The Michigan Wolverines and the Oregon Ducks were both badly in need of a win following losses in non-conference tournaments. With a record of 4-3 heading on the road to play the Ducks, Michigan had dropped three of their last four games. Two of those losses came in the Battle 4 Atlantis against Memphis and Texas Tech.

Oregon, on the other hand, had lost two straight in the Emerald Coast Classic to Santa Clara and Alabama. Both the Ducks and Wolverines were reeling coming into the game, and the hard-fought overtime bout prove that to be true.

Juwan Howard remained on the bench as an assistant to Phil Martelli, who continues to serve as the team's interim head coach, while Howard is still recovering from heart surgery. Surely Howard's cardiologist was not happy that the game went to extra time and ended in a down-to-the-wire loss.

After a back-and-forth first half, the final 20 minutes were nothing different. Down four points late, Michigan's elite point guard Dug McDaniel drilled a long step-back jumper to make it a 71-69 game. Moments later, with less than one minute left, he hammered home a clutch three to take a 72-71 lead. It was the Wolverines first since it was 59-55 halfway through the second half.

Oregon had possession in the final seconds of both regulation overtime. After missing two straight opportunities to seal the game in regulation, the Ducks capitalized with yet another chance to score late. Oregon's Freshman guard, Jackson Shelstad, hit a deep three to win the game 86-83 with 1.3 seconds remaining.

McDaniel's electric performance was not enough for Michigan as the Wolverines dropped to 4-4 and Oregon moved to 5-2.

Below are three takeaways from Michigan's brutal nonconference loss before they head home play the Indiana Hoosiers on Tuesday, Dec. 5 at 9 p.m..

After putting up nine points in the first half, McDaniel started the second half hitting four straight threes before the under-16 media timeout. It was nothing surprising on the scoring front for Michigan, who has been forced to lean on their sophomore point guard heavily to begin the season.

Coming in, McDaniel averaged a team-high 18.4 points per game in 35.3 minutes. In the loss, he surpassed his season high of 26 points that he previously reached against St. Johns, with 33 points in 42 minutes.

His efficiency is rather remarkable in regards to the volume he is doing it in. On roughly 14 attempts per game, McDaniel is shooting about 50% from the field and 42% from three, all while adding over five assists per game.

Still, his numbers are also a in due part to a lack of scoring from elsewhere in the lineup.

Jaelin Llewellyn made his first appearance of the season, but he saw very few minutes and tallied just two points and an assist. Although Nimari Burnett has shown the ability to get hot from three and was second on the team with 13 points, he is not the ball-handler that McDaniel and Llewellyn are.

Freshman guard George Washington III did not see the court and questions continue to arise about the construction of Michigan's roster.

The ceiling of this Wolverines squad will not fully be actualized until Llewellyn is back to his normal self, something that the Wolverines need sooner than later to help out their season.

However, one constant still remains. Dug McDaniel is a nightmare for defenses and will continue to put up electric performances night-in and night-out.

As mentioned above, Michigan is badly in need of a second point guard. Oregon came out pressuring Michigan in the full court and with heavy on-ball pressure in the half court. It forced 16 Wolverines' turnovers on the game, eight of which were in the first half.

Their struggles to get the ball over the timeline and stagnant half-court offense were forced issues by the Ducks. There is a recipe to beating Michigan and that is to pressure whoever has the ball as much as possible, minus McDaniel.

The return of Jaelin Llewellyn could prove to be the boost that the Wolverines need, but Michigan will have to ease him back into regular action coming off of an anterior cruciate-ligament tear last season. Llewellyn struggled offensively when he did play in 2022, but he has a track record of being a great scorer and distributor during his time at Princeton from 2018-2022.

Still, relying on a sixth-year player who is returning from a major knee surgery will not be a recipe for success. Michigan will have to look for Burnett to play more confident as a ball-handler and distributor if they want to be a tournament team.

With just four scholarship guards on the roster, the Wolverines' slow-footed forward-heavy lineups have hurt them at times on both offense and defense at times.

Michigan can and will still find ways to win, but Llewellyn will be crucial in deciding the type of success that the Wolverines have during the 2023-2024 season.

Michigan's starting center, Tarris Reed, failed to get on the board against the third-string big for Oregon. Reed went 0-2 from the free throw line and struggled offensively yet again.

Nobody is expecting Reed to be something he's not, but the sophomore's offensive limitations have proved to be a problem for a team that only has just one center on their roster. His lack of scoring threat down low has allowed defenses to key-in on passing lanes and play tight on-ball defense, forcing Michigan to make difficult plays in isolation or on the perimeter.

That means players like McDaneil, Burnett or Olivier Nkamhoua, who had 12 points on 30% shooting, will be forced into taking tough shots. Nkamhoua put up five less points than his season average, but was still the third-leading scorer on the game for Michigan. He remains a go-to player for the Wolverines, but right now they cannot afford off-nights from him.

That is until Will Tschetter can emerge as a consistent threat. Tschetter has contributed well in limited minutes this season, adding a shooting component that Reed does not have. That threat will be needed increasingly going forward and proved itself at times against the Ducks.

Tschetter came in and drilled a clutch three to tie the game with 1:10 left in the overtime, bringing his point total on the game to eight in 19 minutes and likely giving the sophomore added confidence going forward.

If Michigan can get consistent scoring out of Tschetter or even Tray Jackson off the bench, it will relieve some of the pressure on Nkamhoua and the rest of the squad from Reed's struggles.

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