As the Michigan men’s basketball team prepared for its non-conference finale against Central Florida, one name stood out at the top of Juwan Howard’s scouting report.
Asked about UCF guard Darin Green Jr., Howard praised the Knights’ rising star.
“He’s been playing very well,” Howard said earlier this week. “Shooting the ball extremely well from the outside. Also, (he’s) able to get downhill by getting into the paint, finishing over people. He’s playing with a big load of confidence. He’s been a challenge for every opponent they’ve faced, and I expect the same for us. We’re going to try to do everything we can to try to make his catches tough, try to get a hand-ball contest every time he shoots it and live with the results.”
The Wolverines knew they had to run him off the 3-point line. But throughout the night, they failed to contest his shots. Green finished with a season-high 27 points on 10-of-13 shooting, including a 7-for-9 clip from beyond the arc. By contrast, he finished with just five points on 2-of-10 shooting in UCF’s previous game against North Alabama.
And now, in Howard’s words, Michigan is living with the result: Another frustrating loss — the Wolverines’ fifth before even flipping the calendar to January.
As a team, UCF lit Michigan’s defense up from all over the floor. The Knights shot 72% in the second half, turning a 12-point deficit into a double-digit victory.
“I just feel like in the second half they came out hitting some tough shots,” Michigan guard DeVante’ Jones said. “We also give up some wide open looks as well. If you’ve got guys already hitting tough shots then they get some wide open looks, they’re basically going to (shoot) 100% most of the time. They did a good job just making all those tough shots. We knew coming in, those two guys are very thirsty. That’s all on us.”
Leaning over a computer during the postgame media Zoom call, Howard sang a similar tune.
“They made some shots,” Howard said. “Some were contested, but there were some shots when we lost our man and give up some open looks. When you do that to a team that shoots the ball extremely well … they truly made us pay anytime we made a defensive mistake.”
Fifth-year senior guard Eli Brooks, meanwhile, was dissatisfied with the Wolverines’ defensive presence. Without facing physicality from Michigan, Brooks believes the Knights were able to settle in and find success.
“We just didn’t make them feel us,” Brooks said. “I don’t think we contested enough. … They got comfortable. When you’re comfortable, you make shots.”
The loss leaves the Wolverines in a difficult position. With five losses through 12 games, Michigan has no more non-conference action on its schedule. By contrast, the team lost just five games in 28 contests during all of last season. Its best win so far is a home victory over San Diego State, and come NCAA Tournament time, the lack of marquee non-conference win could be the difference between a trip to the Big Dance and NIT.
As things stand, the Wolverines look to be careening towards the latter. There’s plenty of conference play left to turn things around, but if Michigan is going to make the NCAA Tournament, it’s going to take a big step forward at the defensive end.
---
Not a subscriber to The Maize and Blue Review? Sign up today!
Discuss this article on our premium message boards
Follow our staff on Twitter @MaizeBlueReview, @JoshHenschke, @AESchnepp, @BrandonJustice_, @DanielDash_, @DennisFithian, @StephenToski, @TannerWutang, @Baird_CJ, @ZachLibby, @JimScarcelli
Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify
Subscribe to The Maize and Blue Review on YouTube!
Like The Maize and Blue Review on Facebook!
