: I think that the things that we didn't do, in terms of following our plan, that stuff needs to be exposed on film and that stuff needs to be hammered hard. Because regardless of the opponent, the stuff we planned and worked to do in practice, that has to be carried over into the game. That could be different from game to game, but our willingness to go and execute that stuff, through whatever happens, must be better. With young guys like some of our freshmen, young guys that haven't played a lot, it's certainly understandable that that might affect them, but it's not acceptable. There's a difference between those two things and we have to understand that to whom much is given, when there's an opportunity, much is expected, of all of us. And it starts with me.
Freshman Forward Mohamed Bamba
On what he saw from the Michigan defense: I didn't necessarily see anything different than how we scouted them. We knew they were going to switch and have to fight for their lives when we got a chance to post up. We just have to go out there and stick to the game plan and do what we've been practicing. Offensively, we have to hit a lot more shots. One thing we struggled with was our pace. We were playing a lot slower, dribbling more and passing less. That's a recipe for a loss.
On Michigan dictating the pace of the game: Yeah, that's how they wanted to play offensively and that's how they push their tempo. But, at the same time, we have to hold ourselves to a high standard and play as fast as we want to play.
On his aggressiveness: I can definitely be more aggressive, get fouled more and just throw my body around.
On adjusting to the physicality of the college game: In high school, you don't have guys who are 6-10 and 200-and-whatever pounds. That's one of the things we have the liberty of practicing against. We have to go up against DO [Dylan Osetkowski], James [Banks III], Jericho [Sims] and Royce [Hamm Jr.]. When game time comes it's a little bit easier, because there are fouls being called, but I still have to keep that aggressive mindset and keep attacking.
On the plan to counteract Michigan's defense: One thing we wanted to do was that if we didn't want them to switch, then we wouldn't set the screen and just get down in the block and do what we practice. We just have to get out there and execute it.
Junior Forward Dylan Osetkowski
On struggling without Andrew Jones: We knew we would have to step up on the offensive end with Andrew out. As a collective unit, we have to be better than that. It's tough to win a game scoring 52 points. It's doable with the defensive team that we have, but collectively we have to be better.
On what played into the the 52-point outing: I wouldn't say it was anything Michigan was doing. We were getting good looks. We shot 5-of-20 from the three point line, but guys weren't really forcing shots. In the first half we went on a little stretch where we stopped them four or five times on the defensive end, but we only scored once during that stretch. We just have to make shots.
On running a two-post offense in the future: Going into games, we feel that we have a collection of bigs that are better than the other teams' bigs. If we dominate and go to work inside, then the guards' shots will start falling. It's just a matter of time. They just need to see one or two go in. If we can keep going inside then it will only help us.
MICHIGAN
Head Coach John Beilein
Opening statement: I'm really impressed with Texas' defense today and how hard they played. I think we were very fortunate, but our kids also deserve the win. They're obviously missing (Andrew) Jones offensively and we can't look past this and look at how this affects us. It caught us three years in a row a few years ago and it was really difficult for our team to adjust. At the same time, if we didn't play defense tonight, we wouldn't have gotten the victory. So two teams that really struggled to score, just like last year. It's classic. Last year was 53-50. It was almost in that area, but I'm really proud of our kids. Because of last Monday, we had a similar situation, up 13 at half and we didn't respond in the first four minutes. Today we didn't come out on fire. They made a run and we came back and got right back where we were.
On who from the Texas players worried him the most: (Number) 21 (Dylan Osetkowski). He's really the go-to guy for them right now. He really was a force. His experience — he's just a really good basketball player. It's just great how he, right now, is getting a chance to play at this level and prove what a good player he can be at this level. He was really a load for us to stop. Hopefully Jones won't be out too long, but watch other people just get better as they go through this. We went through this three years in a row — your other guys get better and coach may have to change some things here and there. It's hard to change that immediately but Shaka (Smart) will find a way.
On if a slow start to the game had any benefits: If (Texas) had gotten off to a great start, that could've been hard, but they started out switching every ball screen with (Mohamed) Bamba and I think you have to go in there and take it at them a little bit and let them block a couple of shots. We hurried some shots and we missed some shots that we probably shouldn't have taken because he was standing there. It really affected us to start the game, but as the game wore on, we got a lot more comfortable with his length. Defensively, he's a game changer with some of the things that we do.
On Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman: We've been on him pretty good in practice too. He's better than his stats would say. The bank shot was a bank shot, he didn't try to bank that, but the runner, he has been missing and we worked on it the last two days. The runner put us up by eight, it was a huge shot for us. He's worked on that and he's got to continue to just stay in there, but his defense has been really good and it's been very average, so that's his enemy. He's such a nice kid that sometimes he'll just not be as engaged as he needs to be when you are one of the guys.
Junior guard Charles Matthews
On defense: Texas is a great team. Coach has us stress defense so much in practice every day, so we try our best to buy into what they're teaching us. We go into each game with an attempt to grow.
On responding to adversity: My response to adversity is very critical. As a team, we look to each other and stick by each other's sides. We try our best to keep our composure and play Michigan Basketball.
Senior guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman
On Texas' taller players: We have big teams in the Big Ten, so we have a ton of practice with tall guys. We might have felt a little shy at first, but we were able to focus. However, we must focus on taking better shots.
On how it feels to win: It feels pretty good to win tonight on the road. We try to be road warriors by playing tough on the road and not lay over when they make runs. We're growing every day from each experience that we have.
