The end of the season for Michigan basketball keeps getting uglier and uglier
Michigan basketball has lost four of its last six games. But what’s worse is the way the Wolverines have lost.
The offensive firepower that carried this team to a 22-5 starter and a projected four seed when the NCAA selection committee released its bracket preview last month, has vanished.
Vlad Goldin was effective against Michigan State. Danny Wolf and Nimari Burnett had their moments, but they have been too far and in-between. Every player who played against Michigan State, in another lopsided loss, shot below 50 percent outside of Goldin, who scored 29 points.
It didn’t matter, though. Michigan basketball is incapable of making a 3-pointer, and everyone knows it. The Spartans built an 18-point advantage at the 3-point line. They also forced a bunch of turnovers and grabbed 10 offensive rebounds for good measure.
The rebounding was better than the last double-digit loss to Michigan State. The 3-point shooting somehow got worse. Michigan basketball showed some fight in the second half. The defense was better, but the Wolverines just couldn’t make enough shots to close the deficit.
You aren’t going to shoot 14 percent from 3-point range and win in the Breslin Center. Michigan fans have to keep hoping things will turn around and that shots will start falling, but there is zero evidence to support that.
It’s clear that nobody has confidence in their shot. Danny Wolf hasn’t been the same player and while the difficult of the schedule has played a role in Michigan’s slide, the Wolverines have zero momentum. Three of their four losses in this six-game stretch have come by double figures and it’s starting to feel like this team might not win another game.
The Big Ten quarterfinals as the No. 3 seed will be next on Friday. After that, Michigan will play in the NCAA tournament. Unless they turn it around soon, the Wolverines won’t be dancing for long.
