Not too long ago, the Michigan basketball team had won six games in a row and they were looking like one of the best teams in the country. The Wolverines were in first place in the Big Ten, and things were overall looking very good for the Wolverines. Now, Michigan has dropped two home games in a row, and they have not looked like the team that we saw earlier this season. The latest defeat came on Wednesday against #13 Maryland, and it was a tough one for head coach Dusty May to swallow.
Had the Michigan basketball team taken down Maryland, they would’ve had a chance to win a share of the Big Ten regular season title on Sunday on the road against Michigan State. Now, the Spartans will clinch sole possession of the title if they beat Iowa tomorrow.
“Obviously we’re big Iowa Hawkeye fans right now, but more importantly we need to get back to good, team basketball,” Dusty May said after the loss to Iowa, according to a post from Zach Shaw.
You never want your fate to be in the hands of another team, but Michigan is now in that position.
It isn’t a huge surprise to see the Wolverines dropping these games as they didn’t win any games by more than four points during their six-game win streak. Winning is obviously the only thing that matters, but Michigan was never doing it in an attractive way.
Now, the same issues are starting to plague Michigan over and over again. They have a glaring problem with turnovers as they ranked 304th in Division 1 college basketball in turnovers per game coming into Wednesday night’s game against Maryland. However, the Wolverines were making up for it with their shooting earlier in the season. Michigan was at one point one of the best three point shooting teams in the country. Since January 17th, they ranked 355th in the country in three point shooting. There are 364 teams in D1 college basketball.
Despite all the issues with turnovers and shooting the ball, Michigan was in this game against the #13 team in the country. They cut the lead down to two with just over six minutes to play. On their next six possessions, they turned the ball over four times, missed a layup, and went 0-2 from the free throw line. The Wolverines got back in the game, and then they did that. Ball game.
Now, like Dusty May said, Michigan will be hoping for an Iowa win tomorrow. If that happens, the Wolverines somehow, some way have a chance to win a Big Ten title.
After losing to Maryland, Michigan is now 22-8 on the season and 14-5 in Big Ten play. Regardless of what happens against Michigan State and in the Big Ten Tournament, the Wolverines will likely get a top-five seed in the NCAA Tournament. However, they aren’t going to win anything if they keep playing like this.
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