Michigan basketball desperately needs its Boo Buie, who's nearing Northwestern legend status
The Michigan women's basketball team just so happened to be on the court the night Caitlin Clark made history for Iowa as the all-time leading scorer in NCAA women's Division I history last week.
While the moment isn't quite as noteworthy, Michigan men's basketball (8-18, 3-12 Big Ten) could have a front-row seat to a little more history against Northwestern on Thursday (9 p.m., Fox Sports 1), whose star point guard Boo Buie is just five points away from passing John Shurna (2,038 points) as the all-time leading scorer in Wildcats history.
Assistant coach Phil Martelli summarized Buie's game nicely on the "Inside Michigan Basketball" show earlier this week.
"Boo Buie," he began, "knows how to play basketball."
While Buie has used a fifth season to reach the mark — he was a true freshman during the 2020 season that got cut short by the pandemic — it takes away little from the fact he is largely responsible for reviving Chicago's Big Ten team.
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The 6-foot-2, 180-pounder from Albany, New York, is averaging career-bests with 19.0 points, 5.2 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game. Not only is he putting up the numbers more efficiently, shooting a career-best 43.0% from the floor and lights-out 41.3% from long range on nearly six attempts per game, but he's turning the ball over less than a season ago, just 2.3 times per game.
Baring the unforeseen, Northwestern is set to make the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive season — the first time going back-to-back in its history — and just its third appearance ever.
“He has singlehandedly created an excitement around this program that maybe we’ve never had," Northwestern coach Chris Collins told local reporters Wednesday in anticipation of Buie's achievement. “He could have gone somewhere else to chase but he stayed loyal.
"He’s probably the all-time greatest player here, I know I’m biased.”
It's hard to not juxtapose it against the Wolverines' current point guard predicament; as U-M will be without its lead ball handler, Dug McDaniel, for the sixth consecutive game as he serves an away-only academic suspension.
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While McDaniel referred to his absence as a "six-game" suspension on his later-deleted Instagram story, a source close to the program told the Free Press "he gets evaluated at the end of the month," which would mean he's in jeopardy of missing next week's game at Rutgers.
Meanwhile, Jaelin Llewellyn, who's coming off an ACL injury last season and a concussion earlier this season, has played 27 or more minutes in each game McDaniel has missed. When Terrance Williams II was ruled out against MSU, Llewellyn played 35 minutes at home — however it seems to be catching up to him — he's just 8-for-30 from the floor his past three contests after shooting 50% or better from the floor in five straight games before that.
Two seasons ago, Michigan brought in transfer point guard Davante Jones from Coastal Carolina. While his game never quite caught up to the major conference level, John Beilein holdover Eli Brooks did enough to steady the ship to make a Sweet 16 run.
The only true success U-M has had in the portal getting a lead ball-handler during the current regime was in 2020-21 with Mike Smith, who averaged 9.0 points and 5.3 assists per game after scoring 15 points per game or better each of the first three seasons at Columbia.
"High IQ guy and a competitor," Howard said of Smith back in March of 2021 shortly after the Wolverines had wrapped up their Big Ten title, just before their march to the Elite 8 began. "Last but not least, he has that Chicago DNA in him. That right there, I was like yeah, that will be perfect for Michigan."
It's been hard to replicate since.
Nkamhoua out for rest of season
In a season full of bad news, another devastating blow came Wednesday morning when the team announced graduate forward Olivier Nkamhoua's season was over after he'd undergone surgery on his left wrist.
The expected timetable for a full recovery is 3-4 months; which would be right on the cusp of the NBA combine (May 13-19) in Chicago. Nkamhoua started all 26 games in his U-M career, averaging 14.8 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, the only player on the team to finish in the top two in both categories.
"Coming to Ann Arbor and having the opportunity to play for a coach like Coach Howard has been something I will cherish," Nkamhoua said in part in the release. "I cannot thank Chris (Williams) and his training staff enough for all they have done for me throughout this season and going forward in my recovery.
"I am proud to be able to say I was part of this great university. I am proud to be a Michigan Wolverine."
Beyond Nkamhoua's injury and McDaniel's suspension, it's still not clear if U-M will have senior Terrance Williams back in the fold.
Martelli said on a radio show Monday that Williams was on a stationary bike during practice getting a sweat, which was a good first step, but it was unclear if he'd be available for the game.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball's Juwan Howard desperately needs his Boo Buie
