Michigan basketball's Juwan Howard says he's not going anywhere: 'Never quit in my life'

Long after the final whistle had blown, the last of the fans streamed out of Crisler Center and the chants continued.

“Go Green!” they bellowed. “Go White!” others responded.

“N-I-T,” yet another contingent of fans began, before a man dressed in all green screamed, “No chance!”

It summed up the mood perfectly in Ann Arbor, where similar cheers had reverberated around Crisler all night, and where Michigan basketball (8-18, 3-12 Big Ten) had yet again let a winnable game slip away.

Juwan Howard’s group didn’t score a point in the final seven minutes and coughed up the ball a season-high 22 times. More than a dozen of those came in the second half, including six in the closing stretch, as the Wolverines allowed a 10-0 run to finish the game in a 73-63 loss to Michigan State (17-9, 9-6 Big Ten).

'A HORROR FILM': Michigan basketball laments turnovers in 73-63 loss to MSU in Ann Arbor

"Makes you feel terrible," Tarris Reed Jr. said of the chants throughout the evening. "Especially after the game, (MSU fans are) all cheering. ... But at the end of the day we got a game to play, we got a job to do, so we can't really mess around and worry about the crowd."

During his postgame availability, Howard quipped that watching the game back would feel like "a horror film," which, frankly, could describe the entire season, as his team continues to set low mark after low mark.

Howard's group, alone in the basement of the Big Ten, has lost 13 of its past 15 games and 18 of 23 since opening this season 3-0. Saturday marked the first home loss to the Spartans since Feb. 24, 2019 — the final meeting of the John Beilien era.

Michigan wasn't expected to win this game, and when senior forward Terrance Williams II was ruled out with an illness, the Wolverines' chances appeared even worse. And yet there U-M was, tied at 63 with just more than seven minutes to play.

However, in a familiar sight, the Wolverines didn't get the job done. It has been a common theme in recent years, with U-M at 45-49 over the past three seasons and all but guaranteed to miss the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive year.

U-M athletic director Warde Manuel has had to answer questions on multiple occasions about whether he has faith in Howard over the past few months. Saturday was the first time Howard was asked directly about his future — the part he can control and if he's thought about stepping away from Michigan, whether it be for health-related reasons or anything else — and he answered emphatically.

"Oh no, never," he said. "I am bought in. I love this place, I love our players and I never ran or never quit in my life. That's a good question, because that lets me know you really don't know me. If you get to know me a little bit better, know my story, every time and everywhere I've been, I've always faced the noise and I've rolled up my sleeves and found solutions.

"We're going to be solution-based as we finish this season; the next season is not here, we're going to finish this season off strong."

'Find positive energy each and every day'

It's one thing to talk about finishing the season strong, and it's another entirely to do it, Still, to U-M's credit Saturday, the energy remained high despite the struggles against the Spartans.

Even when the Wolverines fell behind by nine points, spark plug point guard Dug McDaniel scored seven straight to get the team back within two.

When MSU's lead got back out to six, Nimari Burnett and Jaelin Llewellyn sandwiched 3-pointers around an Olivier Nkmahoua basket to take a 37-35 lead in the final minute of the first half.

When MSU led by two at the break, Michigan used an early run to build a six-point lead midway through the second half. It would have been even larger had Howard's group not given the ball up six times in a 200-second span, the last of which led to a pair of Tyson Walker free throws to cut Michigan's lead to one.

"As the leader of the program, if I crack and I explode, that's going to trickle down to the players," Howard said of keeping his cool. "So it's my job to continue to keep coaching and keep teach and find positive energy each and every day."

After Reed's three-point play gave Michigan a four-point lead, MSU punched back with a 9-0 run to go up five. U-M gave its last gasp with a 7-2 spurt and tied the game on a Will Tschetter put-back with 7:01 to play.

The Wolverines didn't score again.

Instead, Michigan's final 11 possessions featured six turnovers and five missed shots, allowing Michigan State to close with 10 unanswered points.

"Those are teaching moments that we will of course keep growing with our players," Howard said. "But losing doesn't feel well for any of us."

'Purpose in the pain'

The losing is hard for everyone in the program, but players are doing their best to keep a positive outlook.

For Reed, who had his third career double-double (15 points and 11 rebounds), it's first and foremost about his faith. Saturday he said, "there's purpose in the pain" as he talked about the toughest season on the court he has experienced.

"It's easy to look at the game and see how we're losing, but in the grand scheme of things you've got a lot of kids who want to be in my opportunity," Reed said. "I'm blessed to have kids want to take a picture with me, want to sign their things. So I have a job to go out there, win or lose, because I have kids looking up to me.

"That's kind of a big, scary thing that I had to come to realize, that it's not only about me. It's bigger than me."

Burnett nodded alongside his teammate, before he spoke about his wrist injury at Alabama that required surgery; he said there were concerns he might not play basketball again.

For anybody who has had the game taken away from them, like Llewellyn a season ago with an ACL tear, or Howard earlier this year with heart surgery, their time on the court is cherished.

"I love watching basketball, playing basketball, any form of basketball," Burnett said. "The season hasn't gone our way, but it's still the love of the game that drives a lot off us. Love for competition and doing it together. I feel like this is still a great group of guys, especially off the court, a lot of great guys, great character guys.

"We genuinely want to finish this season strong. ... You never know what can happen."

Sulking isn't an answer, nor is blaming others or mailing in the season's remaining five games. Michigan has one choice: Forge onward and upward, no matter the pain.

At least, that's what Howard plans to do.

"We have to continue to keep grinding, we will continue to find those who of course want to be here, want to enjoy growing as a player and doing it as a team," he said. "That's what's always been our success: Playing together, playing hard, playing as one."

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball's Juwan Howard on future: 'I am bought in'