The ND men's hoops team on New Year's Eve cruised to victory at DePaul, 92-82.
I continue to be impressed at how efficiently this team can score; and at how they took the lead early in this game, on the road, and maintained it at about 10 points for most of the game. They withstood all of DePaul's runs, and the Blue Demons played with energy and tried to come back. That showed good strength and focus, to win that way on the road. Still, as ESPN's analysts said during the game and after, I worry about the Irish defense. They give up too many points. We'll see if they can improve that.
Meanwhile the Detroit Red Wings, who trailed at one point 3-1 in the game, rallied to beat the Chicago Black Hawks yesterday, 6-4 in the Winter Classic game held at Wrigley Field. The Wings really dialed up the pressure and speed in the second period. That was good to see. It was also good to see such a huge crowd having such fun.
But Michigan's men's hoops team faces a major bump in the road--they were schooled on New Year's Eve in the Big Ten basketball opener by Wisconsin, 73-61. Seems like the Badgers were much more physical than the Wolverines, and their experience showed. The young Wolverines will have to respond to adversity. We'll see how they do.
