ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The end of the Big Ten regular season couldn’t come fast enough for the struggling Michigan Wolverines.
At this point, the men in maize seem to be gasping for air, as the once-leaders in the standings have fallen to third place in the Big Ten Tournament.
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Watching the Michigan State Spartans beat the Wolverines 79-62 for their seventh straight loss inside the Breslin Center in East Lansing was telling, as they were down by as much as 24 points in the matchup.
With another head-scratching loss, the Wolverines are 2-4 in their last six games, ending the regular season on a three-game losing streak.
What went wrong
The Wolverines are a turnover-ridden team that can’t shoot, plays little to no defense, and runs the same style of stagnant offense, which has caused them to drop five of their last seven games.
Those two wins came against the Nebraska Cornhuskers in an awful scoring output on the road in a 49-46 victory, and their last win should’ve been a loss if it weren’t for a Hail Mary last-second buzzer beater by guard Nimari Burnett against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at home.
During the losing streak down the stretch of the season, they’ve been getting production from one player, Vladislav Goldin, who dropped 29 points while grabbing six rebounds.
Danny Wolf, the once-future NBA first-round draft pick, scored 18 points while grabbing 13 rebounds in the rout, but those didn’t come when the game mattered most.
As for the rest of the team, they’ve done nothing lately, and their bench is null and void as Rubin Jones, Roddy Gayle Jr., Tre Donaldson, Burnett, L.J. Cason, Will Tschetter and Justin Pippen combined for 15 total points.
The Wolverines showed fight when the game was all but settled as Cason and Phat Phat Brooks got into an altercation with MSU guard Tre Holloman, who ran up on the duo as they were standing at the top of the Spartans logo at half court.
After the game, it was learned that Holloman took slight offense at the young Wolverines standing on the logo during Senior Day, who, due to a tradition that seniors in the 90s started, would kiss the logo during their final home game.
Now What
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results.
Michigan has been playing this same style of basketball all season, and the book is out on them offensively and defensively, and it’s become stale.
At some point, fans knew this day would come as they’ve won nine games by four or less, but nobody could fairly say they had seen this stretch coming.
If they want a chance at any run in the NCAA or Big Ten tournaments, it must start at the top, meaning head coach Dusty May.
The men in maize have played 31 games, and the only change was to switch Gayle for Jones in the starting lineup.
Michigan has “Area 50-1” but consists of playing Wolf as a guard, to which teams play him like the guard of the team, which has caused him to turn the ball over continuously.
In the process, they’re taking their seven-foot dynamic player and using him at the top of the key while leaving Goldin under the basket to fend for himself.
This means that with any off-shot, the Wolverines are at a disadvantage on the boards, reducing second-chance opportunities. This has been evident lately as they’ve gone cold, especially from beyond the arc.
The ball sticks as their offense basically runs a big-big screen with Wolf and Goldin or a one-pass pick scenario with Wolf and Donaldson or Jones and back to Wolf where he either goes one-on-one or he tosses the ball inside to Goldin who then goes one-on-one for a contested jump hook or a hard drive to the basket with the defender on his hip.
This style of play has led to them winning 22 games this season, which is far from eight during the 2023 season, but teams have caught up with them, and they’re forcing Michigan into tough scenarios, which is not working anymore.
NFL Hall of Fame tight end and media mogul Shannon Sharpe always says: “Never accept in a win what you wouldn’t in a loss.” And that’s what the basketball program has been doing all season.
Fans and players have accepted the Wolverines' style of play, which involves high turnovers and poor shooting performances, because they were masked by victories.
With the Big Ten Tournament ahead, Michigan will take the court on Friday, March 14, at 9 p.m. inside Gainbridge Arena to await the winner of the Purdue Boilermakers and the USC/Rutgers matchup.
With four days to rest and re-strategize, May and his staff need to adjust to find their footing ahead of March Madness and snap their three-game losing streak to boost their confidence ahead of the big dance.
