The Michigan Wolverines' basketball team only made 39.2 percent of its shots last night.

The Michigan Wolverines' basketball team played well enough defensively last night to beat UCLA (allowed the Bruins to hit just 38.9 percent of their shots), but weren't effective enough on the offensive end to come away with the win.

Elite defensive play is obviously a nice luxury to have in the NCAA Tournament, but efficient offensive play that includes timely baskets is still a must. If a team doesn't have the latter, it's more likely than not bound for an early exit in the Big Dance (hello, Tony Bennett's Virginia teams, with of course 2019 being the exception).

Michigan only connected on 39.2 percent of its shots last night against UCLA, a rare offensive off night for a club who made 48.2 percent of its attempts throughout the season (21st in the country).

The necessity for efficient offensive play wasn't just needed for Michigan to come away with wins in the NCAA Tournament (regardless of how its defense was playing), but throughout the regular season as well.

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We took a look back at U-M's worst offensive outings and its worst defensive performances of the year, and weren't surprised with what the numbers showed. In the Wolverines' five worst offensive showings (games in which it shot 40.7 percent from the field or lower), the club posted a dismal 1-4 record.

The lone win was the 67-59 triumph at Wisconsin Feb. 14 when the Maize and Blue connected on 40.7 percent of their shots, which was their "best" (if you will) of the bad performances.

We then took a look at Michigan's five worst defensive efforts of the season (games in which the opponent shot 46.8 percent or better), and found that the Wolverines nevertheless compiled a winning record of 3-2 in those five games.

In fact, U-M won all three of its worst defensive outings of the year — at Ohio State Feb. 21 when the Buckeyes shot 53.3 percent, at Maryland Dec. 31 when the Terrapins nailed 48.3 percent of their shots and against Maryland in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament March 12 when Mark Turgeon's crew connected on 48.1 percent of its attempts.