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Posted on by Drew Montag

Nothing But ‘Net – Week #25 – 03/31/2025 – And Then The Roof Fell In

The (#22) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played one game as the #5 seed in the South Region of the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament in Atlanta this past week, and they lost it.  On Friday (03/28/2025), they lost to the #1 seed (#4) Auburn 78-65.   Michigan’s final record for this season is 27-10 (14-6 in Big Ten).

What Happened?

They had it.  They were playing Auburn evenly, and they had built up a decent lead.  All they had to do was keep the game close until the under-4:00 timeout, and they stood a good chance of spinning their close-game-end-of-game magic.  And then the roof fell in.  They went from a 9-point lead to a 9-point deficit in mere minutes, and the game was over.  It was so sad, a sad way to end a very successful season.

Don’t get me wrong: Auburn is very good, and deserved to win this game, but Michigan had played such a solid, strategic game up until the moment the roof fell in, it was a shame that it just abandoned them so suddenly and so completely.

Game Flow

The first half was close and tense, with many ties and lead changes, and neither team getting ahead by more than 4 points.  Michigan led 29-28 with 2:33 left in the half, and Auburn scored with 34 seconds left to go into halftime up by one point, 30-29.  Michigan went ahead early in the 2nd half (32-30), and Auburn tied it up (32-32).  Michigan went ahead again, and started to pull away.  They had a 6-point lead (42-36) at the 14:36 mark, and a 9-point lead (48-39) with 12:26 to go.  That was when the roof fell in.  Auburn suddenly woke up and got hot, and UM went stone cold.  That’s a bad combination.  Auburn got within 1 point (48-47) in just over a minute (11:12 to go), then went ahead for good (49-48) just over a minute after that (9:56 left).  Michigan finally scored again at the 8:52 mark to get within 1 point (51-50), which stopped a 12-0 run, but Auburn rattled off another 8-0 run to make it 59-50 at the 7:27 mark.  So, that was a 20-2 run by Auburn, in just about 5 minutes.  Michigan never recovered.  The Auburn lead got as high as 14 points, and Michigan never got within 10 points again.  That 5 minute stretch ended Michigan’s season.

Stats

The game stats were pretty weak.  Michigan shot poorly overall (21-for-59 = 35.6%), they shot 3-pointers poorly (5-for-17 = 29.4%), but they shot free throws pretty well (18-for-24 = 75.0%).  They lost the rebounding battle badly (48-33), and they tied in the turnover battle (15-15).  They lost this game with poor shooting and rebounding, and too many turnovers.

Who Started?

The starters were Nimari Burnett, Tre Donaldson, Vladislav Goldin, Rubin Jones, and Danny Wolf.

Who Looked Good?

Wolf was the leading scorer, with 20 points.  He was a little careless with the ball, with 4 turnovers.

Goldin’s last game as a Wolverine was a forgettable one: 10 points on terrible shooting (2-for-9 overall, 0-for-1 from deep).  He had 9 rebounds, for an almost-double-double.

Burnett was the only other Michigan player in double figures, with 10 points. 

Roddy Gayle Jr.  had a decent game off the bench, with 7 points.

Who Looked Not-So-Good?

Jones wasn’t much help in his final game for Michigan, with 6 points.

Donaldson had a lousy game against his old team, with 5 points on terrible shooting (2-for-9 overall, 1-for-3 from deep).

Will Tschetter wasn’t much help off the bench, with 2 points.

Who Else Played?

L.J. Cason chipped in 5 points off the bench.

Phat Phat Brooks played in the final minute, but didn’t attempt a shot.

Who Didn’t Play?

Sam Walters didn’t play again in this game.  He’s still recovering from a lower back injury.  He hasn’t played since 02/08/2025.  It really would have helped to have had him available.

Jace Howard and Justin Pippen were the other scholarship players who didn’t play in this game.

Ian Burns, Howard Eisley Jr., Harrison Hochberg, and Charlie May were the Scout Team players who didn’t play in this game.

What Does It Mean?

Season over.  Getting to the Sweet Sixteen was great, but it could have been even better.

What’s Next?

Clean out the lockers.  Season over.

Check back next week for my Season Wrap-up, Final Grades, and a Look Ahead.

Go Blue!

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