The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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36 THE WOLVERINE MAY 2019 BY CHRIS BALAS N ot so long ago, Michi- gan basketball celebrated NCAA Tournament berths like the team had won the national championship. Ten-year droughts will do that to a program, something U-M fans and players had to endure before head coach John Beilein led them from that desert in 2008-09. Twelve years later, Beilein has raised the bar considerably. The Wol- verines have been to two national championship games, won four Big Ten titles (two regular season, two tournament) and with this year's run through the first two games played in their fifth Sweet 16 under Beilein, including their third straight. Though they lost to an elite Texas Tech team in the West regional, the Wolverines won 30 games this year against only seven losses, four of the latter coming to Final Four teams, and played in two conference cham- pionship games against Michigan State. That there was still a twinge of dis- appointment after so much was ac- complished shows just how far the program has come, and it's not lost on Beilein. One of the toughest parts about raised expectations is how much more it hurts when the goals aren't met. Beilein and his team felt the pain in a big way after a stunning 63-44 loss to Texas Tech in which the Wolverines played one of their worst games of the year — "a bad day for a bad day," as Michigan's head coach put it. When those happen in the NCAA Tournament, especially in the Sweet 16, more often than not that team is going home. The Red Raiders had plenty to do with that, their swarm- ing defense throwing the Wolverines out of rhythm from the start, not to mention their athletes taking over in the second half. Tech did the same to every oppo- nent they faced until the final, when a few breaks went against them in an overtime loss to Virginia. Only Gonzaga kept the game within single digits against the Red Raiders in the tournament to that point, losing 75- 69, and the Bulldogs still only shot only 7 of 26 from long range in the loss. Texas Tech's defense made offenses work for everything they got, and it eventually became that good looks from long range were often accompa- nied by tired legs. Michigan missed its first 18 three-pointers before walk- on C.J. Baird hit one — with a fortu- nate bounce, no less — in mop-up time. "We had a few looks, but couldn't get many good ones," Beilein said after the loss. "I don't remember exactly, but we probably had six or eight open ones and didn't make any of them. We had to force some here and there because of the shot clock, things like that. "But they really guarded us well with their great length. What I thought was a defining moment was when [sophomore forward] Isaiah [Livers] finally got open and their big kid came and blocked that shot." There are some teams that are just tough matchups, Beilein noted, before adding, "they were a bad matchup for us" and calling Tech the best team the Wolverines had faced all year. And, of course, they weren't alone. Texas Tech was a bad draw for most teams they faced. But Michigan wasn't going to beat the Red Raiders without its stars bringing their "A" games, and it wasn't meant to be. Junior point guard Zavier Simpson, U-M's season MVP, was held scoreless with four turnovers against only one assist, and he was flustered, something that doesn't happen very often. Freshman Ignas Brazdeikis scored 17 to lead the way, though he made only seven of 16 shots and missed all five of his triples, while redshirt ju- nior Charles Matthews added 12. The Wolverines turned it over 14 times and only had five players — includ- ing Baird — tally points. "That was the scouting report we heard from the different people that played them during this year, that you're going to be amazed at how quick they are, how good they are at staying in front of people and how they rally to the ball, which usually gives us open threes … and you still can't get open threes," Beilein said of Texas Tech's defense. "They really have a great plan, which we don't see much … really pushing everything to the baseline. We just weren't good at that. "We picked up our dribble. A lot of things we worked on in the two days that we practiced for this [didn't hap- pen], and we couldn't get far enough against a team that has been prac- ticing that defense for six months, really." SWEET MEMORIES It all added up to a shocking exit and anti-climactic finish to what was still a great season. Getting to the Sweet 16 wasn't the ultimate goal, but given where the program was when Beilein arrived, the program's fifth time going that deep in seven years is nothing to shrug over. ANOTHER SWEET RUN Michigan Makes The Sweet 16 For The Fifth Time Under John Beilein, But Falls Short Of Being Elite Redshirt junior wing Charles Matthews led the Wolverines with 22 points and 10 boards in their NCAA Tournament opener, but U-M was not able to keep the momentum going in the Sweet 16. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL