Photo credit: Aaron J. Thornton
By Aaron J. Thornton
The month of March means tournament time for most college basketball programs. And the Michigan Wolverines were off to Chicago last week to take part in the annual Big Ten (B1G) Tournament. After losing two overtime games to finish out the regular season, the Wolverines were ranked as an 8th seed in the conference tournament and would take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Day 2.
The Wolverines started out quickly, taking an early 7-0 lead on the Scarlet Knights in the game. It wasn’t until just under two minutes left in the first half that Rutgers would come back and tie the game at 23 points each and eventually take the lead before the half. But a last second three pointer by Michigan’s Joey Baker would give the Maize and Blue a three point edge at halftime.
In the second half, Michigan went cold. On just 4 of 21 shooting from the field, the Wolverines would score just 22 points in the half and lose the game to Rutgers 62-50, exiting the tournament after their first game. Disappointment from the players and coaches was prevalent and an understatement for the team. The loss to Rutgers would certainly close the door on Michigan from having any chances of getting into the NCAA Tournament and competing for a national championship.
Michigan would get the call and accept the invitation to play in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT). Although it’s not as appealing as the NCAA Tournament, it does extend the team’s season and offers a championship as well. First up would be a game against the Toledo Rockets and it also gave the Wolverines a chance to host the game being the higher seed in the opening round of the tournament.
Toledo traveled less than an hour North to Crisler Center in Ann Arbor on Tuesday night for the matchup. The Rockets were the MAC Conference Champions and its high scoring offense would challenge the Wolverines defensively. Playing without starting Forward Jett Howard (out with an injury), Michigan fell behind early, and trailed Toledo 9-2 in the first minute and a half of the game. But the Wolverines kept calm, stayed to their game plan, and went on a 16-9 run to tie the game at 18 points apiece over the next 6 minutes. The Rockets pulled away again, building a lead of nine points behind MAC Conference Player of the Year RayJ Dennis. Again, the Wolverines stayed calm and kept the deficit manageable, eventually taking the lead with about four minutes left in the first half. At half time, it was Toledo holding a slight lead 42-40 as J.T. Shumate would hit a three pointer with three seconds left to close out the half.
Joey Baker of the Wolverines opened the second half with a three pointer putting Michigan back ahead in the game. Toledo would keep the game close throughout most of the half, but they would not lead again after Baker’s opening half three and the Rockets fell in the end 90-80. Michigan’s Kobe Bufkin led all scorers in the game with 23 points with Baker adding 21 points of his own. Michigan also had two other players in double figures including Hunter Dickinson with 19 points and Dug McDaniel with 16 points. Dickinson led both teams in rebounding pulling down 9 boards in the game.
The Rockets also had four players score in double figures. Led by Setric Millner Jr’s 19 points, Toledo had J.T. Shumate contribute 18 points, Ra’Heim Moss score 15 points, and RayJ Dennis finish with 13 points.
Michigan will next head to Tennessee to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores (21-14) in round two of the NIT on Saturday.
About Post Author
