Michigan Basketball can’t be satisfied with moral victories

Michigan basketball put forth a great effort in its four-point loss to Purdue. Unfortunately, moral victories don’t win Big Ten titles.

Thursday night in West Lafayette, Michigan basketball proved its one of the top 25 teams in the country. But after losing to Purdue for the second time this season, this time by four, 92-88, the Wolverines will fall out of the top 25.

More importantly, with another close loss to the Boilermakers, the Wolverines are out of the race for the Big Ten championship. Michigan basketball now trails by four games in the loss column. So  the focus should be on finishing in the top four and avoiding the early-round games at the Big Ten tourney.

The other focus is obviously locking up an NCAA tournament berth. Michigan is still in a solid position to do so. They are probably going to be around an eight seed still in the projections. Now, they just need to beat the teams they are supposed to beat.

The Wolverines host Northwestern Monday, before taking on Minnesota at home next Saturday. That’s followed by a road trip to Chicago for a second title with the Cats, then a road trip to Madison, which is never fun.

The final four games are home against Iowa, home against Ohio State, then back-to-back road games against Maryland and Penn State to close the season.

The schedule isn’t easy, but it’s not daunting. 4-5 wins in that stretch should get UM into the dance. That means the Wolverines must hold serve at home and find a way to win maybe a game or two on the road.

If this team is as good as it played last night against the Boilermakers, it could probably go 6-2 during this stretch. Maybe even 7-1. However, Michigan has been inconsistent at times this season, so it’s hard to know what to expect.

What is clear though, is that the Wolverines can’t afford any more moral victories. John Beilein addressed that after the game, which was good to hear.

Don’t get me wrong, it was great to see the Wolverines go toe-to-toe with what could be the best team in the country, but close only counts in horseshoes. The NCAA selection committee isn’t putting you in because you almost beat a good team two times. Doesn’t work like that.

The good news is that Michigan has the talent to hang with just about anybody. If you want to know how good Purdue is, just look at the metrics, they are the only team KenPom ranks in the top 5 in adjusted offense and defense.

At the end of the day, beating Purdue was going to be a tall order, especially on the road. The tough part is the Wolverines played well enough to beat just about every other team in the NCAA, just not Purdue.

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The key is maintaining that level of play. If the Wolverines do that, they should be dancing for the third straight season.