Following Michigan basketball’s weekend loss to Rutgers, Juwan Howard declared, maybe jokingly, that he would start as a walk-on against Wisconsin. The U-M coach at the time stated, “Because they care.”
On Wednesday night against No. 11 Wisconsin, he neither started the walk-ons nor selected them as his starting five out of halftime. Additionally, the head coach sent a message to the principal rotation, even though the players in the uniform are the only ones who can respond to questions about motivation.
That is accurate. I won’t lie, if I were Coach, I wouldn’t know what to do,” Tarris Reed Jr. remarked. That serves as inspiration. That gives us all motivation. .. I like that it made us play harder.
And, at last, the outcome was different. U-M scored a run of their own in response to Wisconsin’s second-half surge, and they made crucial plays and played solid defense to end a five-game losing run.
“We survived the storm.” Terrance Williams II stated, “We came out together with it because we stayed focused and head-up.”
Naturally, it was a familiar until it wasn’t. Leading by 16 points from Dug McDaniel, an 18-6 advantage in bench points, and a pivotal 19-6 run in the second half, the Wolverines ended not just a five-game losing run but also their months-long struggles. Although it wasn’t perfect, Michigan overcame a halftime deficit to win 72–68.
Following the game, Michigan coach Juwan Howard told Big Ten Network, “basically, we just stayed the course.” “Overall, I’m really impressed by their mental stability.”
Along with McDaniel, big men Tarris Reed Jr. (12 points, six rebounds, three blocks), Olivier Nkamhoua (eight points, 12 rebounds), and Will Tschetter (11 points, including eight in the second half) had excellent games for Michigan (3-9 Big Ten, 8-15 overall). In spite of outscoring Michigan 40–20 in paint points, Wisconsin’s poor non-layup shooting performance continued as it suffered its third straight defeat. Crucially, Michigan prevented the rebounding of those misses, winning the rebounding contest 34–28 and all 34 of the Badgers’ missed shots.
With less than 14 minutes remaining, the Badgers led 48-44, but Michigan answered with a 19-4 run and fended off Wisconsin’s late-game attempts to rally.
