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Gut reactions from Michigan Basketball’s ugly loss to Michigan State

By Chris Peterson

EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN - JANUARY 29: Hunter Dickinson #1 of the Michigan Wolverines posts up Julius Marble II #34 of the Michigan State Spartans during the first half of a college basketball game at Breslin Center on January 29, 2022 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN - JANUARY 29: Hunter Dickinson #1 of the Michigan Wolverines posts up Julius Marble II #34 of the Michigan State Spartans during the first half of a college basketball game at Breslin Center on January 29, 2022 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images) /
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Michigan basketball was dominated by Michigan State on Saturday and here are the gut reactions to the Wolverines loss. 

Going into this week, we didn’t know if Michigan basketball was a Big Ten title contender or a team that was going to languish on the bubble all season long.

The win at Indiana last weekend was a huge step in the right direction and buoyed the Wolverines NCAA Tournament hopes. But that didn’t mean this team was cured of all of its ills.

And on Saturday, many of the same issues popped back up in an ugly loss to Michigan State. As I said, this loss won’t define the season. It was a great chance to build the resume and it would have announced U-M as a viable team in the title race.

Instead, the Wolverines, who now sit at 4-4, will need to refocus and try to string together enough wins to get into the field of 68. Right now, a 7-5 close to regular season would help a lot but even that would leave Michigan basketball with 13 losses.

At any rate, here are some gut reactions from Michigan basketball’s loss to Michigan State.

Gut Reactions

  • DeVante Jones and Caleb Houstan weren’t ready for this rivalry game.
  • Moussa Diabate was ready but still made too many freshman mistakes. He looked like a lottery pick at times too.
  • If Hunter Dickinson can’t win the one-on-one matchup, Michigan can’t win. That’s really what it comes down to against teams that can guard him one-on-one and it hasn’t changed from last season to this season. He scored a lot but wasn’t good enough.
  • Brandon Johns was terrible. Absolutely terrible. He missed a bunny because he couldn’t catch a pass and air-balled a 3-pointer he had no business taking. Why is he out there?
  • Playing in this game for the first time isn’t easy and it looked like the first time for too many.
  • Juwan Howard still hasn’t won at the Breslin Center. Needs to do that sooner rather than later.
  • Michigan made way too many defensive mistakes. It overhelped, didn’t find guys in transition, and left the wrong people open. The ball-screen defense was terrible too.
  • This team needs work; It also has tons of potential. Both things can be true.
  • Go Blue!
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