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Nothing But ‘Net – Week #09 – 12/25/2023 – Another Close Loss

Merry Christmas, to all who celebrate it.

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played one game this past week, and they lost it.  On Tuesday (12/19/2023), they lost to Florida 106-101 in double overtime.  The game was played in Charlotte, NC, as part of the Jumpman Invitational.  The loss lowers Michigan’s record to 6-6 (1-1 in Big Ten).

What Happened?

Michigan has lost six games this season, and five of them have been close enough that either team could have won.  The lone exception was the game against Texas Tech in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas before Thanksgiving.  All the other losses have been by 8 points or less, or in overtime (or double overtime):

  • 11/17/2023 – Long Beach State: 94-86.  Michigan was only down 2 points (87-85) with 30 seconds left.
  • 11/22/2023 – Memphis: 71-67.  Michigan was only down 2 points (69-67) with 10 seconds left.
  • 12/02/2023 – Oregon:  86-83 (overtime).  The game was tied (83-83) with 25 seconds left in overtime.
  • 12/05/2023 – Indiana:  78-75.  Michigan was only down 1 point (75-74) with 35 seconds left.
  • 12/19/2023 – Florida: 106-101 (double overtime).  Michigan was only down 4 points (105-101) with 18 seconds left in the second overtime.

Those are all games that Michigan could have won.  They have to get better at winning “crunch time”.

Game Flow

Michigan had the lead for most of the 1st half.  UM was up 8 points (15-7) with 13:53 to go in the half, and kept the lead in the 5-7 point range for the next 10 minutes.  At the 3:32 mark, Florida went up 31-30, and the lead went back and forth until halftime, when Florida led 38-37.  Michigan should have led at halftime, and they had a 2 point lead and the last shot, but they threw a lousy alley-oop pass that was intercepted, and Florida hit a half-court 3-pointer at the buzzer to lead by one.  Sigh.

Once again, Michigan led for most of the 2nd half.  With 17:19 left in regulation, the game was tied, 44-44.  Michigan went on an 11-2 run, and they were up 9 points (55-46) at the 15:06 mark.  They kept the lead in the 4-6 point range for the next 5 minutes, but Florida slowly clawed back into it, and the game was tied (63-63) with 9:57 to go.  The lead went back and forth for the rest of regulation, with neither team able to get more than 4 points ahead.  The game was tied at 65-65, 69-69, 72-72, 74-74, and 81-81.  Florida took the last shot in regulation, but missed it.  The score was 81-81 at the end of regulation.

Michigan led for most of the first overtime, but never by more than 3 points.  The game was tied at 83-83, 84-84, and 89-89.  This time, Michigan had the last shot, but missed.  On to the second overtime, tied up at 89-89.

Michigan finally ran out of gas in the second overtime.  The score was tied at 91-91 and 93-93, then Florida went on a 9-0 run to go up 102-93, and that was the ball game.  It’s a shame, because Michigan played well enough to win, but they just couldn’t hit the key buckets.

Stats

The game stats            were pretty good.  Michigan shot decently overall (34-for-76 = 54.4%), they shot 3-pointers very well (10-for-22 = 45.5%), and they shot free throws well (23-for-29 = 79.3%).  They lost the rebounding battle badly (54-43), and tied in the turnover battle (16-16).  They lost this game with poor rebounding and too many turnovers.  They gave up 21 offensive rebounds.  Ouch.

Who Started?

The starters were Nimari Burnett, Dug McDaniel, Olivier Nkamhoua, Tarris Reed, Jr., and Terrance Williams II.

Who Looked Good?

McDaniel had another monster game, with 33 points and 8 rebounds.  33 points ties his career high, which he set back on 12/02/2023 vs. Oregon, in another road loss in overtime.

Nkamhoua also had a very good game, with 24 points.  He also had 11 rebounds, for a double-double.

Williams continued his recent improved play, with 17 points on good shooting (7-for-12 overall, 3-for-5 from deep).

Reed had a pretty good game, with 14 points.

Burnett had a decent game, with 10 points.  His shooting was off: 3-for-11 overall, 0-for-5 from deep.

Jaelin Llewellyn played for 5 minutes, and scored 3 points, going 1-for-2 from deep.  This was all the bench scoring for Michigan: 3 points.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

Tray Jackson played for 11 minutes, but didn’t attempt a shot.

Will Tschetter played for 8 minutes, but didn’t attempt a shot.

Who Else Played?

No one else played.  That was a big problem.  The starters played 45, 47, 44, 45, and 45 minutes, and the 3 bench players played 5, 11, and 8 minutes.  The starters were out of gas by the end of the second overtime.

Who Didn’t Play?

The scholarship players who didn’t play: Youssef Khayat and George Washington III.

The Scout Team players who didn’t play: Ian Burns, Harrison Hochberg, Jackson Selvala, and Cooper Smith.

Jace Howard is still recovering from an injury, and not playing yet.  He’s expected back “later in the season”.

What Does It Mean?

In a season where Michigan stood a chance of getting into the NCAA Tournament, this loss would have been a huge disappointment, since it would have been a missed opportunity for a “quality win” on their resume.  Since Michigan is just hoping to get to 0.500 and sneak into the NIT, this loss was just another loss, in a season sure to be full of them.  Until they prove they can win a close game, they are looking more like a 10-21 team than a 16-15 team.

What’s Next?

This week, Michigan only plays one game.  On Friday (12/29/2023, 7:00 p.m., B1G+), they play McNeese in Crisler Arena.  This is their last non-conference game.

McNeese is currently 10-2, with an impressive win over Southern Mississippi, and embarrassing losses to Western Carolina and Louisiana Tech.  They do have an interesting win over Mississippi University For Women, 92-23.  That must have been something.  They don’t have any noteworthy players, and they also don’t have much height: no one over 6’9”.  This game could be more challenging than expected, but Michigan should win it if they play a solid game.

Check back next week to find out what happened and why.

Go Blue!