The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1493247
68 THE WOLVERINE MARCH 2023 BY CHRIS BALAS M ichigan basketball won three straight games — a big 68-51 road win at Northwestern plus victories over Nebraska and Ohio State — to put itself in position for an NCAA Tournament berth. The Wolverines needed a win over Indiana at home Feb. 11 to get close to the bubble and seemed to be in position, up by seven with 10:57 to play. As it had been much of the year, the Wolverines came up short. They went scoreless for the last 5:19, and while the defense was much better, they couldn't find a bucket when needed. "It felt very winnable, and we were up for most of the game," Michigan junior center Hunter Dickinson said. "For us, having it slip away like that really hurts. It felt like a really winnable game and felt like our game to win out there." He called it the "moral of the season," and admitted it felt like Michigan gave back all the progress it made during the three-game win streak. Rightfully so, probably. The Wolver- ines needed to string together wins, and a victory over Indiana would have been a key Quad 1 victory. "It is extremely unfortunate that we weren't able to capitalize on this," Dick- inson said. "This was a great opportunity for us … a great opportunity to build our résumé. We need a lot of help in order to make the tournament, and this was a great opportunity that slipped through our fingers." So did the next game, a 64-59 road loss at Wisconsin. The Badgers didn't score a field goal for the last 10:47, but still found a way to pull out a victory. U-M finished 2-of-11 shooting down the stretch, and Wisconsin freshman guard Connor Es- segian scored a career-high 23 points in the win. The loss left Michigan at 8-7 in Big Ten play and reeling heading into a home game with Michigan State Feb. 18. That one would be an emotional affair in the wake of a tragedy on the Michi- gan State campus in which three stu- dents were killed and five others hospi- talized in critical condition following a mass shooting Feb. 13. Michigan hosted MSU's first game after the tragedy with U-M students wearing "Spartan Strong" shirts, and the arena was lit up in green during the playing of the national an- them. Head coach Juwan Howard felt it dur- ing the pregame ceremony, especially when he looked at the Michigan State bench. "I was looking over at [Michigan State] Coach [Tom] Izzo and how emotional he got during 'Lift Every Voice and Sing,'" Howard said. "I started to get a little emotional myself … to understand that it really hit close to home for him and his players. "It was very classy of the University of Michigan to really show how much we as a community care about the Michigan State community." But when the ball went up, he said, he knew it was going to be all business and that Michigan State would be ready to play. Izzo's teams tend to thrive in times of adversity, and they took the fight to the Wolverines on the court. MSU's Joey Hauser impressed with 10 quick points. Every time Michigan made a run, the Spartans seemed to answer to stay a step or two ahead. Point guard Dug McDaniel and fellow frosh Tarris Reed Jr., however, were the catalysts in leading the comeback, along with sophomore shooting guard Kobe Bufkin. His late shot clock and contested triple started a 12-0 Michigan run that would finally give the Wolverines an 84- 72 win in what was a tight game down the stretch. Reed helped get them there with sev- eral strong finishes and tireless work on the glass. He finished with 8 points and 10 rebounds in 24 minutes, and he came up with some big blocked shots on the defensive end down the stretch. They'd need all of it. Michigan starter Terrance Williams II was on the bench with a knee injury, and freshman scorer Jett Howard left in the second half after turning his ankle. He wouldn't return. MICHIGAN BASKETBALL Michigan Is Behind The Eight Ball For NCAA Tournament Bid Junior center Hunter Dickinson has scored in double figures in nine of the last 10 games through mid-February, highlighted by a 25-point outing in a 77-69 win over Ohio State Feb. 5. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL