Michigan Basketball: 3 things we learned from Penn State loss

Michigan is part of a battle for the Big Ten title

What made the loss even more painful for Michigan was that it tightened the Big Ten race up even more. After Purdue lost to Maryland, UM could have grabbed a full-game lead in the standings with six games left to go.

Now, Michigan and Michigan State are tied at 11-3, with Purdue right there at 10-3 and Maryland also just one game back at 10-4. The Terrapins also play at Crisler Arena Saturday, so there will be little time to dwell on Tuesday’s debacle.

The good news for Michigan is that it controls its own destiny. Yet, it has road games against Michigan State, Maryland and Minnesota ahead and with the way the Wolverines have performed on the road lately, winning even two of those games seems like a tall order, but after the loss at Penn State, that might be what’s required, along with sweeping the home schedule.

What’s worse is that Penn State is the first truly bad loss on the resume and if the Wolverines drop a few more games down the stretch, they could see their seeding drop too, just like Michigan basketball did in 2013, when it ended up as a four seed, despite being a top-five team in February.