3 things we learned from Michigan Basketball loss to Iowa
It’s still hard to believe that Michigan basketball lost to Iowa on Thursday night and here are three things we learned from the loss.
Michigan basketball has suffered some difficult losses this season but the overtime defeat to Iowa on Friday night was among the worst.
Michigan led by seven points with less than two minutes to go and by four with under 30 seconds. Most of the time, you win in that situation.
The foul by Kobe Bufkin changed everything, yet Michigan basketball still had the ball with a chance to win and couldn’t get a bucket, then failed to get off the mat in overtime.
U-M is now 9-7 and 3-2 in the Big Ten conference. It’s not a great spot to be in. The Wolverines need probably 10 more conference wins to feel comfortable about making the tournament.
With that in mind, here are three things we learned from the 93-84 loss.
Jett Howard is probably playing one season in Ann Arbor
It’s a real bummer that Michigan lost because Jett Howard was incredible. He knocked down seven 3-pointers, including one from the half-court logo. His career-high 34 points were wasted by the Wolverines and without that effort, U-M probably isn’t even in a position to win.
Howard is averaging 15.5 points per game and shooting 38 percent from beyond the arc. He’s shooting 54 percent on 2-pointers while also showing off his playmaking skills with 2.4 assists per game. He also averages basically one block per game (0.9).
Howard only gets 2.9 rebounds per game and he needs to be better in that area, as well as on defense. But he’s definitely got an NBA game. He’s a growing threat out of ball screens and his ability to drill shots when defenders go under makes him dangerous.
I’d love to see Jett play another year for Michigan basketball and it would be a huge win for the Wolverines if he did, but performances like Thursday’s make me think he could be a one-and-done. His NBA draft projections keep rising and if he’s a guaranteed first-round pick, which I don’t know how he wouldn’t be at this point, leaving will be tempting.
His dad could have left and been a first-round pick but stayed until after his junior year. We’ll see if Jett sticks around for another as Franz Wagner did. Either way, he’s been fun to watch.