The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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38 THE WOLVERINE ❱ APRIL 2023 sent it to overtime in the eventual 87-79 Wolverine win. "Of course, I knew it was going in. I practice that shot all the time," Dickinson said with a laugh. "Hunter's a big-time player and makes big-time plays," sophomore guard Kobe Bufkin proclaimed. "I wasn't worried when it was in the air." "We were owed that," Howard said. "We've been through a lot of pain early on in the season with some of the games that we've lost." That shot could've been a point where Michigan turned around its late-game woes, exorcising that demon. But ulti- mately, it was just a fleeting feel-good moment before a bumpy landing to the season. Dickinson doesn't go without blame for the disappointing season at large, but the first-team All-Big Ten standout (by the media; also a second-team pick by the coaches) did his part, and then some. "Hunter came in with sky-high expec- tations — individually, within the con- struct of the team, and then externally," Michigan radio play-by-play commenta- tor Brian Boesch said. "When you shoot for being an All- American and have a team that shoots for going to the Final Four, Michigan certainly fell short of the team-related goals. "But from Hunter's standpoint, on the floor, he didn't miss by a whole lot. How- ever, he wasn't quite able to lead them to the [Purdue center] Zach Edey, [Indiana forward] Trayce Jackson-Davis strato- sphere that many people thought and Hunter was hoping to reach." He raised his level of play at the end of the campaign, averaging 23.7 points, 11.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists in the final six games. "Down the stretch, Hunter Dickinson understood and recognized the position that the team was in," Boesch explained. "He gets the big picture of where his re- sponsibility lies in that, or his culpabil- ity lies if they lose, and he played with a fire that almost willed Michigan into that NCAA Tournament conversation. "Two of his best performances were his two losses at the end of the regular season — they were gut-punch losses. He played so well. It just wasn't enough." It was a special stretch of basketball by one individual, and others stepped up at times, but the team couldn't put it all together. Ultimately, the 7-foot-1, 260-pounder didn't receive enough help from his teammates. "Hunter's not the reason why Michi- gan didn't make the NCAA Tourna- ment," Boesch said. "To me, Hunter is one of the reasons why Michigan made it very close until the final week of the regular season." Still, the Wolverines had optimism heading into Chicago that they could win a pair of games — over Rutgers and Purdue — to build their résumé. Versus the Scarlet Knights, Dickinson made 8 of his team's 16 field goals in the loss. He was getting double- and triple-teamed as the game went on, but the Wolverines couldn't make the open jump shots the attention on Dickinson created, a fatal flaw. In the first 19 minutes of the second half, the Maize and Blue had just 1 field goal — a stunning and unfortunate way to go out and end their NCAA Tournament hopes. Dickinson and past teams had been so good in games with the season on the line his first two seasons, but couldn't get it done this year. "It was just a really good lesson for the younger guys," Dickinson said. "It was a really good experience for them to realize how much these opportunities mean and how quickly they can go, especially once you get to March when you've only got one game. Like Coach always says, one- game series." 'HE WANTS THE ATTENTION' Michigan returned to Madison, Wis., on Valentine's Day, nearly a year after the postgame handshake line incident that resulted in a five-game suspension for Howard. But it wasn't the team's head coach who received the loudest boos from the red- faced fans in the Badgers' crowd. That was Dickinson, who, months earlier on his podcast, "Roundball," called the Wis- consin faithful "scumbags." Dickinson was caught by ESPN cam- eras arriving at the Kohl Center wearing a Dickinson's 30-foot heave at the buzzer tied the Feb. 26 game against Wisconsin and sent it to overtime in the eventual 87-79 Wolverine win. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL