When you enter a game in which your team has a size advantage, especially at the center position, you expect to dominate at the rim. That was the thought entering Thursday night's game in San Antonio for Michigan against Villanova, where the Wolverines hoped to own the paint agains the hot shooting, five-out Wildcats. Michigan had no such advantage, as a team-wide malaise on finishing at the rim doomed the Wolverines despite a strong defensive performance against Villanova. The Wolverines hung tight for much of the contest, but couldn't buy a made layup or free throw when it mattered and in the process, fell 63-55 in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. With that, it's curtains on the 2021-22 Michigan Men's Basketball season. 

The game got off to a quick start before slowing down dramatically. There were 19 points scored between the two teams just over 5.5 minutes in, with each team trading early scores. Caleb Houstan made an early three that seemed to bode well for Michgian's shooting, but it did not hold up moving forward. Villanova pulled ahead to an 18-11 lead with 10:32 to go in the first and Juwan Howard called a timeout, seemingly furious at Brandon Johns Jr. for a defensive mistake. After that point, Michigan would lock Villanova down defensively, allowing only 13 points the remainder of the first half. Johns himself would turn it around defensively, playing some of the best defense of his career in the latter section of the first half. 

Michigan reclaimed the lead 22-20 with just under 4 minutes left in the half after a quick DeVante' Jones-led spurt, including a coast-to-coast layup and then a three pointer. Jay Wright called timeout and got his own 5-0 spurt from star Jermaine Samuels to restore the 'Nova lead, who converted an and-one that tacked Hunter Dickinson with a crucial second foul at the 3:42 remaining mark. The teams each made a couple buckets in the final two minutes and the half ended 31-28 Villanova. Michigan's scoring was evenly distributed between players in the first half, and the Wolverines shot 44% from the floor and 43% from three. The issue were the appalling 1/6 from the free throw line, as well as several missed layups. It felt like Michigan should have led at halftime, given the excellent defense they had played. 

[Patrick Barron]

The second half didn't represent a marked change from the slog of the first half. The Wolverines scored just three points in the first seven-and-a-half minutes of the second half (!), continuing to struggle at the rim and with free throws, in addition to a few sloppy turnovers. The balls clanged off the iron time and time again, as precious time dwindled off the clock. The defense held strong to keep the game competitive, but after Eric Dixon knocked down a three to make it 40-31 Villanova, Michigan was in a pinch.

Eli Brooks stepped up in that pinch, breaking Michigan's offense out of the funk temporarily, nailing a couple threes that cut the game to a six point edge (a Justin Moore three sandwiched in between). The score was 47-41 in favor of the Wildcats with little more than eight minutes remaining when a Collin Gillespie three came up a little short. The rebound kicked out and DeVante' Jones leapt for it, colliding with a Wildcat in what seemed like an obvious foul call. No whistle came, Villanova retained possession, and seconds later, it led to a Caleb Daniels and-one off a touch foul from Moussa Diabate. Daniels swished the free throw and it was 50-41 with 7:52 left. 

[Patrick Barron]

Villanova's passing over this period of the game was extremely impressive, it should be noted. They moved the ball very well, exploiting Michigan defenders who had gotten out of position, finding the open guy and leading to buckets. That allowed Villanova to convert some key makes to retain a mid-size lead, even as Michigan's offense began to come back on line. When Eli Brooks nailed a three to cut the lead back to six (54-48), there were under four minutes to go in the game.

Michigan needed to make a run, and they began to put a push together. Brooks was hammered on a moving screen, and Terrance Williams II was hacked on the ensuing Michigan possession. T-Will made both free throws and after a 'Nova miss from three, Williams pulled up on a heat-check look from distance that would've cut it to one. The three was well off the mark, and that's the closest Michigan would come to making a comeback. 

Jermaine Samuels toasted Hunter Dickinson for a layup and Dickinson would miss one on the other end. At that point, it was getting dark for Michigan and the dagger came only moments later. Collin Gillespie got an open look from beyond the arc and canned a three. 59-50 Villanova, 1:49 left to play. The final 109 seconds of Michigan's season slipped away like sand in an hourglass and the final score read 63-55 in favor of the Wildcats. Game over, season over. 

[Click the JUMP for takes]

[Patrick Barron]

Michigan lost this game because they shot 34.9% from two. They were consistently under 40% on dunks/layups throughout the contest, despite holding the size advantage on the interior. Villanova, to their credit, did an excellent job denying easy entrance passes to Dickinson in the post, and also contested a number of those looks in the paint. Still, Michigan's path to winning (barring an outlier hot shooting night) was never going to be through bombing it in from three. They needed to assert themselves at the rim and couldn't do so. Shooting 7/14 on free throws didn't help either. 

Defensively I think Michigan did what they wanted to do. They held a top 10 KenPom offensive team to 63 points on <40% from both the field and from three. Michigan, you could argue, got better looks than Villanova all game long, but an inability to consistently finish those chances haunted the Wolverines. In some ways it was a microcosm of this season from a coaching perspective: crafting a smart game plan and executing it to 80% success, but individual failures left Michigan unable to go beyond that and claim victory. 

The Wolverines will finish their season 19-15 and now await the offseason. Questions remain about what the roster will look like next season, and in time we will learn those answers. Caleb Houstan, Hunter Dickinson, and Moussa Diabate have NBA decisions to make, while veterans Eli Brooks and Brandon Johns Jr. are likely out the door due to age and eligibility factors. As Brooks leaves, he exits the winningest player in Michigan Basketball history and deserves a 'thank you' from the Michigan fanbase. DeVante' Jones still has a COVID season to use if he wanted to return. Of the eight Michigan players who saw the floor tonight, only Frankie Collins and Terrance Williams II are assumed to be back in Ann Arbor 100%. A new recruiting class will come through the doors of Crisler and transfer portal shopping will begin, as Juwan Howard tinkers with the roster. 

Thank you, Eli [Patrick Barron]

This was a flawed Michigan team, streaky shooters where either everything went right or everything went wrong through much of the season. They were on one night, off the next, consistently inconsistent and unable to stitch together more than one win in a row for a two month stretch. Even during their biggest wins, Michigan games were littered with frustrating mental errors, a year that seemed to deliver so little pleasure as they flopped short of lofty expectations, before being partially redeemed thanks to one weekend in Indianapolis. Tonight was the culmination of all of that. 

I was rather unenthused going into this NCAA Tournament because it never really felt like this Michigan team could make a run. Unlike in 2017, where Michigan had a low seed but were scorching hot and had an identity behind Derrick Walton Jr.'s leadership and Moe Wagner's burgeoning stardom, this 2022 team had a low seed but it felt like that rank was apt. There really wasn't anything on the resume to suggest they could make a Cinderella run. Too many flaws, too many mistakes, and lacking the kind of pivotal players that 2017 team had. But of course, due to the nature of the tournament, those two teams ended up in the same place, the Sweet 16.

The 2022 team won a coin flip against Colorado State and pulled off one upset thanks to the genius of Eli Brooks. That was a nice treat for a long season of frustration, but in the end, they are who we thought they were. Not able to live up to the hype, but the hype was unreasonable in hindsight and preseason rankings only mean so much in a sport where rosters are so constantly in flux between one-and-dones and the transfer portal. It's a winning season, it keeps the Sweet 16 streak alive, but it does, for a minute, blunt the progress of the Juwan Howard era from last season.

Questions will need to be answered next year, but that day will come in time. It wasn't the Final Four/national title contender we wanted, but in three seasons of Juwan, Michigan made (or was on pace to make) the tournament all three years, made the Sweet 16 in both years the tournament was held, and has a B1G regular season crown. Not too shabby first three seasons. Onward and upward.