The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1490206
44 THE WOLVERINE FEBRUARY 2023 MICHIGAN BASKETBALL best — conferences in college basketball. I would say we're definitely one of the best Power Five conferences in basket- ball because every team, you're going to get their best." That seems to be the case now with Michigan, too, whereas it might not have been before. They're getting better, and they have the talent. McDaniel is com- ing of age in taking over for injured grad student point guard Jaelin Llewellyn, out for the year with a knee injury, and guys like sophomore forward Will Tschetter and freshman big man Tarris Reed Jr. are starting to provide more minutes and energy. As Howard always likes to say, it takes "all hands on deck." The Wolverines still have some work to do, but there's at least some hope heading into the meat of the Big Ten schedule. — Chris Balas MICHIGAN STRUGGLING TO FINISH GAMES IN CRUNCH TIME After the Wolverines led by 11 points in the second half but blew a game against Virginia Nov. 29, losing 70-68, junior center Hunter Dickinson said playing close against one of the nation's elite meant Michigan was in that same cat- egory. It was debatable at the time, but not an outrageous comment. Weeks later, considering the Wolver- ines haven't been able to come up with wins in close games, it's apparent they're not in that category and still have to fig- ure out how to gut out victories instead of fumbling games away. Out of U-M's six losses from Nov. 29 to Jan. 12, two came by one possession and five were decided either by four or less points or in overtime. The Maize and Blue lost all three one-possession games and have won only three such contests against high-major teams during fourth- year head coach Juwan Howard's tenure. The most disappointing came in a 93-84 overtime loss to Iowa Jan. 12. Michigan led by seven points with two minutes to go, five with one minute re- maining and four with 30 seconds left. However, too many Wolverine mistakes cost them what would have been a mar- quee road win. "Frustration. That's the biggest thing," said freshman guard Jett Howard, who put up a career-high 34 points but didn't make a field goal after the 11-minute mark. "We know we're a good team. We understand we have to execute more down the stretch. That's what decides these games overall." Iowa outscored Michigan 23-5 from the two-minute mark of regulation on, dominating the extra session 14-5. "We have to be more clutch at the end of the day," Jett Howard added. "There's no reason they should stop us for that amount of time down the stretch, be- cause I feel like we're the better team." Juwan Howard said he didn't feel his team looked confident going into over- time, after Iowa tied the score, took the momentum and had the Carver-Hawk- eye Arena crowd behind it. The Maize and Blue know there will be games to be had the rest of the Big Ten season, and they may well come down to who executes better in crunch time. — Clayton Sayfie MICHIGAN FLASHES NEW 'THUMP AND BUMP' FRONTCOURT Michigan freshman forward Tarris Reed Jr. revealed just before the season that he hadn't practiced any at the power forward spot, just center. That was the case in games, too, until Jan. 12 at Iowa. Reed and junior center Hunter Dick- inson took the floor together for the first time, and the combination was impres- sive. Reed played a career-high 21 min- utes and was on the floor for six minutes down the stretch. He tallied 2 points and 7 rebounds, and played solid defense on Iowa junior forward Kris Murray, one of the Big Ten's top players, on a number of possessions. The 6-foot-10, 260-pounder posted a minus-2 plus/ minus rating in a game Michigan lost by Freshman big man Tarris Reed Jr. is starting to make his presence felt off the bench. He pulled down 7 rebounds at Iowa Jan. 12 and had 8 boards against Northwestern Jan. 15. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL