Michigan Basketball: Wolverines late-game execution must improve

After digging itself a big hole early on, Michigan basketball was able to find a rhythm on both ends of the floor to work their way back into the game.

After falling behind 16 points to Oregon, the Wolverines found a spark off their bench, which has been a theme all season long. Guard David Dejulius helped Michigan basketball get out of a first half scoring drought by chipping in with 14 points for the game. Forward Brandon Johns was also a presence, especially defensively, as he finished with 8 points and 9 rebounds.

But as valiant as the comeback effort was, the maize and blue ultimately didn’t do enough to win the game, especially in critical moments.

Let’s break down the Wolverines 71-70 overtime loss.

Zavier Simpson needed help

Late in the game, in both the end of regulation and overtime, the Ducks went to their star guard, Payton Pritchard for get critical baskets late in the game.

Michigan guard Zavier Simpson, who is known for being a great defender, clearly could not handle him one-on-one. Simpson did get the better of Pritchard a couple of times, including a play late in the game where he knocked it out of his hands, forcing the game into overtime.

However, Ducks coach Dana Altman was not going to stop putting the ball in his star’s hands, as Pritchard was able to get inside and score over Simpson multiple times.

Johns, who finished the game with two blocks and bothered multiple other shots, either did not come over to help at the rim soon enough on a lot of the drives, or he didn’t want to come off his man for a dump off pass down low.

Altman did a good job of creating space for Pritchard to operate, but Michigan basketball may have been better served to keep an extra pair of eyes on him and get the ball out of his hands.

The Ducks are a tough cover overall however, as they hit multiple tough shots throughout the game and hit 8-of-16 from three, which forced the Wolverines to have to “pick their poison.”

Offense struggles late

After Michigan struggled to shoot the ball in the first half, they found success as the game went on.

They started to push the pace and get easy looks in transition and looked fluent on that end of the floor.

Much of this was due to the hot shooting of Isiah Livers and Franz Wagner in the second half. Livers finished with 13 points for the game, but got rolling coming out of the locker room and started to put the team on his back.

Wagner had a breakout game and looks to be hitting his stride, finishing with 21 points on 8-of-13 from the floor.

Howard also seemed to find a couple rotations that worked out well in this one, as the combinations of Simpson-Dejulius-Brooks-Livers-Johns helped them claw back into the game towards the end of the first half.

Then in the second half, Howard stayed with Johns at the five as Jon Teske struggled to find his way against a long, quick Oregon defense.

But late in the contest, Michigan got stagnant. Simpson is the most trusted player with the ball in his hands and can make so many things happen. But in this particular game, the matchup did not favor him.

The Wolverines often went to the ball screen for Simpson late in the shot clock and it was clear that Simpson had a difficult time scoring over the length of the Ducks defense.

Livers’ last shot attempt of the game came with 6:52 remaining in the game, meaning he went nearly the last 12 minutes without getting a shot up.

That can’t happen and Howard must find a way to get the ball in his best player’s hands in crunch time.

Michigan basketball will get a chance to get back in the win column in a week as they welcome Presbyterian to Crisler Center on Sat. Dec. 21.