Michigan did not play its best game in its 86-71 loss to North Carolina on Wednesday night.
However, junior forward Moe Wagner insisted the team is ready to hit the hardwood once again, and is excited about the growth he sees.
“That’s what makes this group so special,” he said. “We love basketball and sticking together. We’re making progress and embracing it, and just need to move on from Wednesday.
“If we embrace the growth and the process as a team, the results will work out in the end. That’s what we’ve been trusting since June.
“Yes, we lost our last game, but we can’t let this loss turn into two. We need to look ahead to the next game and the next practice and what we need to do better.”
The next game happens to be tomorrow against Indiana.
Although the Hoosiers are off to just a 4-3 start, they nearly beat Duke on Wednesday night at Assembly Hall before eventually falling by 10.
Wagner will likely go up against IU sophomore big man De’Ron Davis for much of Saturday’s contest, and said he can’t wait for the challenge.
“He’s a great rebounder,” Wagner exclaimed. “I was actually just watching the Duke game earlier — he and [Duke freshman center] Wendell Carter really went at it in the post, fighting for position and for rebounds.
“It’s going to be fun, because I love competing against other great players in this league. That’s what makes the Big Ten so fun to play in.”
No one has ever questioned Wagner’s intensity and love for the game. However, that intensity and aggressiveness has often landed him in foul trouble, especially earlier in his career.
“It’s my third year, so if I don’t know what is a foul and what isn’t by now, it’s not on the referees,” he admitted. “It’s on me. I’m old enough to understand it’s my job to stay out of foul trouble, and that’s what I’m trying to do.”
Meanwhile, some of the other athletes on Michigan’s roster face a different challenge.
There are four players currently averaging 10.9 minutes or less — fifth-year senior point guard Jaaron Simmons, freshman forward Isaiah Livers, sophomore guard Ibi Watson and freshman guard Jordan Poole — who are simply fighting to stay in U-M’s rotation.
“That’s tough,” Wagner said. “I’ve been in that position, and I feel bad for them. It’s a hard situation, because you feel the pressure to perform. But it’s nothing to be sad or stressed about, because it’s a great opportunity for them to compete for a position.
“At the end of the day, we’re going to win together — there should be no such thing as pressure. We just need to play like our instincts tell us to.”
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