Wolverines -- in Last Place After Blowing 15-Point Lead in Loss to Rutgers -- Haven't Finished This Low in 57 Years

Howard, less than pleased, considers playing walk-on players who are 'all dialed in' as his key players lack toughness, togetherness and leadership.

Photo Courtesy of University of Michigan Photography

Wolverine forward Tarris Reed, Jr.: “It’s like how the whole season’s going…We come out strong in the first half and the second half, we like die down. So, Coach [Juwan Howard] is upset and rightfully so.”

By Steve Kornacki

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Well, this is what rock bottom feels like. And it’s a pretty awful, unaccustomed place for the Wolverines.

Michigan’s basketball team got “bullied” by Rutgers on its 37-12 run to end the game while taking a 69-59 win at Crisler Center before a gone-numb crowd of 11,683.

The Wolverines (7-15 overall, 2-9 conference) are alone in last place in the Big Ten – the worst of 14 teams – and are a real threat to finish in the basement in the conference for the first time in 57 years.

Michigan was 8-16 overall and 2-12 in the conference in 1966-67 – the last season it finished dead last.

I asked Wolverines coach Juwan Howard about that last place reality after the game.

“That’s true,” said Howard. “I’ve never seen last place before in my life when it came to playing at the collegiate level here [with the Fab Five Final Four teams] and also now coaching. This is the first time, and we’re going to figure out a solution to get out of it. We’re not going to just give into it.”

He mentioned that his first two teams after the COVID-canceled postseason of 2020 made the NCAA’s Elite Eight (2021) and Sweet 16 (2022).

“The s--- works,” said Howard, smiling when making that point about his previous coaching.

However, the Wolverines were 18-16 last season, getting eliminated in the second round of the NIT. And now this season.

This is feeling like a free-fall after losing five consecutive games by double-digit margins and 10 of the last 11 games.

The toughness, togetherness and leadership on this team are sorely lacking.

Michigan sophomore forward Tarris Reed, Jr., said sophomore point guard Dug McDaniel, who has served three of six games on an academic road trip suspension, made a comment when the Wolverines returned home recently after a loss.

Reed said, “I remember Dug one time said while he was watching the game at home: ‘Man, we don’t look together.’ He said that, and it stuck with me. It stuck with a lot of us. So, how can we fix that? What can we do? What he sees out there, we’ve got to work on. He’s the captain of this team – he’s the point guard handling the ball the majority of the time.”

I repeated that quote to Howard in the post-game press conference.

“That’s a strong statement,” said Howard, “and within the locker room – if that’s the case – you really care about winning, fix it, and come together.”

He said he liked what he saw of his team talking during a break with Rutgers shooting free throws.

“They were huddled up,” Howard noted. “That shows a sign of togetherness. We’ve got to do that for 40 minutes.”

And, for the record, the captains elected by this team are forward Jace Howard, who did not play Saturday and has missed most of the season with an injury, and forward Olivier Nkamhoua.

It was odd that this team voted a bench player and a totally new player (Nkamhoua transferred from Tennessee) its captains. It did not speak well for those returning to the starting lineup, and Nkamhoua said when elected that he thought senior forward Terrance Williams II deserved to be a captain.

Howard talked about stressing the right things in practices and the need to “hold guys accountable when you’re not doing your job.” He mentioned, “I considered maybe going with my walk-ons. They don’t give up. A lot of what we ask, they’re all dialed in.”

So, the head coach is less than enamored with his players – each of whom he recruited.

“What stops the bleeding is pride,” said Howard. “Pride to have the mindset to go out, and whatever play it is, it has to be one of those where you roll your sleeves up, get your knees dirty. Those are the type of plays we need.

“We’re going to keep rolling up our sleeves and keep teaching. That’s all I know. That’s all my staff knows.”

And as for that accountability he mentioned?

Howard said, “You have to look yourself in the mirror and say, ‘It starts with me first.’ And you’ve got to get uncomfortable in those moments of who’s going to take charge and be a leader when things are getting out of whack.

“I searched around and watched faces, and those faces weren’t supposed to be happy. But it didn’t look like that sure-of confidence that I didn’t see from the group.”

He noted that too often his players didn’t guard and “allowed a blow-by” basket or lacked “the heart and fight” starting with the basics of “boxing out and pursue the basketball.”

And that’s the hard, brutal truth.

Michigan was out-rebounded, 40-32, and matched its season high with 19 turnovers. The Scarlet Knights had 7 blocks and 8 steals to the Wolverines’ 3 blocks and 2 steals.

Those are want-it-more stats, and Michigan came up sorely lacking in every category.

Terry Mills, the radio analyst who was a leader on the 1989 national champs, told his listeners: “Let’s call it what it is right now. Michigan is getting bullied.”

This is inexcusable – especially considering Rutgers (11-10, 3-7) found a way to play its way out of last place despite trailing by 15 points with 17:03 remaining in the game. The winners shot slightly better than the first half (39 up to 42 percent) but the losers dropped from 56 to 32 percent.

And this, coming after losing a half-time lead at Michigan State by suffering a shooting slide from 61 to 25 percent, and losing by 19 points.

Bottom line is, you compete if you do nothing else. If your shot’s not dropping…If your passes are off-line…If you can’t get position under the boards – you don’t stop trying.

Nik Stauskas, the 2014 Big Ten Player of the Year at Michigan, wrote Jan. 23 on social media: “These kids have no respect or understanding of what it means to put on that [maize M emoji). Haven’t felt any kind of passion or love for the game from Michigan basketball in years [crying emoji].”

Howard welcomed Stauskas to address his thoughts with this team, and perhaps something could come of that. If it happens – which it probably won’t.

The one player I saw Saturday who seemed to never give up was Williams. He played with abandon, and should be proud for that, if not the result.

This is a team in turmoil.

Mills said teams usually have circle-the-wagons leaders when the going gets tough, and noted to me after the game that his teams had numerous guys who took charge when a spark was needed.

I asked Reed about what him and his teammates say when things aren’t going their way.

Reed said, “Mainly, we say, ‘Next play.’ Or Coach Howard [says], ‘Head up…Neck up.’ Neck up is all mental. So, of course, we’re going to make mistakes out there. But we can’t let them linger on. So, then one and two and three mistakes.”

So, do problems linger?

“I mean, sometimes,” said Reed. “For me, sometimes my teammates say it does linger with me a little bit. But I’ve been working on that a lot, and recently, the last couple games, I’ve been doing a lot better job.”

The Wolverines are night-and-day different in the first half and second half.

“It’s like how the whole season’s going,” said Reed. “…We come out strong in the first half and the second half, we like die down. So, Coach [Howard] is upset and rightfully so.

“It’s up to us. The second half, we had a great opportunity to extend the lead, and come out tougher than them. But they just…I guess they wanted it more.”

Man, that is some comment. It’s brutally honest, though.

“We play a great first half and then we try to ride that wave from the first half,” said Reed. “But it’s a whole new ballgame in the second half…I feel like we’ve got to lock in more in the second half…Sometimes, we might get too comfortable in the second half. We know what we have to do. We just have to go out and do it.”

And, so, they are a last-place team with nine regular season games remaining. It will take winning each and every game to finish with a winning record of 16-15, and so the only glimmer of postseason hope rests with winning the Big Ten Tournament.

But I’d say the odds on that are 1,000-to-1.

“It’s definitely been a struggle,” said Reed. “So, I’ve been able to keep my mind at ease by following Jesus. Follow Him – He’s my rock. I know where I stand in this basketball game, and I know where I stand. I’m His son. So, I follow Him, and my mind is at ease, at peace.”

Michigan has gone 49 days, exactly seven weeks, with just that 73-65 win here over Ohio State on Jan. 15 to show for 11 games.

“You can’t let doubt and fear creep in,” said Reed. “I mean, that’s the biggest enemy…I try to focus on where I’m at now, and don’t worry too much about the future.”

Easier said than done when you’re in last place – a place few can remember the Wolverines calling home.