I read some UM fan reaction to the game, and all I can say is OMG! They are giving a fatigue excuse for the loss (i.e., they had traveled "halfway around the world" less than 48 hours before the game) because they got outscored by 12 in the final quarter. Yeah, the first game in five months and they were too tired to hang in there down the stretch.
Interesting facts from the Gent loss:
- UM combined to shoot 22% on 3s, which accounted for 40% of their shot attempts (shot 34.8% overall)
- Stu Douglass and Darius Morris, two "veterans" of sorts for them who figure to start this season, combined to shoot 1 for 9 on threes and 3 for 21 (14%) overall from the field
- Matt Vogrich, a lightly used wing last season, outrebounded each of UM's "centers" for this year (Blake McLimans and Jordan Morgan, both of whom redshirted last season)
- Beilein, on his website, gave the team a "C+" for their performance (I can only hope for many more "C+" performances to follow)
The only UM players to have good games vs. Gent statistically were Novak and frosh Hardaway Jr. Based on that game, Zach "sharp elbows" Novak is the top player on their team for this season.
