Michigan Basketball: Illinois delivers dagger to NCAA tournament hopes

Michigan basketball had every opportunity to beat Illinois Saturday, but the team choked down the stretch, missing free throws when the game was at stake.

It’s hard to say it, but the Michigan basketball team choked Saturday against Illinois and because of the 64-62 loss, the Wolverines fourth in a row, their NCAA tournament hopes are now on life support.

The day started in promising fashion as Isaiah Livers returned to the starting lineup. A 3-pointer in the second half that gave Michigan basketball the lead felt like a turning point.

Only a few minutes later, Livers was out of the game are re-injuring his groin and Illinois was back in front. Behind some clutch shots from David DeJulius, Michigan was able to grab a 62-60 lead with less than two minutes left.

Yet, the Wolverines couldn’t deliver the knockout blow, even from the free throw line.

Austin Davis grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled late in the game, but missed at the line, leaving the Wolverines still up just two points. Then, after a defensive stop and a rebound, Franz Wagner was fouled and was set to shoot two free throws, giving U-M the chance to go up four with about a minute left.

Instead, Wagner missed — both. Illinois was fouled and made both of its free throws, tying the score up at 62-62. On the other end, Michigan was able to get the ball inside the Jon Teske and as he did most of the day from point-blank range, Teske missed.

Teske was 4-of-16 in the game with many of his misses coming right near the basket. He was also 1-of-5 from 3-point range including a couple of late air balls. As a team, Michigan was 12-of-21 from the free throw line and 4-of-17 from beyond the arc.

Following Teske’s miss, Illinois’ Ayo Dosunmu buried a shot with 0.5 seconds left, even with Zavier Simpson all over him. It was a dagger through the heart and it put the Wolverines on a path towards the NIT, not the NCAA tournament.

Michigan is 11-8 overall and just 2-6 in the Big Ten. Despite some solid wins and a tough schedule, you would think this team would need to be at least 10-10 or 9-11 in the Big Ten to make the tournament.

A 10-10 record would mean going 8-4 down the stretch, which seems nearly impossible. Even so, the overall record would be just 19-12. A 9-11 mark in the Big Ten would send Michigan into the Big Ten tournament 18-13. Does that sound like a tournament resume to you?

Getting to 18-13 would require a 7-5 finish, which is a tall order for a team that has lost four straight and five of six. And then the Wolverines would still need to win a game or two to reach the field of 68, most likely.

It’s going to be a long road and unless things change drastically, it seems like a long shot.