Michigan basketball fumbles it away in 73-71 loss to Minnesota
Michigan basketball didn't exactly ring in the new year with a joyful noise.
In their first action of 2024, the Wolverines made just one of their final eight shots while Minnesota to made seven of its final eight shots as they blew a seven-point lead in the second-half and lost, 73-71, Thursday night at Crisler Center.
The loss dropped Michigan to 2-14 in one-possession games under head coach Juwan Howard and 3-8 in its 11 games since starting the season 3-0.
"Our guys are hurting so bad," Howard said after the game. "It seems like it's looking like a same pattern as last season where you're right there, you're one or two possessions of losing. Oregon, Indiana, this game right here, missing maybe one more huh? Oh, Memphis. Then Florida.
"So at the end of the day, nobody is going to feel sorry for us. We can't feel sorry or have a pity party for ourselves. We've got to fix it and we will. I trust we will. The most important thing it starts with is staying positive through this run. We will get out of this funk that we're in."
The Wolverines (6-8, 1-2 Big Ten) were desperate to resume Big Ten play with a victory following an embarrassing 11-point loss at home to McNeese State last time out. Instead, Michigan — which led for more than half the game — never got its lead beyond seven points, peaking at 47-40 a little less than 5 minutes into the second half.
INSPIRATION POINT Michigan basketball takes lesson from football team's Rose Bowl win over Alabama
The Golden Gophers then ripped off a 29-15 run over the next 11 minutes of the final half, building their own seven-point lead. But the Wolverines weren't done, getting within two with 1:03 to play on a Terrance Williams II 3-pointer that snapped a 5:01 drought without a field goal.
After the teams traded scores, U-M had the ball, down two with 25 seconds to play; Elijah Hawkins missed the front end of a one-and-one, which left the door open for a Wolverines comeback. Olivier Nkamhoua had an open look at a 3-pointer but missed it; however the Wolverines got one more chance after the ball went out of bounds off the Gophers with 10.2 seconds to play.
Then it was time for Dug McDaniel, who tried a scooping hook in the closing seconds. It bounced off the rim and Minnesota's Dawson Garcia pulled down the rebound to end the rally.
"We made one shot in the final six minutes?" Tarris Reed Jr. clarified with a reporter postgame about the late drought. "Yeah, that's tough. Well you said it right there. ... I mean you answered the question, being more efficient."
Despite the loss, the Wolverines got the balanced scoring they've said they're aiming for: Nimari Burnett had a team-high 17 points, Nkamhoua had 16 points and eight rebounds, Reed recorded his first career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds and McDaniel did a bit of everything — nine points, six rebounds and six assists.
Michigan also slowed down a Minnesota bench that entered the game No. 1 in the Big Ten in scoring; a shorthanded U-M reserve squad only lost that battle to the Gophers, 14-8.
Minnesota also entered No. 5 in the nation in assists (20.2 per game); U-M held them to 17. Michigan also won the rebounding battle (35-34) and made more free throws (17-5), but made just one of its final eight field goals.
So what is it that happened late, when U-M made just one field goal in the final 6:03 of the game?
"Felt like we got sped up, trying to do too much on winning games," Reed said. "Just got to take our time, be more patient, trust in the offense and coach Howard. Then we'll come out with the win."
The other issue? Defense.
The Wolverines' rotations without the ball got entirely out of whack in the second half. After holding the Gophers to 3-for-13 shooting on 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes, Michigan allowed Minnesota to hit seven of 11 in the second while U-M made just three of 11 3-pointers after the break.
The Wolverines knew just what went wrong.
"In close games like this, boxing out, rebounding, and finishing possessions," Burnett said. "Being in the right places rotation-wise on defense, just having each others' backs. Sometimes we didn't do that and that's what caused us to take the 'L' tonight."
Five Gophers scored in double figures: Mike Mitchell Jr. netted 18; Hawkins, the nation's assist leader, had 14 points and eight assists; Garcia had 13 points and 12 rebounds; Joshua Ola-Joseph scored 12 and Pharrel Payne added 12 points and eight rebounds.
Closing it out
The lead changed hands eight times and the game was tied seven times in a back-and-forth first half that saw U-M bring a four-point lead into the break.
The Wolverines' lead had reached seven points with 15:25 remaining before Minnesota ripped off a 7-0 run in 1:15 to tie the game at 47.
Michigan's lead was 50-49 when McDaniel corralled a loose ball and threw a half-court alley-oop to Tray Jackson. The two tried the same thing on the next play only for Jackson to be fouled; he split the pair to put U-M up 53-49.
Minnesota respond with its second 7-0 run of the half — Garcia sandwiched a 3-pointer and a basket in the paint around a Braeden Carrington bucket to make it a 56-53 Gopher lead — only for McDaniel to hit consecutive floaters as Michigan reclaimed a one-point lead.
McDaniel made consecutive floaters to go up one, then Burnett made an offensive putback after a Minnesota 3-pointer to tie the game at 59 before U-M went cold from the floor.
Up next? A Penn State team that was just walloped by Michigan State in East Lansing, at The Palestra in Philadelphia.
"One thing we said in the locker room was, 'Don't get used to this,'" Burnett said. "We're not losers. None of us are losers. We came here to represent the block M and we will do that."
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball fumbles it away in 73-71 loss to Minnesota
