Michigan Basketball Instant Recap: U-M Loses A Heartbreaker

Derrick Walton Jr. scored 20 for Michigan in a one-point loss.

Michigan started slowly in 69-68 loss to Oregon … and then redshirt sophomore big man D.J. Wilson changed the tenor. Wilson hit consecutive threes to lead the Wolverines back from a 5-0 deficit and give them an early lead.

Both teams struggled to score in the early going. Michigan forced the Ducks into several fade-away jump shots … on the other end Oregon protected the rim well. A triple from senior point guard Derrick Walton Jr. and a finish inside from redshirt junior Duncan Robinson gave U-M an 11-8 lead, but Robinson was slow on defense, leading to three points at the other end and a tie game at the 11:57 mark.

Both teams had shot 4-for-10 from the floor at that point with seven rebounds.

The teams continued to trade misses outside, and Oregon continued to block shots at the rim. Both Oregon guard Payton Pritchard and Walton made three free throws after getting fouled on triples, but it was only 18-16 Michigan at 7:02 when Wilson picked up his second foul and went to the bench for the rest of the half.

Michigan looked tight on a number of shots. Senior Zak Irvin hoisted an airball from long range and junior Muhammad Ali Abdur-Rahkman missed badly on his two triple attempts.

Robinson gave U-M its biggest lead, 21-17, with a triple in transition at 6:55. Oregon’s Tyler Dorsey matched it at the other end. Michigan continued to hoist bricks, Wagner missing a pair of triples, but U-M was somehow ahead when Irvin finished and was fouled, making the free throw for a 24-22 lead.

It was tied at 24 at 3:43, with both teams shooting less than 35 percent from the floor.

Walton broke the tie with three in transition at 2:45; Dorsey answered it seconds later, and broke the tie with another after Wagner’s third miss. The half ended 33-31 Ducks after Robinson got beat off the dribble yet again, setting up a finish inside.

Oregon made 12 of 29 shots to Michigan’s 11-of-28. The rebounds were even at 18, but U-M turned it over an uncharacteristic seven times to the Ducks’ four, many of them unforced.

Walton led Michigan with 11 points, while Wilson added six, Irvin and Robinson five each.

SECOND HALF

Michigan started the second half with three-point bricks from Wilson and Walton and Abdur-Rahkman gave up a layup to put the Wolverines in a four-point hole.

Wilson, though, drained one from he corner to pull Michigan back within one at 18:42. Wagner answered a Brooks triple with an old-fashioned three-point play, but Dorsey rang up another three.

U-M played from behind for the first four minutes of the second half but only trailed 45-44 after an Irvin triple from the corner. They struggled to get good looks or to move the ball on offense, and the lead was 50-46 Ducks at 12: 48 on a Brooks triple.

Irvin stopped the bleeding with a long two, and U-M called timeout down four at 12:48. Robinson cut it to 50-49 with a three-pointer at 11:36, but U-M’s offense still didn’t look anything close to the unit that had been humming along the last several weeks.

Irvin’s jumper a t 10:48 gave the Wolverines the lead back for the first time since the first half, and the small U-M contingent got into it. Oregon’s Casey Benson hit a triple, though, to give the Ducks a two-point edge, and it was 56-51 after a three-point play following a missed Robinson three.

Wilson then missed a lay-up from point blank rage at 8:15, and the Wolverines were in trouble. Irvin notched second airball from deep but scored inside to cut it to 56-53 at 6:42. Robinson missed a chance to tie with another in and out triple, and Oregon scored at the other end.

U-M continued to play from behind. Wilson’s triple cut it to two at 4:44, and Walton’s three-pointer gave the Wolverines a one-point lead at 4:20. Michigan was 10-for-29 from long range at that point, and both teams were 22-of-52 from the floor (42.3 percent).

Dorsey got a wide-open look and drained it to put the Ducks back up two; Irvin answered with his own three off the bounce. Walton’s step-back jumper made it 68-65 Wolverines, forcing a Ducks timeout at 1:54.

Ennis missed the front end of a one-and-one, but a blown box out led to a putback. Two misses down the stretch, including Walton’s three at the buzzer, and an Oregon finish at 1:00 gave the Ducks the win.

Walton finished with 20, Irvin 19 and Wilson 12 for Michigan.