"Overrated" chants filled the Bryce-Jordan Center on Sunday afternoon, as Penn State students looked for something interesting to partake in, as their team's game had already been well decided.
Michigan looked to rebound after its 75-70 loss to Purdue on Thursday night, but the Wolverines didn't even come remotely close to winning Sunday's game. Here are three takeaways from the 83-61 blowout loss.
Jett Howard the lone bright spot
In a game that had almost nothing good coming from it, Jett Howard was the lone bright spot. The freshman guard was reinserted in the starting lineup on Sunday after he missed Thursday's game against Purdue with an ankle injury.
In was unclear how healthy the 6-foot-8 stud actually was, but he quickly put any doubts to rest. The freshman scored 13 of Michigan's first 15 points, and he was single-handedly keeping the Wolverines in the game in the first 10 minutes.
Howard couldn't do it all for Michigan, though, and Penn State began to pull away and stretch its lead. The younger Howard brother finished the afternoon with 21 points on 8-13 shooting and 5-7 from beyond the arc.
The stat line will look impressive for NBA scouts, but it won't translate to a win, which is something Michigan desperately needs as February looms.
NIT bound?
At this point in the season, Michigan sits at 11-10 overall and 5-5 in the Big Ten. Juwan Howard's squad has yet to obtain a Quad 1 win, and the résumé is lacking substance.
The broken record will continue to play for a little while longer, but Michigan will need to turn things around in a hurry if it wants to have any shot of participating in the NCAA Tournament. All season, fans have been waiting for Michigan to put things together and turn it around, but it hasn't happened yet, and after Sunday's loss, it looks like it may not happen at all.
With 10 conference games remaining, Michigan will need to put together an uncharacteristically good performance to not only have a hope of reaching the NCAA Tournament, but also setting itself up for a solid seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
If Michigan can't start stringing some wins together, its only hope of going dancing will be winning the Big Ten Tournament in March. Of course, the conference tournament champion is given an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
If the Wolverines miss out on the big dance, it will be the first time they've missed out since 2015.
Is Juwan Howard's seat getting warm?
Juwan Howard had success in his first two seasons as Michigan's head coach, but the last two seasons have been incredibly disappointing for Michigan fans and onlookers of the program. Ever since Michigan was eliminated by UCLA in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, Howard's teams have gone 30-25 overall and 16-14 in the Big Ten.
With a less-than-stellar recruiting class coming in, the questions are beginning to form as to whether Howard is the right man for the job.
Next season will be a big determining factor in the head coach's future, but Howard's seat is almost certainly warming up a little after two very mediocre seasons.
Michigan will head to Evanston, Illinois on Thursday to take on the Northwestern Wildcats. The game will begin at 7 p.m. EST and will air on ESPN2.
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