FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas almost delivered an early knockout blow to Michigan with its pressing, running and 11-for-11 shooting in the first 10 minutes Saturday.
The No. 20 Wolverines almost dealt the Razorbacks a loss when guard Trey Burke’s three-pointer hit the back iron, rattled around and out at the final buzzer in Arkansas’ 66-64 victory.
Arkansas dominated the tempo for the first 16 minutes before 19,050 fans at Walton Arena to take a 20-point lead and held a 41-24 advantage before the Wolverines found their stride.
“Our guys were engaged,” Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. “Our guys were excited to see a full house. We made good plays, we moved the basketball, we made shots. We really attacked Michigan early on.”
Michigan players said flat starts have been an issue on the road.
“We really let them dictate the tempo, had a lot of early turnovers,” Wolverines guard Zack Novak said. “You have to give them credit. They came out and executed what they needed to.”
The Razorbacks led 29-10 before their first missed field goal.
“Arkansas is young, but that is the quickest team we’ll probably see all year long,” Michigan Coach John Beilein said. “It took us a while to get adjusted. Once we did, we played a really good game.”
Michigan made 3 threepointers and had a four-point possession while closing the half on a 19-13 run to trail only 46-33 at intermission.
A 10-0 Michigan spurt, keyed by transition buckets and eight points by Jordan Morgan, pulled the Wolverines within 49-43 at the 15:17 mark of the second half.
Michigan made a game of it by controlling the backboards — a 22-14 rebounding edge in the second half — utilizing zone defenses, staying patient in the half-court offense and running when the opportunity was there.
“Coach kind of threw different looks at them,” Michigan guard Trey Burke said. “We went zone here and there, went 2-2-1 here and there, and then man. I think it just slowed them down a little bit.
“They were getting a lot of breakout, transition points and I think we got a body on a body every time a shot was up. We held them to a limited amount of rebounds.”
Michigan’s zone helped cut down Arkansas’ dribble penetration.
“To have so many people that can attack off the dribble, it’s tough to guard,” Morgan said. “To be able to throw a zone out there and have a lot of help, make it harder for them to drive in 1-on-1 situations, it definitely made a difference.”
Burke said Michigan’s lesson from the game was not to lack intensity at the start.
“We let the away crowd get into it in the first half by not coming out and giving the other team our best shot,” he said. “Once we turned it up in the second half, we were one shot too late.”
Sports, Pages 28 on 01/22/2012