When the final buzzer sounded of the 79-62 defeat in the national championship suffered at the hands of an outstanding Villanova team, a resounding sadness certainly filled most fans of Michigan. This was a team that by no pre-season measurements would have been expected to make it this far and had been written off as a team going through a "rebuilding year." Instead though, this team had a historic season for Michigan basketball not just under John Beilein but in the entire history of the program. While the final game did not end in triumph, the journey to the final step is one that all fans will look back on with positive memories.
Unconvincing Early:
Michigan's early season performances did not inspire vast amounts of confidence within the fan base early. The first three games of the season (against North Florida, Central Michigan, and Southern Mississippi) were all within two points or fewer at the half. These nervy performances led to the first letdown of the season when the Wolverines lost a two-point heart-breaker to Tremont Waters led LSU in Maui. Their return to the mainland was a 15-point defeat at North Carolina. While flashes of greatness were shown against Indiana, the game immediately following was one in which a 15-point halftime lead was blown in Columbus and the Buckeyes rallied around a big second half to end with a convincing nine-point victory.
At 7-3, Michigan had warning signs flashing around. They were without an identity on offense. They lacked a true point guard; Eli Brooks had gained the starting job over Zavier Simpson, and when factoring into the grad transfer Jaaron Simmons into the mix there was no true floor general yet. The offense had clicked at points, sure, but these points were against teams like Chaminade and UC-Riverside. They were still prone to massive gaps in scoring, like the second half over the Ohio State game where they could only muster 19 points. Change was needed for the Wolverines if they wished to be competitive.
The Turning Point:
Michigan's marquee home non-conference bout was a game with UCLA on a snowy December Saturday. Fans would be focused on the match-up between star big men Thomas Welch and Moritz Wagner, as well as waiting to see how Aaron Holiday would fare against the Michigan revolving point guard door. The Wolverines were only down three at the half despite a strong performance from the UCLA point guard, Holiday, but that lead extended to up to 15 points by the 14:30 mark of the second half. The Wolverines chipped away. Matthews had nine huge points in a five minutes span to cut the lead into single digits. Wagner fired away from three en route to 26 points. Despite only eight made free throws, Eli Brooks showed massive composure for a freshman as he drilled two free throws to send the game into overtime. Perhaps no performance was bigger than Zavier Simpson's 15 points, six-for-nine shooting, and four steals to provide a huge boost. Crisler Arena was rocking as the Wolverines came all the way back to win by nine in overtime. Michigan had found some mojo.
The win against UCLA sparked seven in a row, including at Texas, at Iowa (a place where Michigan has historically found wins hard to come by), and Illinois in a game that saw Simpson regain his starting spot. It may be lost in the unbelievable post-season run that Michigan made, but the UCLA victory and subsequent win over Texas were vital to this Wolverines team. With three losses, all devastating in their own ways, the Wolverines perhaps needed a bit of a confidence boost not just to raise spirits, but to give themselves that added belief in themselves. A game where offense and defense were all put together against UCLA and a tough defensive-carried victory over Texas surely did the trick.
Big Ten Season: The Ups and Downs:
Not all of the early-season demons were expunged. Michigan could not find any success against Purdue, losing twice by a combined five points. The Wolverines were run out of Lincoln being handed a twenty-point loss from the Cornhuskers. Additionally, Northwestern wholly shut down the Wolverines' offense holding them to 52 points and everyone not named Mo Wagner going 10-for-34 from the field. Sure the Wolverines had beaten Michigan State on the road by ten in what still is one of the finest performances of the season, but even in victory they looked vulnerable. There was the one-point win over Maryland won by Muhammad-Ali Adbur-Rahkman's two clutch free throws, and there was the overtime victory marred by referee controversy at the end of regulation. After Evanston, however, a switch seemed to flip.
What followed was nothing short of five straight extraordinary performances. Four of the five victories were by double-digits, the fifth (at Penn State) was won by nine points. Each game was special: but perhaps none more than the senior day victory over Ohio State. The Buckeyes held some sort of spell over Michigan and the early-season contest was just the latest of multiple. Instead, on their own court in front of a packed Crisler Arena, the Wolverines never truly felt danger from their rivals from Ohio and ended the night in celebratory fashion as the team joined the students to celebrate and sing the fight song. In terms of what you could want from a final game in Crisler for seniors Rahkman and Duncan Robinson, you'd be hard-pressed to find better.
Two Banners:
If the five games to finish the season were the start of a Michigan run, the Big Ten Tournament that followed was the result of the machine clicking into gear. The machine was a little faulty in the first round against Iowa, and it took overtime to finish off the Hawkeyes for a third time this season, but Michigan did it. What followed were three more games that made loud and clear statements. The quarterfinals saw a rematch with Nebraska and with that came a complete Michigan performance. Not a single Cornhusker made more than four shots from the field, James Palmer did the vast majority of his damage from the free throw line and could only muster a four-for-twelve night from the field, and Wagner and Rahkman combined for 41 points as the 20-point thumping in Lincoln was returned in kind, a 19-point victory in New York City. Then came the Spartans. For the third year in a row, Michigan knocked out the one seed in the Big Ten Tournament. Off a well-balanced attack in which five Michigan men scored in double figures, Michigan was off to the finals.
The two Purdue games and how they were lost undoubtedly were fresh in everyone's mind. A one-point game at Crisler, Michigan's only loss at home this season, in which the winning point was an Isaac Haas free throw. A four-point game in West Lafayette where Michigan shot over 60% and still somehow were trumped in field goal percentage. Not again would Beilein's men suffer heartbreak. Instead, they inflicted the emotional wounds onto Purdue. Jon Teske came alive with 14 points and a massive dunk over Haas that will live on in Wolverine memory forever. No one will forget his scream of triumph, or Simpson's swagger-filled strut to the Michigan bench after Purdue took a desperately needed timeout. A nine-point lead sealed Purdue's fate and unlocked Michigan's they had become Big Ten Tournament champions for the second year in a row. A three seed ticket was punched into the NCAA Tournament, and Michigan had a run in them.
Despite winning the West Regional and advancing to the national championship game, it seemed that the two-week layoff after the triumph in Madison Square Garden took a toll on this Michigan team. Michigan scored more than 70 just once in the tournament. To a previous Michigan team this would have been catastrophic, but not this team. The Luke Yaklich infused defense climbed its way to a third-place ranking in the entire country. The stifling defense forced Montana to shoot 32%, Houston shot 36%, and Florida State shot just over 31%. No team in the tournament run, not even Villanova, could manage a shooting percentage over 50% on the Wolverines. Fans will point to the Texas A&M drubbing in Los Angeles where the Wolverines put everything together and as a "what could have been" moment against Villanova. They may be right. However, these gritty defensively won games were the sort of game that Michigan had prepared the entire season for. They had already won ugly against teams. This was just them doing it on the biggest stage of them all.
In a tumultuous college basketball season filled with FBI investigations, coaches being fired, and morality being called into question, it only seemed fitting that Mr. Clean, John Beilein, could lead his team deep into the postseason. The Wolverines did not win it all and were only one game away. This is cause for sadness among much of the fan base, and that certainly makes sense. What must not, and what certainly will not, be forgotten is the run this team made to simply get in that position in the first place. As coach Beilein said about this team in an emotional post national championship game locker room, "in my heart forever, you will always be champions." History will not soon be forgotten. In the hearts of many, coach Beilein's sentiment will reign true for many years to come.
Tweet me your thoughts about this article or Michigan basketball @RMABTweets. Or send me an e-mail at redsmaizeandblue@gmail.com
Unconvincing Early:
Michigan's early season performances did not inspire vast amounts of confidence within the fan base early. The first three games of the season (against North Florida, Central Michigan, and Southern Mississippi) were all within two points or fewer at the half. These nervy performances led to the first letdown of the season when the Wolverines lost a two-point heart-breaker to Tremont Waters led LSU in Maui. Their return to the mainland was a 15-point defeat at North Carolina. While flashes of greatness were shown against Indiana, the game immediately following was one in which a 15-point halftime lead was blown in Columbus and the Buckeyes rallied around a big second half to end with a convincing nine-point victory.
At 7-3, Michigan had warning signs flashing around. They were without an identity on offense. They lacked a true point guard; Eli Brooks had gained the starting job over Zavier Simpson, and when factoring into the grad transfer Jaaron Simmons into the mix there was no true floor general yet. The offense had clicked at points, sure, but these points were against teams like Chaminade and UC-Riverside. They were still prone to massive gaps in scoring, like the second half over the Ohio State game where they could only muster 19 points. Change was needed for the Wolverines if they wished to be competitive.
The Turning Point:
Michigan's marquee home non-conference bout was a game with UCLA on a snowy December Saturday. Fans would be focused on the match-up between star big men Thomas Welch and Moritz Wagner, as well as waiting to see how Aaron Holiday would fare against the Michigan revolving point guard door. The Wolverines were only down three at the half despite a strong performance from the UCLA point guard, Holiday, but that lead extended to up to 15 points by the 14:30 mark of the second half. The Wolverines chipped away. Matthews had nine huge points in a five minutes span to cut the lead into single digits. Wagner fired away from three en route to 26 points. Despite only eight made free throws, Eli Brooks showed massive composure for a freshman as he drilled two free throws to send the game into overtime. Perhaps no performance was bigger than Zavier Simpson's 15 points, six-for-nine shooting, and four steals to provide a huge boost. Crisler Arena was rocking as the Wolverines came all the way back to win by nine in overtime. Michigan had found some mojo.
The win against UCLA sparked seven in a row, including at Texas, at Iowa (a place where Michigan has historically found wins hard to come by), and Illinois in a game that saw Simpson regain his starting spot. It may be lost in the unbelievable post-season run that Michigan made, but the UCLA victory and subsequent win over Texas were vital to this Wolverines team. With three losses, all devastating in their own ways, the Wolverines perhaps needed a bit of a confidence boost not just to raise spirits, but to give themselves that added belief in themselves. A game where offense and defense were all put together against UCLA and a tough defensive-carried victory over Texas surely did the trick.
Big Ten Season: The Ups and Downs:
Not all of the early-season demons were expunged. Michigan could not find any success against Purdue, losing twice by a combined five points. The Wolverines were run out of Lincoln being handed a twenty-point loss from the Cornhuskers. Additionally, Northwestern wholly shut down the Wolverines' offense holding them to 52 points and everyone not named Mo Wagner going 10-for-34 from the field. Sure the Wolverines had beaten Michigan State on the road by ten in what still is one of the finest performances of the season, but even in victory they looked vulnerable. There was the one-point win over Maryland won by Muhammad-Ali Adbur-Rahkman's two clutch free throws, and there was the overtime victory marred by referee controversy at the end of regulation. After Evanston, however, a switch seemed to flip.
What followed was nothing short of five straight extraordinary performances. Four of the five victories were by double-digits, the fifth (at Penn State) was won by nine points. Each game was special: but perhaps none more than the senior day victory over Ohio State. The Buckeyes held some sort of spell over Michigan and the early-season contest was just the latest of multiple. Instead, on their own court in front of a packed Crisler Arena, the Wolverines never truly felt danger from their rivals from Ohio and ended the night in celebratory fashion as the team joined the students to celebrate and sing the fight song. In terms of what you could want from a final game in Crisler for seniors Rahkman and Duncan Robinson, you'd be hard-pressed to find better.
Two Banners:
If the five games to finish the season were the start of a Michigan run, the Big Ten Tournament that followed was the result of the machine clicking into gear. The machine was a little faulty in the first round against Iowa, and it took overtime to finish off the Hawkeyes for a third time this season, but Michigan did it. What followed were three more games that made loud and clear statements. The quarterfinals saw a rematch with Nebraska and with that came a complete Michigan performance. Not a single Cornhusker made more than four shots from the field, James Palmer did the vast majority of his damage from the free throw line and could only muster a four-for-twelve night from the field, and Wagner and Rahkman combined for 41 points as the 20-point thumping in Lincoln was returned in kind, a 19-point victory in New York City. Then came the Spartans. For the third year in a row, Michigan knocked out the one seed in the Big Ten Tournament. Off a well-balanced attack in which five Michigan men scored in double figures, Michigan was off to the finals.
The two Purdue games and how they were lost undoubtedly were fresh in everyone's mind. A one-point game at Crisler, Michigan's only loss at home this season, in which the winning point was an Isaac Haas free throw. A four-point game in West Lafayette where Michigan shot over 60% and still somehow were trumped in field goal percentage. Not again would Beilein's men suffer heartbreak. Instead, they inflicted the emotional wounds onto Purdue. Jon Teske came alive with 14 points and a massive dunk over Haas that will live on in Wolverine memory forever. No one will forget his scream of triumph, or Simpson's swagger-filled strut to the Michigan bench after Purdue took a desperately needed timeout. A nine-point lead sealed Purdue's fate and unlocked Michigan's they had become Big Ten Tournament champions for the second year in a row. A three seed ticket was punched into the NCAA Tournament, and Michigan had a run in them.
Despite winning the West Regional and advancing to the national championship game, it seemed that the two-week layoff after the triumph in Madison Square Garden took a toll on this Michigan team. Michigan scored more than 70 just once in the tournament. To a previous Michigan team this would have been catastrophic, but not this team. The Luke Yaklich infused defense climbed its way to a third-place ranking in the entire country. The stifling defense forced Montana to shoot 32%, Houston shot 36%, and Florida State shot just over 31%. No team in the tournament run, not even Villanova, could manage a shooting percentage over 50% on the Wolverines. Fans will point to the Texas A&M drubbing in Los Angeles where the Wolverines put everything together and as a "what could have been" moment against Villanova. They may be right. However, these gritty defensively won games were the sort of game that Michigan had prepared the entire season for. They had already won ugly against teams. This was just them doing it on the biggest stage of them all.
In a tumultuous college basketball season filled with FBI investigations, coaches being fired, and morality being called into question, it only seemed fitting that Mr. Clean, John Beilein, could lead his team deep into the postseason. The Wolverines did not win it all and were only one game away. This is cause for sadness among much of the fan base, and that certainly makes sense. What must not, and what certainly will not, be forgotten is the run this team made to simply get in that position in the first place. As coach Beilein said about this team in an emotional post national championship game locker room, "in my heart forever, you will always be champions." History will not soon be forgotten. In the hearts of many, coach Beilein's sentiment will reign true for many years to come.
Tweet me your thoughts about this article or Michigan basketball @RMABTweets. Or send me an e-mail at redsmaizeandblue@gmail.com
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