The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MAY 2019 THE WOLVERINE 39 the second half and 34.5 percent for the game. Poole had a big game on offense, draining four three-pointers and scoring 19 points, while Livers added 10 off the bench. White paid the Wol- verines the ultimate compliment af- ter his team's loss. "As good as they are defensively, another thing that our guys can learn from Michigan — every game, win or lose, we like to think that we've got a lot to learn from — and with these guys as good as they are defensively, offensively I thought they were very, very sound," he said. "They do what they do. Their roles are very well de- fined. I was incredibly impressed." The Wolverines won't raise a ban- ner for getting out of the first week- end, but they did add another great locker room celebration to their memory bank. It was the last victory in what was an outstanding year, and even the disappointing Sweet 16 loss couldn't faze Beilein. "We have some experience, but we don't have nearly as much [as Texas Tech] and it showed," he said after his team was eliminated. "… I will give you the message that we had in the locker room — that this game shouldn't define who we are." ❏ What They're Saying About Michigan's Sweet 16 Run What the media was saying following Michigan's Sweet 16 run: Drew Hallett, TheWolverine.com: "There is no question that Beilein's six best teams at Michigan have been in the past eight seasons: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018 and 2019. In 2012, Michigan overachieved and won a share of a Big Ten regular-season title for the first time since 1986. "The commonality for all five of these teams? They all raised at least one banner because they won a Big Ten regular-season or tournament championship and/or reached a Final Four. "This is the norm that Beilein has set at Michigan where Sweet 16s are becoming routine. Before this season, when he had a contender, a team worthy of being in the top 20, it had always led to a Big Ten regular-season or tournament championship and/or a Final Four berth." Nick Baumgardner, The Detroit Free Press: "The Wolverines won 30 games this year, but after bowing out with an offensive collapse during a 63-44 loss to Texas Tech in the Sweet 16, this Michigan team will go in the books as John Beilein's best club that went without a banner of any kind. "To be clear: Michigan lost three games to MSU and one to Texas Tech. Those are two outstanding basketball teams, two of the best in the country. Against everyone else, the Wolverines are 30-3. But they'll finish 30-7 with some real emptiness in the offseason. Be- cause this is how college basketball works on the big stage: You're ultimately judged in March. Back-to-back 30-win seasons is a great thing, something undreamed of in Ann Arbor a decade ago. "But Beilein has raised the bar here. And when you don't quite reach it, it stings." John Niyo, The Detroit News: "That [poor shooting] happened as often as it did to the Wolverines this season was jarring. … The scoring droughts were frequent and frustrating, and this was Beilein's worst three-point shooting team since his first one at Michigan nearly a decade ago. "That will have to change for next season, and chances are it will, as the roster gets more experienced … and more shooters emerge. John Beilein hasn't forgotten how to coach offense, folks. "Still, perhaps it was fitting that this season ended with one final clang, and a program-worst scoring total for an NCAA Tournament game, one point shy of the 45 points Michigan scored in a loss to Holy Cross way back in 1948. In many ways, that was the story of this season, as Beilein's team raced out to a school-record 17-0 start but couldn't win the games that mattered most in the end, losing the Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles to their rivals from East Lansing and then coming up short here. "It's also a reminder of how the standards have changed for Michigan over the last decade, with five trips to the Sweet 16 in the last seven years and two trips to the national title game." Junior center Jon Teske was held to just four points in the Wolverines' Sweet 16 loss to Texas Tech, which limited U-M as a whole to just 32.7 percent shooting from the field and 5.3 percent from behind the arc. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN