UCLA 51, Michigan 49, Season Over
I'm drained and disappointed. I imagine anyone reading this is, too.
In a slow, ugly game, Michigan missed chance after chance to push past UCLA and into the Final Four. After trailing for most of the second half, the Wolverines twice took the lead, the final time on a Hunter Dickinson free throw with 4:30 to play. They'd stay within a possession for the rest of the game.
They wouldn't make another shot from the field, missing their last eight and getting only a pair of Franz Wagner free throws. Wagner had the cleanest look at a potential game-winner only to airball a wide-open three-pointer following a Michigan timeout with 19.8 seconds left. Eli Brooks tried to put back the miss on the fly with a reverse layup and left it short.
UCLA's Johnny Juzang split a pair of bonus free throws with six seconds left to give Michigan another crack. Smith pulled up and had the space for a good look from beyond the arc but missed the mark. Yet the Wolverines still clung to life when UCLA knocked the ensuing rebound out of bounds with what the officials determined was 0.5 seconds remaining, enough time to catch and fire. Wagner's desperation three at the buzzer never came close.
Johnny Juzang, walking bucket [Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA Photos via Getty Images]
Michigan is a better team than UCLA, even without Isaiah Livers. Juzang had to be spectacular, pouring in a game-high 28 points—more than a quarter of the game's total—on 11-for-19 field goals with a high degree of difficulty. Michigan got no such performance out of their main players. Hunter Dickinson led the team with only 11 points, and while he made 5/10 shots from the field, he went 1/4 from the free throw line and committed four turnovers. Wagner shot 1/10 in arguably his worst game of the year; the only other candidate is the ugly loss to Illinois. Smith finished 1/7 and didn't record a second-half assist.
UCLA's secondary scoring paled in comparison to that of Michigan, which got quality contributions out of Brandon Johns, Chaundee Brown, and Austin Davis. Juzang's game-long heater and the immense struggles of his opponents' headliners negated that advantage. It's a game of making shots; UCLA's top bucket-getter played at his best while M's sat on the bench in a walking boot. It can be a cruel game.
In the light of day, it'll be time to celebrate the accomplishments of a team that was picked to finish seventh in the Big Ten before the season, won the conference, earned a one seed, and came within one shot (or several one shots) of a Final Four in Juwan Howard's first NCAA Tournament as a head coach. This season was an unequivocal success.
Tonight, it's tough to get over the missed shots against a beatable opponent. I was prepared to see Michigan not have enough firepower to keep up with Gonzaga; seeing that come to pass against a UCLA team that had two players score more than four points is more difficult to accept in the immediate aftermath, even if that's the nature of a game that's already produced a wild tournament.
The excitement of a top-ranked incoming recruiting class will be of considerable comfort, too. Howard is just beginning his head coaching career. The program is in as good a place as its ever been. If any program knows there are only so many clean shots at Final Fours and national championships, though, it's Michigan, and it's sad to see this team come so close to adding more banners only for a terrible shooting night to do them in.
[Hit THE JUMP for the box score.]
Bummer of a way to go out. Just needed one more fucking basket. Finally missed Livers' shooting.
Still, Elite Eight ain't bad. I wasn't sure they'd make it this far when Livers went out. We were still dancing when the rest of the BT was out.
Can’t paint a happy face on this, they played like dogshit against a team they should have stuffed into a trash can. Frankly it makes me question the whole season. I can handle being beat by a better team, I despise being beaten by being out efforted and I will always remember this was epically choking. I want to be happy but they laid a BAD egg at the wrong time.
You question the whole season because we lost in the Elite Eight? This team was picked to finish 6th in the conference and that was with Livers. It massively overachieved.
We shot horribly tonight but I don’t agree that the effort was poor. I’m hard-pressed to think of many easy baskets that UCLA got. We played hard, but just didn’t play well. Pretty much every basket on both sides was a struggle.
I agree that questioning the whole season based an elite 8 exit is silly. But so is judging the season based on their pre-season ranking. They didn't "overachieve" due to that ranking - that ranking was just a guess - it was not reality. They achieved just what they should have given many good performances, and several poor ones. The last of which was this one.
No. By everyone's prediction/analysis Michigan dramatically overachieved this season.
So many positive, far-from-certain things happened to bring this level of success:
- Unproven coach had to do a superb job of building, running and leading the team
- Livers, Franz, and Brooks all had to significantly improve their games (and Johns in tournament)
- Dickenson had to step in as a freshman center and become an immediate major contributor AND Davis had to suddenly make a huge leap to become a very high-end backup
- Both grad transfers had to be home runs. Certainly no other B1G team plugged in two key pieces with near the success Michigan did - and anyone who claims they knew both Chaundee and Smith would play and mesh at the level they did is delusional
If any of those things fails to happen, Michigan's season would have been far less successful. That all of them did is kind of magical, and a huge credit to Coach Howard and all the players and staff.
Yes. The way the coaching staff created a team that played that unselfishly with two grad transfers was simply amazing to watch. There were two stretches where watching them play surpassed at least some of what Beilein's teams did...the winning streak in the Big 10 season and the first three games of this tournament. Incredible job by all. No one saw this coming; that's overachieving.
This game felt like that crazy ass loss to BYU in the Holiday Bowl in '84. It wasn't our best team but it felt like we were definitely better than them and somehow they made plays and we just couldn't. Super frustrating and deeply upsetting to watch on tv. I hate the fact that I actually stayed up to watch the whole thing--sounds stupid but trust me I cannot stay up late anymore--and we lost an excruciating game. As my roommate from MoJo says, "It's not easy being a Michigan fan."
We will be back. Gotta love what Juwan is doing with our program. And I'll take some solace in the fact that Gonzaga is a buzzsaw that might very well have sliced through us like Villanova in the '18 finals. Go Blue!
But everything you describe is, well, our team. You simply described what we had and were coached to do. You can't judge overachievement in terms of what the Michigan team was before transfers, good coaching, etc. Johns stepping up is a decent argument. But would he have done that without Livers anyway? You can't take away players and then add them in and say the team overachieved (lol). You can't set the bar at what was not the case.
Pre-season rankings are meaningless. We all agree. You can't come back at the end and say that they are meaningful in order to judge a season. It's silly.
You have to base overachievement on whether UM beat better teams. That is overachievement. UCLA overachieved last night. They beat a better team. Did Michigan do that this year? I don't see it. FSU and LSU come about the closest. But they are at a somewhat lower level than Michigan.
I think the team did great. But I think they did about what they should have based on who was actually on the squad this year, and who the coach was. They all deserve huge credit for being good players and coaches. Its what we now know that can expect/hope from them (playing well and being well-coached, not necessarily getting to the elite 8).
March 31st, 2021 at 10:27 AM ^
This is all circular logic. You say that UCLA "overachieved" last night because they beat a better team than them, but how do we know that? The only evidence we have is UM and UCLA played and UCLA won. By your logic UCLA is the better team. They have talented players and finished 3rd in the Pac-12. You claim UM didn't beat a "better" team this year, so apparently all 23 of their wins came against inferior teams? It also presupposes that every game plays out exactly as expected every time, that winning and losing are mathematically destined and no variance can occur.
How many rebounds did Jaquez get because he was hustling while Michigan players stood around looking confused? How many loose balls? That's just one aspect of it. UCLA played harder than Michigan did in a game where Michigan should have stuffed them into a trashcan. I don't like losing games because one team hustled and the other didn't and that's what this game was.
March 31st, 2021 at 10:23 AM ^
UM out rebounded them by 10 and had 4 for offensive rebounds. So no that is not correct at all. Effort was not UM's issue, shot selection, shot making and decision making were.
March 31st, 2021 at 11:14 AM ^
I'm not talking about Michigan out-rebounding UCLA because Michigan was taller. I am talking about Jaquez fighting for boards when Michigan players stood around looking confused/apathetic. I'm talking about UCLA's constant active hands blocking Michigan shots that should not have been blocked and caused a ton of turnovers.
Michigan got out-hustled, it was pretty obvious watching it. Michigan was a better team that let UCLA outhustle them to an upset, it's annoying.
March 31st, 2021 at 10:56 AM ^
Michigan outperformed UCLA on the boards. We rebounded 34% of our misses to their 21%. And we played terrific defense all game. We shot like crap, no doubt about that, but there is no reason to question the effort.
I felt like lack of player movement and ball movement was the common thing in pretty much all of the losses this year. This team was as it's best playing team ball, it got ugly at times when there was too much individual play. Offense bogged down by trying to hammer it down low but not enough off ball movement around that.
Agree with this, 96.
Michigan played beautiful basketball against FSU; they played ugly ball against UCLA. Give opponent some credit, but our game plan was not great and we were really tight.
You know, Michigan basketball has given us our share of stunning victories in recent NCAAs - Burke's magic against Kansas, Poole's miracle against Houston to name a couple.
Only one team leaves the tournament happy. We had 4 chances tonight; none of them went down.
Wish we'd performed better, but it was a fun ride while it lasted.
Gonzaga better watch out. UCLA’s strategy of sitting back and letting the opponent roll a concerto of nat 1s is unbeatable.
Got four shitty hours of sleep after that one and had many replays of easy missed shots, uncharacteristically missed free throws and way too many unforced turnovers running thru my head. That was fucking ugly. Where was the movement on offense? It was just 4 guys standing around watching the ball go to the post for what often resulted in a tough shot. It was a complete 180 in what they looked like just 48 hours prior. Tough to get over this one.
give UCLA credit, they caused a lot of our issues like they did every team seeded higher than them this tourney.
we made way too many mistakes but their hustle and grit caused a lot of the turnovers and missed shots.
if we shot our normal % of free throws would have carried us to a win
a lot of if's and but's and no win.
another empty post season
We never saw Hunter pass the ball out for the open look in the double and triple team. Uncharacteristic.
March 31st, 2021 at 10:06 AM ^
If we put up a performance like that against Gonzaga, we get pantsed by 25 pts.
Every time you write a post about how the basketball team is the reincarnate of the 97 Bulls or our QB is Cam Newton 2.0, the hyperbole comes back and makes you look ridiculous. Maybe realizing that these are college kids and not overreacting to outcomes from 1 game will help you write more balanced posts and not look like a casual hysterical fan with hawt takes.
This feels like the first 2 years of Harbaugh all over again. Promising first year. Second year (2016) one or two plus away from making the final four, despite a key injury (Speight/Livers). Bring in a top 5 recruiting class the following offseason and fans ask “how many championships can we win?”
Juwan feels different, but let’s not take things for granted. Football felt on a rocket ship after 2016. Things can always change quickly and misses opportunities like this can linger.
March 31st, 2021 at 11:01 AM ^
And the Sparty concern troll returns.
Figures we get beat by 11 seed play-in team. Just the state of Michigan sports. Don’t know why it’s so surprising to me when it happens. Should know better by now to get excited about it.
March 31st, 2021 at 11:11 AM ^
Four other teams lost to UCLA too. It's clear in retrospect that a lot of the tournament seeding was off. Playing so few non-conference games skewed the data.
season exceeded expectations overall, we got a championship banner even though you could put an asterix on it since the real champ who played a full slate of games pounded our boys in Crisler by 20+ and we lost to a really soft sparti team to end the regular season.
BUT, this was an opportunity wasted, we have talent coming in but no one knows how that will work out.
we may never get back here with Howard because we will not have a group like this again.
in the end we got what we deserved, missed free throws, missed layups and missed open 3s spelled doom for this team in the end.
UCLA deserved to win, they were the tougher team.
sad to realize that since it looked like we really had a team for the ages here.
we have a lot of nice kids, they have GRIT and determination and 1 really good shooter (something we are sorely lacking)
disappointing, but that is normal for Michigan fans these days.
March 31st, 2021 at 11:00 AM ^
Illinois is the "real champ"? GTFO.
The real champ is the team with the trophy.
That box score is one of the more painful reads in my life.
I did enjoy the run and I am looking forward to enjoying next season.
I immediately went to bed after this game. Nightmares I tell you. Golly I miss living on the west coast for these game times.
Davis was dialed in, and playing VERY well. I actually wanted him in game at the end, to take the last shot.
March 31st, 2021 at 11:22 AM ^
With 6 seconds to go they should pulled Wagner, Smith and Dickinson and put in Brown , Johns and Davis. Get the 3 guys out that are ice cold and put in the ones that can make a shot.
Mike Smith helped us have a great season and loved having him on the team. He also was rather bad in the tourney and I felt like the moment was bigger than he could handle. His height was a problem all season and the guards have to shoot well to give you a good chance. They did not especially Mike. Game over.
Not a fun way to end the season knowing you were better and playing like crap.
Excellent piece Ace. Exactly what I saw last night, word for word. Michigan had many, many chances to win this game.
We played good defense. UCLA was 3 of 13 from three. We should have won by 20.
Mike and Franz were like 2-17.
Good point guard play wins tournaments. That said Mikey hits the three and he is a forever hero.
March 31st, 2021 at 10:05 AM ^
They had two players score double digits, we had one.....
there's not much more to the story than that.....
March 31st, 2021 at 10:20 AM ^
This had been an excellent free throw shooting team all year. It was astonishing to see them missing so many last night. I hate saying this, but they really missed Livers. There were a few games where nobody was hitting anything and he came in and hit a couple shots that got us going. That is what was sorely missed last night. I found myself screaming someone just make a shot!
I wanted Davis to be put back in with about 4 minutes left. I don't think they would have double teamed him as much and he is very good at getting his shots off. Their big guy would have almost certainly fouled out sooner.
All in all great team, great year, just missed Zey.
March 31st, 2021 at 10:22 AM ^
Looking at the boxscore (and having watched the game,) I can't help but wonder what the outcome would have been if Smith had played more of a backup role, getting 20 minutes or less. But you have to dance with the guy who brought you to the dance.
Pretty shocking that Johns got 0 rebounds in 30 minutes. I won't fault his effort at all. The ball just didn't bounce his way. I guess the same could be said for the whole team. I would have liked to see more Johns in the post and less Dickinson there. Also odd that Johns, after being a foul magnet for half a dozen games got 0 FTAs. Also odd that Dickinson only got 2 rebounds. I blame the loss on the late start time. Our guys just weren't their normal selves. I give UCLA about zero credit for that. They gave up 47 to Abiline. I think we're more than 2 points better than Abilene. Oh well. Fuck it.
I think we played into UCLA's hands on offense. They were going to let us beat them from deep if we could. They had those 3 wings who could crash down and double the post. To stop that, Wagner and Johns would have to make 3s. Wagner was 0-4. Johns was 0-0. In this type of game, Livers goes for 20 hitting 4-7 from deep and we win by 10. But I guess UCLA also can play the what-if game regarding injuries.
March 31st, 2021 at 10:23 AM ^
We all sort of expected UM to run into a game where Livers's absence would be felt, and this was it. He would have been a good defensive option as well as, I assume, a steady influence on the offensive end.
It happens. I know it's disappointing but at this point UCLA feels like a weird team of destiny. To get the FT luck alone they've gotten has saved them in at least 3 games, and their 3-pt defensive luck also seems like an aberration. Sometimes you just tip your cap to a team and move on.
Not the way we all expected the season to end but still a great one considering what we expected at the start.
March 31st, 2021 at 10:29 AM ^
I will say I'm glad I stayed away from this board last night - too many raw emotions, with people somehow viewing an Elite 8 loss to a team that got a ton of luck as the beginning of yet another era of BPONE.
March 31st, 2021 at 11:20 AM ^
Well when a team plays tight and terrible on a big stage against an inspired opponent that is hustling and playing hard, it brings up memories. This happens to the football team all the time, playing too tight on the big stage. Seeing the basketball team catch this disease is...rough.
March 31st, 2021 at 10:55 AM ^
Not at all surprised to see Smith with the -10 in the box score. He struggled on both ends of the court and the team looked better when he was on the bench. You could tell it was going to be a long night for him when he started the game with a bunch of floaters - just a terrible idea.
Franz had a brutal offensive showing. His 3 point shot went to shit as soon as he started pump faking every time he caught it instead of just taking a rhythm shot. Frustrating end for him. He will be one of those players that never reached his potential at Michigan but will do better at the next level.
March 31st, 2021 at 11:15 AM ^
Hold on. Franz had a fantastic season and came up huge against LSU and FSU. He's one of the best defensive players we've ever had. His 3-point shot might not have reached its potential but that's all.
March 31st, 2021 at 12:31 PM ^
Sorry to do this, but I'm a masochist when it comes to UM losses and I feel I need to do this for closure. This was a great team and a fun team and we had a great year, but here is a recap of UM's last 7 shots:
2.03 Hunter gets left side position down low and is short on left hand layup. Score was 48-47
1:32 Mike makes a nice drive from the left side, sneaks a right hand layup past defense - comes up short. Score was 48-47
.44 Franz drives through middle, veers off to the left (instead of right hand) gets fouled. Misses left hand layup long. Made both foul shots. Score after play 50-49
.12 Franz 3 pointer short. Hunter's pick worked to perfection, gets Franz open and Hunter gets position for rebound. 50-49
.09 Eli flips rebound up short, Hunter had position for anything long. 50-49
.035 Mike gets open look for 3, shot is very, very close
.005 Somehow there's time for a catch and shoot and Franz gets off decent shot - had a chance to bank in.
Sorry for negativity but I needed to get that off my chest.
My observations:
- Not a game for Smith minutes, things were MUCH better with him off the court, so I was not surprised to see his +/-. We matched up much better with Chaundee at the 2.
- Really surprised we didn't run more stuff to get Johns isolated. They didn't have anyone that could handle him going to the basket - he got a couple easy layups at the end of the first half.
- Free throws...yikes.
- Was it just me, or did Davis's post ups seem much more controlled and effective? I was hoping he'd get the minutes down the stretch. Late in the year Hunter's "I'm going to lower my shoulder and ram into you and then toss up a baby hook" move wasn't working because he'd get pushed too far out or guys would wall up and he'd hammer them and get a charge. Davis has a wider array of moves at his disposal to get easy looks against subpar defenders. Especially since Hunter wasn't passing as well as usual or having much luck deterring shots, I desperately wanted Davis in there.
Yeah seeing how the play when we were down 1 went, it would have been better to put Davis in and go to him. But I think Howard expected Wagner to attack the rim, not put up an air-ball from 24 feet.
As disappointing as it was, my thought as the game was getting down the wire was pretty much "if we pull this out we are going to get pulverized by Gonzaga."
Sure, anything can happen. Gonzaga could play their worst game of the season. And getting to a Final Four would be awesome anyway. But I think the reality is, this was a very good team with some significant weaknesses once Livers went out. They finally had a game where no one (except for Brown, who UCLA focused on denying) could hit anything. Unfortunate, but not shocking.
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