Michigan Basketball making late push for NCAA tournament

Michigan Basketball’s huge upset win at Rutgers on Thursday has not only greatly increased their odds of making the tournament but has also given them the confidence that they were lacking a majority of the season.

The Big Ten this year, more than in years past, has a very even playing field. Purdue holds the #1 spot with a 13-5 conference record, but they are not blowing the field out of the water. Ten teams are closely following the Boilermakers in Big Ten Standings, and Michigan basketball has found itself right in the middle of that chase.

Because of the competition and evenness in the Big Ten, teams with experience and the ability to execute at the end of games, are finding themselves at an advantage over less experienced teams. Michigan, for a major part of the season, has struggled due to its youth and inexperience in crunch-time situations. However, they may have just found their stride late in the season.

Michigan lost a lot from last year to this season. Most notably, two five-star freshmen, Caleb Houstan and Moussa Diabate, who left for the NBA. They also lost their point guard, DeVante’ Jones, as well as 6-man Brandon Johns Jr., who transferred to VCU. But the biggest loss to the Michigan Basketball program was Eli Brooks, the captain of the team.

The return of First-Team All-Big Ten center, Hunter Dickinson, was huge, but he can’t control a game like a guard can. This is where Michigan was going to struggle with inexperience, which is why they got Jaelin Llewellyn, a 5th-year transfer from Princeton. Llewellyn brought the leadership that the Wolverines desperately needed but suffered a season-ending injury in December.

This loss greatly affected the Wolverines, and they were forced to start Freshman Dug McDaniel at point guard, who quite honestly, was not ready. The point guard position plays such a crucial role in determining the pace and structure of a game, and when you lack experience at the position, it can be detrimental.

Michigan basketball was still playing in competitive games against really good opponents, but they just couldn’t put the nail in the coffin. The Wolverines have lost 7 games that were decided by 5 points or less.

Michigan basketball has started to find its way

As the season progressed, this young and very talented team, gained more and more experience, and Dug McDaniel has emerged as the player Michigan needed him to be. In his last two games, he has had 18 points, a season-high against MSU, and 16 points on Thursday in the biggest win of the season against Rutgers.

More importantly, McDaniel is playing like someone who is confident and knows what they’re doing. He’s showing emotion and leadership, as well as playing fantastic defense, and the rest of the team is building off his energy.

This Michigan basketball team is night and day from what they were when they lost Llewellyn.  This is the best thing about being a young and talented team because as you get more games under your belt you gain more confidence and experience.

With McDaniel starting to figure it out, other players like Kobe Bufkin, Jett Howard, the Big Ten’s #1 NBA draft prospect according to Jonathan Wasserman at Bleacher Report, and Hunter Dickinson, will get more chances to show why they are elite players.

Hopefully, this new jolt of confidence propels the Wolverines forward. Michigan still has an uphill battle to make it to the NCAA Tournament, but if they manage to squeak in like they did last year, this team has a Cinderella story written all over them.

Michigan hosts Wisconsin today at the Crisler Center at 2 pm ET.