Michigan Wolverines news: Jett Howard injury update, women open Big Ten tourney, and more

In our Michigan Wolverines news roundup, we have a Jett Howard injury update, preview the Big Ten tourney for Michigan women’s basketball, and more. 

It’s another big night for the Michigan basketball team, as the Michigan Wolverines, who are solidly on the NCAA tournament bubble, head to Illinois for a huge game.

In order to make the NCAA tournament field, Michigan basketball likely needs two more wins. I’ve said all along if the Wolverines get to 13-7 in the Big Ten, they will be dancing. A win over Illinois would get them one game closer and would add another Quad-1 victory to the resume.

With a road trip to Indiana looming on Sunday, Michigan basketball has two great chances to build its resume this week and needs to win at least one of those games.

One thing we don’t know is if the Michigan Wolverines will have Jett Howard tonight. He has missed the past two games after being a game-time decision and it looks like it will be the same thing tonight. Here’s what Saddi Washington said about his status:

Basically, it’s up in the air. Either way, Michigan basketball has won three in a row without him and it would be great to see the win streak extended to four, with or without, Jett Howard.

Michigan women’s basketball opens Big Ten tournament

The regular season ended with a thud for the Michigan women’s basketball team with an ugly road loss against Wisconsin, as well as defeats by Indiana and Ohio State at home.

Michigan has lost three of four games, but the Wolverines were also missing two of their best players for some of that stretch as Lalia Phelia has been out and Leigha Brown joined her missing the past two games.

It sounds like Brown will be ready to go Thursday against Penn State. Michigan women’s basketball beat Penn State 82-72 earlier in the season. The quarterfinal rematch will take place at approximately 3 PM EST.

The loss to Wisconsin dropped the Michigan Wolverines to a fifth seed in the latest NCAA tournament bracketology, meaning they wouldn’t host the first two rounds as they did last season. However, things could still change.

Beating Penn State won’t move the needle, but a win and Michigan women’s basketball would likely face Ohio State and win that, and U-M could be a top 16 overall seed.

Michigan Wolverines beaten by UCLA in baseball

For the second straight day, Michigan was beaten in California and the game wasn’t all that close. 17th-ranked UCLA was able to build a 9-0 advantage on the Wolverines after chasing U-M starting pitcher Jacob Denner after just three innings.

Denner would get the loss after allowing three runs on four hits in three innings of work. He did strike out five but walked three and hit another UCLA batter.

The Wolverines attempted to rally late and scored four runs in the eighth inning thanks to a three-run homer run by Jake Marti but the effort fell short in a 9-4 win for the Bruins.