Michigan Wolverines basketball's championship-winning season has come to an end with a 51-49 loss to UCLA in the Elite Eight.
Here are five takeaways from the game.
RELATED: Michigan Basketball's Run Ends With A 51-49 Loss To UCLA In Elite Eight
1. Player of the game: Johnny Juzang
UCLA sophomore guard Johnny Juzang was cooking from the beginning of the game, and Michigan never really found an answer. He went 11-of-19 shooting from the field, with his long twos and mid-range jumpers serving as daggers all night.
The Kentucky transfer has dealt with ankle issues over the past few games, and he even left the contest after rolling his ankle with just over 17 minutes left in the second half but returned and was able to score six points after getting nicked up to help lead his team to victory. He finished with 28 points, over half of UCLA's 51 total points for the game.
The Wolverines went with junior forward Brandon Johns — and a lot of switching — on Juzang to begin the game, but he had a tough time guarding him. Senior guard Chaundee Brown struggled on him when he got the assignment as well. They had to mix it up and decided to have senior guard Eli Brooks give it a go for the most part in the second half, but, while he stayed in front of Juzang, he is five inches shorter and wasn't able to contest shots enough to consistently force misses.
With all that said, if someone would've told Michigan head coach Juwan Howard that only two Bruins would score in double figures — they have five players who average double-digits scoring on the season — he would've probably thought his team won. It was to the degree that Juzang got hot, and the fact that Michigan didn't make many shots itself, that resulted in a loss.
The Wolverines were able to limit every threat outside of Juzang and hold the nation's seventh-most efficient offense (entering the night) to only 51 points and its second-worst points per possession total (0.868) for the year. The offense was the problem, and we'll get into that below.
