The Michigan Wolverines’ basketball loss against Ohio State ended with controversy tonight, as senior point guard Zavier Simpson was called for a flagrant foul because he grabbed junior forward Kyle Young’s jersey to brace his fall as he was fouled with only 33 seconds remaining.
Young’s jersey ripped, which undoubtedly played a factor in the infamous Terry Wymer — an Ohio basketball Hall of Fame inductee, no less — giving Simpson a flagrant foul, which aided OSU immensely in its 61-58 win.
Head coach Juwan Howard revealed afterward that just as he was about to watch the replay on the monitor, Wymer told the operator to shut it off so Howard wouldn’t be able to see it.
Michigan still had a chance for a potential game-tying three-pointer with one second remaining as junior guard Eli Brooks managed to find a clean look, but the veteran guard wasn’t able to knock it down.
“We drew up a play we thought would work pretty good,” freshman guard Franz Wagner revealed afterward. “We got our shot, but just missed it.”
Brooks’ miss summed up Michigan’s night offensively, with the Wolverines only shooting 33 percent for the game and just 32 percent from deep.
Despite the horrendous shooting performance, U-M still had a chance to send the game into overtime on its final possession.
“It was a testament to the heart and the fight our guys have,” redshirt junior center Austin Davis noted. “We never count ourselves out and we fight until the last second, and I’m proud of each and every one of my teammates for the way they fought tonight.
“This one is hurting a lot of people. It obviously doesn’t feel good, but we’ll band together and won’t point fingers. We’ll figure it out and move on.
“Any loss is discouraging, but it’s about how you take it and grow from it. That’s what we’re focused on.”
“We aren’t losing these games right at the end, even though that’s what everyone wants to pinpoint,” Wagner added.
“We made too many mistakes throughout the game that we’ll need to fix in the future. We had some really good looks that just didn’t go in.
“We also had some at the rim we didn’t make — maybe it was a lack of focus. Things like that will hurt you in these types of games.
“I think the ball is going in every time I shoot, and that’s why I shoot it. We were in that game the whole time even though we didn’t play well — sometimes that just happens.”
One area the Wolverines excelled in tonight, however, was on the glass. Michigan outrebounded Ohio State, 42-30, with Wagner actually leading the charge in that department.
He pulled down a career best 14 boards, shattering his previous career high of eight.
“I gave up two offensive rebounds against Rutgers [on Saturday], so Coach Howard talked to me about that,” the freshman revealed.
“He wanted me to rebound better.”
U-M will next take on another key rival in Michigan State on Saturday, who will enter the showdown riding a two-game losing streak (lost at Wisconsin this past weekend and at home to Penn State tonight).
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