5 takeaways from Michigan Basketball’s loss to Auburn in the Sweet Sixteen

After keeping pace with the Tigers in that first half, a key run midway through the second half helped Auburn to victory. Here are 5 takeaways from Michigan’s loss in the Sweet Sixteen:

In a Sweet Sixteen that was rampant with sloppy play and plenty of turnovers, the Auburn Tigers dominated on the glass and eliminated the Michigan Wolverines from the NCAA Tournament, 78-65.

The Tigers were the No. 1 team in the country for the vast majority of the season before losing three games in the first 15 days of March heading into the tournament. Before that, they had lost just two games in the first three-and-a-half months of the season. The Tigers are a squad full of seniors, boast a legit Player of the Year contender in Johnni Broome, and have very few weaknesses.

Neither team played a good first half, and despite shooting less than 20 percent from three and turning the ball over 10 times, Auburn still led at the half. Michigan led by as many as nine points early in the second half, but a 20-2 Tiger run over a five-minute stretch got the No. 1 overall seed the lead back, and Auburn never gave the lead back.

Michigan played good enough defense to win, making one of the best teams in the sport look pedestrian at times. But aside from an incredible night from Danny Wolf, the Wolverines didn’t get consistent scoring from anyone else and turned over the ball too much to pull off a comeback.

One of the most fun seasons the program has had in years is over. There’s a lot to look forward to next year and beyond, but until then, here are a few takeaways from the loss.

The Big Bad Wolf

Wolf knows how to play well against Auburn after Yale upset the Tigers last season. Wolf had 13 points in that Yale win, and then 11 points in the first half this time around.

The crafty 7-footer had nine of Michigan’s first 18 points, hitting a three and getting downhill on drives. Wolf did a great job taking the ball right to the rim after Auburn makes, preventing runs and quieting an Atlanta crowd that seemed to be pulling hard for the SEC champs.

Wolf scored the first points of the second half with another three and got up to 20 points with less than 13 minutes to play, three points away from a season high.

Wolf provided consistent scoring and finished with a team-high 20 points. If this was the last game he played in a Michigan uniform, it was a hell of a finale.

Turnovers ruin a solid defensive performance by the Wolverines

Charles Barkley said it best at the half — the most important thing in basketball is the basketball, and taking care of it was a struggle for both teams at times. You know you’re playing good defense when Chuck is “disturbed and disgusted” by the first half performance of his alma mater.

Aside from a back-to-back-to-back stretch late in the first half, the Wolverines took care of the ball nicely in the first 20 minutes. They actually turned the ball over less (8) than the Tigers (10).

After sloppy play through the first few minutes of the second half, turnovers were dead even again, with Wolf bouncing the ball off his leg and throwing it away past half-court.

The Tigers, known for taking care of the ball extremely well, turned the ball over early and often thanks to phenomenal Michigan defense in the half-court. The Wolverines jumped out to a nine-point lead early in the second half because of those turnovers, and would have been up by more had it not been for turnovers of their own.

But just as they have all season long, turnovers killed the Wolverines in the second half, with a few of them happening on that massive run that helped Auburn take command.

An Auburn guard put the nail in the coffin, and Michigan’s guards didn’t do enough

Denver Jones (18 points) hit a few big threes throughout the game, but the guard that really killed Michigan’s comeback chances was freshman Tahaad Pettiford (21 points).

After shooting poorly in that first half, the McDonald’s All-American — in the bench spark plug role that Tre Donaldson played for the Tigers last season — came alive.

With Michigan reeling, the freshman hit two huge shots late: a three to put Auburn up ten, and an and-one to put the nail in Michigan’s coffin.

Nimari Burnett and Rubin Jones made a few nice plays in this game, but as has been the case all season, their play wasn’t consistent enough to lift Michigan. And speaking of Donaldson, he was unfortunately a non-factor (five points) against his former team.

As great as Area 50-1 was this season, Michigan’s ceiling was limited due to guard play that could not be counted on.

Battle on the boards

Per the CBS broadcast, Auburn ranks eighth in the country in second-chance opportunities and just outside the top-50 on KenPom in offensive rebounding percentage. As the stats would indicate, the Tigers did well on the offensive glass.

Michigan played sound defense but struggled to grab the ball after misses early, with Auburn grabbing six offensive rebounds in the first six minutes of the game. The Tigers didn’t shoot the ball well in that first half, missing 13 of their 16 threes. But the 1-seed still led at the half after grabbing 11 offensive rebounds, giving themselves plenty of extra looks at the rim.

Broome and Dylan Cardwell crashed the offensive boards hard and the Wolverines couldn’t stop them. Yes, Auburn shot the ball poorly, but that wasn’t a lethal mistake with all the extra opportunities the Tigers worked for.

Ultimately, the Tigers won the battle on the boards, 48-33. Michigan hasn’t always rebounded well this season, despite all the size it has, and that inconsistency was under a spotlight in this game.

Johni Broome would not be denied

Broome has been one of the best players in the country all season, but the Wolverines really slowed him down early. Vlad Goldin did a great job contesting Broome’s shots and forcing him into some uncomfortable shots. And in true glue guy fashion, Will Tschetter took a charge in the first half to force a Broome foul.

Broome’s biggest strength is taking the ball to the basket with authority. Goldin made him work for it, but Broome got the best of him many times around the rim.

Broome finished with an impressive 22 points and 16 rebounds, with nine of those rebounds being offensive ones.

That’s all, folks

While this loss certainly stings, it can’t be forgotten this was an incredibly successful season, especially for a first-year coach who only got two rotation players from the previous year’s team.

Dusty May managed to triple Michigan’s win total from last season; per OptaSTATS, he’s the first college basketball coach to take a team that lost 24 games to the Sweet Sixteen the next season. He had Michigan in contention for the Big Ten, led the Wolverines to the Big Ten Tournament championship, and got the Wolverines to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

I’ll be expanding on this in an upcoming column, but May has completely changed the trajectory of this program, with fans having newfound hope in the short term and the long term. Crisler Center is packed for the first time since Beilein, and the future of this program is incredibly bright.

It should be a busy offseason, with Michigan having to replace two graduating players (Vlad Goldin, Rubin Jones). The Wolverines anticipate losing Danny Wolf to the draft, and the transfer portal is full of surprises. To follow along with the whirlwind of #PortalSzn, I highly recommend bookmarking our tracker, which is updated daily.

Thanks for reading these takeaways all season. This was my fourth season covering the program, and it was easily the most fun season I’ve covered.

Be sure to follow along for basketball articles all offseason long. I’ll also be recapping this season with Jared Stormer and Andy Bailey on Out of the Blue in the near future, so stay tuned for that.