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W
hen it’s boiled down
to its bare bones,
basketball
has
a
simple premise: get the ball in
the basket.
When a team can’t do that
efficiently,
the
chances
of
coming away with a win drop
significantly.
The
Michigan
men’s
basketball team (13-10 overall,
7-6 Big Ten) proved the adage
true on Saturday, falling to
No. 16 Ohio State (15-6, 8-4),
68-57, in a showing fraught
with offensive inefficiency.
“We got good looks,” fifth-
year guard Eli Brooks said.
“We missed a lot of layups, a
lot of bunnies, a lot of stuff
around the rim that we should
have made. And it’s tough
when tough when you don’t
make the easy ones.”
From the start, the game
looked
like
a
rock
fight.
Both
the
Wolverines
and
Buckeyes — 19th and seventh
in the country in KenPom’s
adjusted offensive efficiency
— struggled to make any
gains offensively. Each bucket
was hard-earned, and both
teams’ offensive possessions
were marred by turnovers
and missed shots in a messy
back-and-forth
showdown.
Eventually,
the
offenses
gained some traction, giving
Ohio State a 3-point lead at
the half.
Coming out of the break,
where
Michigan
would
have liked to see a spark to
ignite a comeback, it instead
saw smoke. At the under-12
timeout, the Wolverines found
themselves in an 8-point hole
after shooting a measly 3-for-
12 from the field to start the
half. The Buckeyes, though not
accelerating their offensive
rate, kept up the pace from
the first half, which proved
to be enough in the face of an
anemic Michigan attack.
The Wolverines were simply
not the high-scoring team
that decimated No. 3 Purdue
Thursday
night.
Typically,
Michigan’s
defense
sinks
its ship, but the Wolverines
were actually able to amount
stops. They simply couldn’t
capitalize on the opportunities
they were creating, in spite of
having the ability to do so.
“We know that we have
shooters on the team,” Brooks
said. “We prove it in practice,
we
prove
it
through
our
numbers throughout the year.
I mean, (it’s) just confidence. I
think we need to just shoot our
shots and be more confident
taking our shots.”
It was a far cry from the
Michigan team that bared its
formidable fangs against the
Boilermakers. The Wolverine
squad that dropped 82 points
and made over half of its shots
from the floor and from deep
was nowhere to be found come
Saturday.
Instead, a shell of itself
stood in its place. Michigan
posted
an
underwhelming
41.4% from the field and a
tragic 23.5% from beyond the
arc.
“We
shot
4-for-17
from
three, and there were some
really
good
looks
at
the
basket,”
Michigan
coach
Juwan Howard said. “I would
say maybe five of them were
forced
(misses).
But
other
than that, it just didn’t go in
for us, but we stay with it.”
With every missed shot,
the Wolverines lost a chance
to
build
momentum.
And
when they did make a much-
needed bucket, the Buckeyes
always found a way to silence
the Crisler crowd and halt
Michigan in its tracks.
Star Ohio State forward
E.J. Liddell stood on the
front lines of the Buckeyes’
spoils. Dropping 28 points
on the Wolverines’ defense
with
odds-defying
makes
and clinical shots. Flanked
by the rest of Ohio State’s
contributors, it was too much
for Michigan on a night where
it wasn’t at its best.
“He’s gonna make tough
shots,” Howard said. “… And
that’s what it was tonight.
Liddell made a lot of tough
shots.”
The
Wolverines’
typical
saviors didn’t have it in them
to resurrect their team from
the deficit. Sophomore center
Hunter Dickinson notched just
14 points on 7-of-17 shooting,
freshman wing Caleb Houstan
came away with a miserable
five and besides Dickinson,
only
fifth-year
guard
Eli
Brooks
broke
into
double
digits.
Down
the
stretch,
as
Michigan
floundered,
the
Buckeyes
pulled
away.
Without the ability to score
efficiently, the comeback was
never realized.
With the chance to grab
their second Quadrant 1 win
in a row and put themselves
in a better position to make
the NCAA Tournament, the
Wolverines came up short.
As Brooks saw it, the reason
why was pretty simple:
“We just didn’t make shots.”
NICHOLAS STOLL
Managing Sports Editor
SPORTSWEDNESDAY
SPORTSWEDNESDAY
FACED
FACED
TWO
TWO
After dominating Purdue, Michigan falls
back to earth in deflating loss to Ohio State