2021 big ten tournament

1 hour and 33 minutes

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[After THE JUMP: the player and what we said]

The admittedly tired cliché "too little, too late" encapsulates both Michigan's performance in their Big Ten Tournament semifinal loss to Ohio State and the final possession which determined the outcome.

One look at the box score tells you the Wolverines had little business having the game in their hands at the end. Isaiah Livers, ruled out indefinitely with a "stress injury" to his foot, is absent. Franz Wagner shot 2/10 from the field before fouling out in 29 minutes, Mike Smith went 1/11, Chaundee Brown 1/6, new starter Brandon Johns 0/3. Terrance Williams played 12 minutes without scoring a point. The team went 6/19 from beyond the arc.

But Michigan hung around against an Ohio State squad also down a starter, big man Kyle Young. Hunter Dickinson dominated down low with 21 points on 15 shooting possessions, eight rebounds, a block, and a steal in 30 minutes. Eli Brooks was the lone Wolverine to find his outside shooting stroke, netting 12 and hitting 2/4 three-pointers. Austin Davis went 3/4 and played a critical first-half stretch after Dickinson hit his funny bone. The team took remarkable care of the ball, turning it over only twice, and made a living at the line, cashing 21 of 23 free throws.

Washington was money whenever he had space [Campredon]

It wasn't enough. The Wolverines scraped to a one-point halftime lead, then the Buckeyes came out of the tunnel firing. Their two stars, Duane Washington Jr. and EJ Liddell, poured in 32 of their combined 42 points in the second half. Washington worked Michigan's guards off the high screen, hitting pull-up jumpers when a big man loomed or turning the corner and finishing when the paint opened up. Liddell stretched the defense thin and made two three-pointers immediately off inbounds plays.

With 4:19 remaining, a pair of Liddell free throws put OSU up by 13. Wagner had fouled out a minute prior. Livers sat on the bench in a walking boot. Instead, they hit back, and fought tooth and nail to the final buzzer. Brooks hit a three, then Dickinson finished an and-one dunk after CJ Walker responded with a layup; Dickinson answered a Washington layup with one of his own off a pretty feed from Johns; Dickinson blocked Washington; Dickinson put back his own miss. Suddenly, this was a six-point game with 1:39 to play.

Then came a moment that'll stick despite the result. With Michigan pressing in the backcourt, EJ Liddell waved off his teammates to go one-on-one at Dickinson, only for Dickinson to strip him of the ball, grab it, and nimbly work his way to the rim for a transition finish. A possibly rattled Liddell turned it over again on the next play, dribbling the ball out of bounds off his own knee. Michigan worked the ball around the horn beautifully before Brown broke his game-long slump with a triple to cut the deficit to a single point. Walker stepped on the baseline with 28 seconds left while attempting to drive and kick to a shooter.

couldn't be stopped except by his funny bone [Campredon]

Somehow, Michigan had the ball with a chance to win. Juwan Howard chose to go for the regulation victory, letting Smith work the clock way down before going into pick-and-roll action with Dickinson. Smith stepped back and went for a shot he's hit several times over his excellent recent stretch of games; it didn't drop, and there was no time for a putback.

While I don't mind seeing Howard go for the win, it's hard to watch that final possession go by without Dickinson getting either a touch down low—which could've opened up an easier shot for someone else—or a chance at the putback after he and Johns had combined for five offensive boards. If they face the same situation down the line, you may see them start their action a few seconds earlier, at least.

Michigan will not double up on Big Ten banners this season. Howard is still clearly figuring out how best to handle the rotation with Livers out for the foreseeable future. The team has a week and a tune-up against what should be a #16-seed before win-or-go-home time puts every play and coaching decision under intense scrutiny. We at least learned this today: with or without Livers, this team isn't going down without a fight.

[Hit THE JUMP for the box score.]

In an unexpectedly spicy Big Ten quarterfinal, Michigan overcame an early double-digit deficit and the second-half ejection of Juwan Howard to finish off a three-game season sweep of a feisty Maryland team.

Despite the unexpected return of Eli Brooks, the Wolverines got off to a painfully slow start, falling into a 15-6 hole. They clawed back only to fall behind once more after Hunter Dickinson picked up two dubious offensive fouls in a little over a minute. Maryland's stretch bigs hit outside shots and attacking guards found less resistance at the rim with Austin Davis at center.

With five minutes to play in the half, Juwan Howard shifted Brandon Johns to center. After Eric Ayala's layup pushed the margin to 12 on the next possessions, he called a timeout. Whatever he said in that huddle was effective. Johns backed down Galin Smith for an and-one baby hook, then Mike Smith went airborne to drop off an assist to Johns, prompting a Mark Turgeon timeout that failed to make the same impact.

Mike Smith had the ball on a string all game [Campredon]

Hellacious defense from Chaundee Brown forced a shot clock violation out of the TO, then Smith made play after play before halftime, scoring or assisting on 11 of Michigan's points in a 16-2 run to go into the tunnel up 40-38. Smith worked his way into the paint before a slick feed to Franz Wagner netted a layup just before the buzzer. Maryland shot 63% from the field, Michigan's top player played six minutes, and the Wolverines still led at the break.

The second half was mostly a continuation of that run, plus beef. Michigan quickly led by nine thanks to dominant play from Dickinson and Smith plus cooled-off shooting from the Terps, who couldn't find the mark from outside with Howard switching the defense to a matchup zone. Whenever Maryland threatened to make it a game again, the Wolverines responded with daggers. Smith hit all three of his three-point attempts; Wagner and Brooks each canned 2/2.

The Terrapins spent much of the half attempting to bully-ball Smith with bigger guards when they weren't firing wayward threes. Smith was up to the task on that end, helping hold the Terps to an 11/30 mark from the field in the final stanza. That's also burying the lede considering his record-setting afternoon on offense: he finished with 18 points on 16 shooting possessions while dishing out 15 assists, which smashed the Big Ten Tournament single-game record of 12 set by Derrick Walton during the Kam Chatman Game in 2016.

...oh [Campredon]

Even that performance may be overshadowed, however, by the brouhaha that occurred during the under-12 media timeout. Viewers were brought back from commercial break to the news that Juwan Howard had been ejected with two technical fouls, and the Maryland bench had also received a technical, following a heated exchange of words that led to Howard being held back by members of the staff. What was said is unclear; the result was Phil Martelli coaching out the duration.

Again, the Terps made a couple short runs only to be rebuffed. A beautiful give-and-go between Wagner and Brooks answered an Ayala layup to get Michigan back up by eight, then Smith and Brooks sank late triples to head off the potential desperation foul-fest.

After looking like the team that was less comfortable in an unfamiliar gym for 15 minutes, Michigan played like this tournament's top seed for the final 25. Brooks and his ankle looked little worse for wear after some ugly first-half jumpers came up short, which is the most important news to come out of the day even with the win. Unless someone leaks whatever Mark Turgeon said, at least.

Michigan will play the winner of four-seed Purdue and five-seed Ohio State (on BTN right now) in tomorrow's first semifinal at 1 pm Eastern on CBS.

[Hit THE JUMP for more photos and the box score.]