Wolverine Watch: Less Juice, More Lose

Desperation versus satisfaction rarely works as a combination in sport. Michigan learned the hard way Sunday.

The Big Ten-champion Wolverines cruised their way to an 11-point deficit, then tried to turn on the juice, but it was too late. Michigan State grabbed a 70-64 home win, delivering U-M’s third loss of the season and the second in a week.

In the big picture, it changes little. In the moment, it stings like a hornet buzzing in your ear, then delivering the point. After the game, Juwan Howard delivered his.

“Today we learned that a team who, from start to finish, was more aggressive, more active on both ends of the floor, and wanted it more than we did [wins] … we’ve really got to do a better job matching other team’s physicality,” a clearly irked Howard said afterward.

Other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?

The Spartans performed like a team desperate to avoid an NCAA Tournament lockout. The Wolverines played like a team with a title in its pocket, a strong NCAA seed locked up, and nothing to get worked up about.

They used firepower late to stay in it. They just couldn’t win it.

Asked if the combination of MSU’s desperation and Michigan’s achievement proved tough to overcome in the Breslin Center, Howard eschewed the psych couch.

“I’m not into being Sigmund Freud or anything like that,” he assured. “I just know in basketball, you have to be ready to play from start to finish, especially against a team where you won convincingly in your building. Now you’re playing in their building.

“They pride themselves on their physicality. We were not the aggressor — they were.”

For those who say this one can and should be quickly put in the trash can (in a couple of ways), it’s tough to argue. But in terms of a rivalry Howard takes very, very seriously, it’s an elbow to the chops.

Consider…

• Howard’s Michigan teams could have pushed their edge to 3-1 in games against MSU since he rolled into town. A 2-2 mark doesn’t deliver the same sort of early message.

• Yes, the Wolverines own the clear upper hand on the season, Big Ten Tournament and NCAA chances, etc. But how many times do you own a golden opportunity to put a Tom Izzo team out of the NCAAs? Howard wanted it. His team didn’t, at least not enough.

• Regardless of what happens from here on out, this is a bad MSU crew, one ripe for a sweep. More energy early could have put the second check in that box.

They didn’t exhibit enough, and it took the pen right out of their hand.

The Wolverines experienced a heart-stopping (and perhaps game-changing) moment when senior guard Eli Brooks hit an under-and-up floater then crashed to the floor with a twisted ankle. He never saw the floor again, and the change proved palpable.

Watching Brooks carried off came as a bigger punch to the gut than a loss in East Lansing, at this point. As much as they craved another win against the Spartans, they needed to stay healthy going into tournament time even more. He wound up in a walking boot, a kick to the ankle for U-M’s chances in East Lansing.

Brooks or no Brooks, MSU clearly owned the effort edge in the first half. They out-rebounded the Wolverines, 22-15, tipping balls, keeping them alive, etc. Michigan looked like a crew hoping to hang around and win late, while shooting (10-for-28) like their COVID masks had slipped over their eyes.

Fortunately for the visitors, MSU clanged at roughly the same clip (12-for-30). It left the Spartans up just four, 30-26, after one of Michigan’s worst halves of the season.

Seemingly the 100th MSU miss and tip-out turned into a crusher with 11:59 remaining. Down seven, the Wolverines couldn’t come up with a defensive rebound despite four maize jerseys in the neighborhood. Instead, MSU’s Marcus Bingham Jr. snagged it and laid it back in, drawing freshman Hunter Dickinson’s third foul in the process.

The Spartans soon had it in hand, up 11 with 5:58 remaining. The Wolverines then put on a charge down the stretch, cutting it to two with 1:13 left. But they’d played with fire too long, and a couple of clutch MSU buckets left them burned.

Missed front ends of 1-and-1s, sloppy entry passes, loose balls ending up in MSU hands — it all bore the marks of one team looking more ready to go, despite Howard liking the prep.

“I thought we were ready,” he said. “We had a really good practice yesterday. We had a great film session before practice. We had another really good film session last night. Another good walk-through and film session today.

“Our prep was really good. We’re just not applying it for 40 minutes. We had some really good spurts out there on the floor.”

Spurts gave way to game-long spunk. Satisfaction gave way to desperation.

The loss of Brooks for any amount of time hurts U-M — a lot. But a loss of remaining the aggressor, from here on out, costs the nation’s No. 2 team a title of some sort.

They want to be the last team standing on a Monday night in April. Maybe a Sunday night in Hades will spur them on to it.

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