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Michigan Basketball: Gut reactions from ugly loss to Michigan State

By Chris Peterson

Michigan State's Tyson Walker, right, moves around Michigan's Isaiah Barnes during the first half on Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.230107 Msu Mich Bball 096a
Michigan State's Tyson Walker, right, moves around Michigan's Isaiah Barnes during the first half on Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.230107 Msu Mich Bball 096a /
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Michigan basketball only has itself to blame as an ugly shooting performance cost the Wolverines in a loss to Michigan State.

If Michigan basketball just shot the ball poorly, it might have left East Lansing with a win over Michigan State.

Instead, the Wolverines were terrible. They didn’t shoot the ball well in the paint, at the free-throw line, or beyond the arc in a 59-53 loss to the Spartans.

Hunter Dickinson missed a bunch of bunnies. The bench didn’t offer much and the Wolverines will look back on this as another missed opportunity, just like North Carolina, Kentucky, and Virginia. The difference is the Wolverines actually led in those games.

This started badly and ended badly too. Here are some gut reactions.

Gut reactions from Michigan basketball’s loss to Michigan State

  • The defense was really good. The offense was as bad as it has been all season.
  • If you had told me beforehand that Michigan basketball would hold the Spartans under 60, I would have bet the Wolverines win the game.
  • All of Michigan’s best players stunk it up offensively. That includes Hunter Dickinson.
  • Dickison scored 18 but missed too many around the bucket and a key free throw late.
  • He needed to be special and he just wasn’t.
  • Kobe Bufkin didn’t rise to the occasion. He will but didn’t Saturday. Still showed a lot of grit and toughness.
  •  Jett Howard struggled mightily. Michigan basketball needed more from both of those guys.
  • 43 points from Howard, Dickinson, and Bufkin doesn’t sound bad until you consider they made 15-of-35 shots.
  • Joey Baker was a total no-show.
  • Terrance Williams was too.
  • You can’t shoot 3-of-20 from 3-point range and expect to beat Michigan State.
  • This felt like two steps forward and one step back in terms of the NCAA tournament.
  • The Wolverines are still tied for first in the Big Ten, but this was a huge missed opportunity, as bad as any all season.
  • Michigan still isn’t dead yet.
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