U-M fails to make timely plays in loss to Indiana
It’s a situation Michigan basketball has found itself in seemingly too many times to count in recent years.
Tied in the final moments and in need of a play to be made, but instead, it goes the other way.
U-M fell to Indiana, 78-75, on Tuesday night at Crisler Center after committing 14 turnovers, shooting 4-for-17 from the 3-point line and missing three critical free throws in the final three minutes. The Wolverines are now 0-7 in one-possession games since the start of last season and 2-11 in 13 games that finish within four points or go to overtime.
“All of us, not players only, all of us have to — we need one to break through,” acting coach Phil Martelli said of losing a second consecutive one-possession games. “We need a breakthrough, one where we say ‘wow, you mean it does come out on the right side?’”
With the game tied at 73 and less than one minute left, Indiana drew up a play for Oregon transfer center Kel’el Ware, who caught the pass on the right block, took one dribble and hit a hook shot over Tarris Reed Jr.
Though it was just one possession, it told the story of the game. The Hoosiers, one of the worst long range shooting teams in the nation, attempted just nine shots from beyond the long line and pounded the ball inside.
The result? A season-high 52 points in the paint allowed by U-M and another 15 at the free-throw line.
“They’re really good, myself included, I take responsibility, probably need to be a little more physical,” said center Will Tschetter. “Gotta do better, do our work early and (get in position) so they’re not getting looks they want.”
After a Michigan timeout, Dug McDaniel drove the lane and got fouled, but missed the first of two free throws and only cut the lead to one. The Wolverines appeared to get a defensive stop when Malik Reneau missed two layups and the ball went out of bounds. But a review determined the ball went off Reed with 6.1 seconds left.
Indiana inbounded to Mackenzie Mgbako, who made both made two free throws to go up
three. The Wolverines called timeout and designed an inbound play but Indiana didn’t allow U-M to get a foul off as it fouled McDaniel with 3.9 seconds to play.
The strategy worked as the sophomore missed the first free throw and made the second − though Martelli said it was one they tried to miss. IU was able to inbound the ball to Trey Galloway with 2.2 seconds left, who split the pair and gave U-M one last chance
U-M never got a shot off as Ware swatted the inbound attempt and ended all hope for the Wolverines. Michigan (4-5, 0-1 Big Ten) has now lost five of its past six games and its losing streak to Indiana extends to four, all of which have come by five points or fewer.
“It starts off early on with the defense, setting that tone,” said Nimari Burnett. “We’re waiting until they hit us a few times with some early buckets before we ‘oh, let’s get some stops.’ It has to happen as soon as 20 minutes start in the first half.”
Reneau paced the Hoosiers with 15 points and six rebounds, Ware added 13 and eight rebounds for Indiana and Mgbako scored 11. Olivier Nkamhoua scored a game-high 18 points and had five rebounds for Michigan while Tschetter scored 17 points with six rebounds, McDaniel scored 12 and Terrance Williams II added 10.
Nkamhoua heats up after break
U-M began the second half leading by two when Nkamhoua scored eight straight points by himself. The first bucket Nkamhoua caught on the left block, took a dribble and made a right-handed hook. The next possession, he got the ball on the same block and hit a turnaround.
Then, he decided to turn over his right shoulder and go with a baseline fadeaway jumper, giving U-M a 45-43 lead. For good measure a few possessions later he got the ball at the 3-point line, faked a pass, took a step-in and drilled the mid-range jumper to take a fourpoint lead.
Midway through the half, McDaniel had missed 10 straight shots when his floater rolled around the rim and dropped to give U-M a 5651 lead. Moments later, Tschetter drilled a 3pointer from the left wing for a six-point lead before Indiana answered with a 7-0 run in the next 1:30.
“Ever since we got to practice in September, we talked about score-stop, score-stop, scorestop,” Tschetter said. “Felt like we started to get a little complacent with score, they’d score ... and we’re not going to shoot 100% from the field, we’d miss and then let that affect us on the other end.
“Almost a mindset switch we have to have. Can’t let our offense affect what we’re doing on the defensive end.”
McDaniel, who scored a career-high 33 over the weekend at Oregon, would score seven of the final nine U-M points over the ensuing 4:48 of the game, but it came at a cost. The sophomore missed three free throws to close it out and finished 3-of-14 from the floor, 0-of-4 from long range and 7-of-10 on free throws.
“That’s who we’re riding with,” Martelli said. “Playing a lot of minutes, has to guyard the other team’s ball handler. You know what he’s a boxer and today he got knocked down. He didn’t get knocked out, but he got knocked down.
Surviving early drought
The Wolverines had a nearly five-minute scoring drought in the first half, missing 10 of 11 shots, but the Hoosiers had a case of the turnovers.
IU went 6-for-8 from the floor in the first seven minutes of the game, but committed six turnovers during that stretch, so it had to settle for a 15-9 lead after a Payton Sparks bucket with 12:22 to play.
Shortly thereafter, point guard Jaelin Llewellyn checked in for the first time for a game at Crisler Center in more than a year and made a quick impact. Tschetter, who buoyed U-M early, got an offensive-rebound and put-back to snap Michigan’s scoreless drought, then Llewellyn knocked down a 3-pointer from the left wing to knot the game at 15.
The Hoosiers once again went on a hot shooting streak and made 6-of-8 field goals, the last of which was a slashing layup by Kaleb Banks right past Williams to put IU up 28-21, its largest lead of the first half.
IU had its way in the early going, with 23 of its first 28 points coming in the paint (20) or free-throw line (3-for-4).
“Overwhelming size,” Martelli said of what gave U-M the most fits. “Their size was different. They’re bigger than T-Reed, bigger than Olivier and T-Will had a tough matchup ... the size and their true commitment to interior passing.”
The only reason U-M was within seven by the midway point of the first half was Tschetter. Not only did the redshirt sophomore score the bucket to end the skid, but made a pair of free throws and added an aggressive scooping layup as he scored seven of U-M’s first 21 points.