Michigan gives away game, season in all-too-familiar fashion in Nashville
Juwan Howard and the Michigan basketball team fell to the Vanderbilt Commodores, 66-65 at the Memorial Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. Dug McDaniel had an impressive first half, and Hunter Dickinson took over in the second half, but it wasn't enough as Michigan gave the game away in the final minutes.
Here are three takeaways from the season-ending loss.
Joey Baker: hot at home, cold on the road
The fifth-year graduate student posted a Michigan career-high 21 points in the Wolverines' 90-80 home win over Toledo on Tuesday. He shot 5-7 from beyond the arc, and his lights out shooting helped Michigan past the Rockets. It was a season-high in 3-pointers made for the Duke transfer.
Despite the red hot shooting performance earlier in the week, Baker struggled mightily in Michigan's second-round loss to Vanderbilt. The 6-foot-7 guard shot 3-10 from the floor and 0-3 from deep. Late in the second half, Baker made what looked to be a 3-pointer, but it was changed to a 2-pointer during the media timeout.
Baker seems to feel more comfortable in the confines of the Crisler Center, but unfortunately for him and for Michigan, he may have played his final game in Ann Arbor.
Hunter Dickinson dominates second half
Vanderbilt lost its starting big man to injury for the rest of the season just a few weeks back, and on paper this was a game that Dickinson should dominate. However, the first half didn't go that way at all for the 7-foot-1 big man.
Luckily for Michigan, Dug McDaniel picked up the slack in the first half, and although U-M trailed 17-5 early on, Michigan led, 30-29 at halftime.
Dickinson stepped up his performance in a huge way in the second half. The former second-team All-American scored 15 second-half points on 6-9 shooting, but it wasn't enough as turnovers plagued the Wolverines late.
A familiar finish ends Michigan's season
The largest criticism surrounding the Michigan basketball team this season has been that the Wolverines struggle to finish games. The inability to finish cost Michigan game after game throughout the regular season.
Postseason play didn't turn out any differently for Michigan, though. The Wolverines made just one field goal in 19 minutes of second-half action against Rutgers in the Big Ten Tournament, and they gave away an eight-point lead with less than a minute to play against Vanderbilt on Saturday afternoon.
It's a finish that Michigan fans are very familiar with at this point in the season, and the loss perfectly encapsulates Michigan's 2022-23 season as a whole.
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