Michigan braces for rough slate of Big Ten games

Ann Arbor — With its victory over Penn State on Saturday, Michigan officially reached the halfway point of the Big Ten season.

And it’s hard to knock what the Wolverines accomplished through the first nine conference games. They were 7-2, they didn’t lose a game they probably should’ve won, they didn’t lose a home game, and they even beat then-No. 3 Maryland.

But don’t go looking for balloons, or confetti, or party hats of any shape, size or color at Crisler Center.

You won’t find any.

“I don’t want to rain on anybody’s parade,” coach John Beilein said Monday. “But probably the strength of our schedule in the first nine wasn’t what it’s going to be in the next nine.

“We have bigger challenges.”

Boy, do they ever.

It starts Tuesday night at Crisler Center, with No. 22 Indiana, and its dynamic offense, coming to town.

The week then will end with a home game against No. 10 Michigan State on Saturday.

The other seven games are no cupcakes, either: At Minnesota, which may not have won a Big Ten but gave Michigan all it could handle at Crisler Center last month; at home against at No. 18 Purdue; on the road at very capable Ohio State; at No. 4 Maryland, which almost never loses at home; at home against Northwestern; at Wisconsin; and at home against No. 5 Iowa.

Whew. Hold on tight.

You can understand, then, why Associated Press voters are taking the wait-and-see approach with Michigan, which remains unranked in the Top 25, but at least received 21 votes, 20 more than last week.

“This coming stretch, I’m just excited for the opportunity that we have,” Derrick Walton Jr. said.

Indiana, at 18-4 overall and 8-1 in the Big Ten, comes is as the conference co-leader, along with Iowa.

Like with Michigan, though, voters aren’t totally sold on Indiana, but that’s probably no fault of its own. The front end of its Big Ten schedule was underwhelming, with no ranked games. Its only defeat was at coming-around Wisconsin, two games ago.

But the Hoosiers have the talent, averaging 85.2 points — four more than next-closest Iowa, and more than six more than fellow heavyweights Purdue and Michigan State. It’s led by point guard Yogi Ferrell, and former Michigan big man Max Bielfeldt.

“He’s a really good player, a really good friend of course,” Walton said of Bielfeldt, who transferred from Michigan — and is averaging career highs in points (8.1) and rebounds (4.6). “More so, just happy he’s having success like he is.”

Beilein likened this Indiana team to his own national runner-up in 2013, when Michigan had Trey Burke at the point, but other fantastic scoring options in Tim Hardaway Jr., Nik Stauskus and Glenn Robinson. Beilein also said this one of the best defensive teams he’s seen at Indiana, rivaling the teams that had Victor Oladipo a few years back.

Michigan also might still be without Caris LeVert, who’s getting better, but remains day to day with the lower-left leg injury.

“We’re definitely happy with where we are, but we’re not satisfied, I’d say,” Duncan Robinson said. “We understand we have a lot to prove.”

If Michigan’s proved anything so far, it’s that it’s far more resilient than last season, when injuries struck — and the team tanked to a 16-16 finish.

On Saturday, Michigan picked up win No. 17, eclipsing last season’s total.

Walton said the adversity of last year — when Spike Albrecht, Zak Irvin, LeVert and Walton all either were out with injuries or playing through injuries — taught this team how to handle that, and so far, it’s thrived without LeVert for the last eight games, winning six of them.

Beilein said he’s “proud” of the run without LeVert, but knows the team has a long ways to go. Ten wins would probably be good enough for an NCAA Tournament bid, but it might take one more — because if Michigan only gets to 10, that means it lost six of its last nine — or a great showing in the Big Ten tournament.

The opportunity is there, right there in front of the Wolverines, because they did exactly what they had to do through the first half.

“Yeah, I would take that. That would translate into a 14-4 year, which could be a Big Ten winer,” Beilein said. “I’m not naive.

“We’re really gonna have to play better, and one way to do that is Caris returning, but if not, we still gotta make it happen.”

No. 22 Indiana at Michigan

Tip-off: 9 Tuesday, Crisler Center, Ann Arbor

TV/radio: ESPN/WWJ

Records: Indiana 18-4, (8-1 Big Ten), Michigan 17-5, (7-2)

Outlook: Michigan has lost five of the last six in the series, including last season’s only meeting. ... Indiana is tops in the Big Ten in total offense, and field-goal percentage ... Yogi Ferrell, a senior point guard, is averaging 17.5 points.