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Michigan coach won't question Try Burke's shot selection

Mark Snyder, USA TODAY Sports
  • Trey Burke missed a late three-pointer with 16 seconds left in Michigan%27s loss to Ohio State
  • Coach Jon Beilein was more concerned with the shot selection leading up to Burke%27s attempt
  • Michigan rallied from 21 down in the first half%2C only to fall short and lose 56-53

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The end of Michigan's Sunday loss to Ohio State was a study in late-game decision-making.

Trey Burke missed a key late three-pointer in Michigan's loss to Ohio State on Sunday.

Michigan had slowly rallied from a 21-point first-half deficit to tie the game at 46 with six minutes to play, but had taken and missed a few ill-advised three-pointers in the following minutes.

That put the Wolverines down 52-50 in the final 20 seconds, and the ball was in Trey Burke's hands. Burke ended up shooting a three-pointer late in the shot clock with 16 seconds remaining, one that entered the basket and popped out, allowing Ohio State to get the rebound and shoot free throws to win the game.

Michigan coach John Beilein was asked Monday night on his radio show Inside Michigan Basketball about the decision to shoot a three-pointer in that spot instead of going for the tie.

"There was no strategy there, we were trying to get a really good shot," Beilein said. "We were trying to get a really good shot. If it's a three, that's fine. I've done that before, on the road in particular. The longer the game is, the more that the home team might have an advantage. So we've done that before.

"There was not a strategy involved. We were trying to run a particular play, either get to the rim, get a dropoff, get somebody open on the perimeter. None of that happened. So we're blessed to have a guy that can get his own shot almost any time he wants. It turned out to be a really good shot. He's one of the guys we want the ball in his hands late in the game. He took a good shot and it almost went down."

That almost may have been the difference between completing the comeback and sitting undefeated and No. 1 today versus breaking down the first loss of the year.

Beilein focused as much on the misguided attempts leading up to Burke's shot as that one itself.

"We got all the way back, but I wish we had a little bit better shot selection down the stretch," Beilein said. "We did have a shot-clock shot, but a great one, by Trey Burke that went in and out that could have changed that whole game. But if missing that shot or any other things happened helped us speed our learning curve, it's all worth it."

Early in the game, even down by 21, Beilein didn't yell at his team, which he believes helped fuel the comeback.

"You don't change what you're doing," he said. "You don't want to see a crazy lunatic on the sideline at that time. That's not going to help. You need to settle them down. ... That (anger) happens so rarely, hopefully that it's saved for special times, when young men may need a little boost. It's just 'two by two,' the whole goal was let's just chop this in half by halftime."

He said it's just the way he has always operated.

"Experience tells you it's not going to do as much (getting angry,)" he said. "What they need is a 'yes face' to do this, a plan, confidence. Our coaching staff is all the same way. There's nothing but instruction going on in those huddles. At halftime, there's nothing but instruction going on. I was really proud of the way we won the last 10 minutes of the second half. The whole thing was after those first 10 minutes we controlled. We didn't play even with them. It's just that first bit got us and we couldn't recover all the way."

Snyder writes for the Detroit Free Press, a Gannett property

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