Michigan Basketball is running out of time to save season

After a bad loss to Maryland on Thursday night, Michigan basketball is running out of time to save its season and the path to the NCAA tournament is narrow.

There have been some bad losses for Michigan basketball this season. The game against Central Michigan definitely comes to mind.

However, what’s been worse is the missed opportunities and Thursday night’s game against Maryland was another one of those.

The Terps were the favorite going in, so it wasn’t like it was a shocking defeat. Yet, the Wolverines blew Maryland out the last time by 35 and it was like they expected Maryland to roll over at home in a game it needed as badly as Michigan.

While there has been a lot of criticism levied at Juwan Howard, I’m not ready to put him anywhere close to the hot seat yet. But, not having the team prepared for the 2-3 zone that should have been foreseeable is confusing.

Maryland wasn’t going to allow Hunter Dickinson to bully them again and once the Terps threw out some pressure and the zone, Michigan basketball didn’t know what to do.

The defensive effort also wasn’t good. Most of Maryland’s points came at the rim and Michigan basketball allowed 15 offensive rebounds with one of the best big men in the country.

It would be one thing if Michigan had beaten Central Michigan, and Iowa and finished one of the non-conference games. Then it would be 13-5 and 5-2 in the Big Ten — closer to being ranked than being on the bubble.

Instead, Michigan basketball didn’t even score 60. It looked disinterested at times and in a game that was tied in the second half and in which Michigan trailed by just two at the half, it was a must-win, at least if this wants to be a tournament team.

What will it take to go dancing?

I’ve said all along that Michigan will need to go 13-7 in the Big Ten to make the tournament. It might even need to win a Big Ten tournament game too to get to 20 wins. That means that U-M would need to go 9-4 over the last 13 games.

At times, this team makes that feel impossible. At other times, it looks like a team that could be anybody in college basketball. Beating Minnesota on Sunday is a must but Michigan can’t keep trading wins and losses.

The next five games are all winnable and to me, it’s do or die.

If this team wins two or three of these games, Michigan isn’t going dancing. It needs some impressive wins and if this team is going to turn around this incredibly disappointing season, the time is now — starting on Sunday.