WASHINGTON − There’s never a great time to learn a tough lesson, but a nonconference game, with no bearing on the Big Ten standings, at a neutral site, might be the best one.
No. 1 Michigan basketball (25-2, 15-1 Big Ten) lost to No. 3 Duke, 68-63, at Capital One Arena on Saturday, Feb. 21, in a game that played much closer than even a five-point spread.
As coach Dusty May said after the fact, “Am I glad we lost? No.”
And yet, it didn’t damage the Wolverines‘ chances of a Big Ten championship. It didn’t knock U-M off the 1-seed line. Most importantly, it gave the Wolverines a legitimate Final Four-level test, facing a fellow likely 1-seed in a March Madness-type of environment. That the Wolverines lost showed them what must be done against the other best teams in the nation.
“We know more about our team now; we’ll be better because of this game,” May said. “We didn’t rebound the way we needed to and we made some timely errors. … But, proud of our guys: We fought, competed, overcame adversity and stayed together.
“There are several learning lessons we’ll have from this film.”
The struggles are easy to point out: Michigan scored its fewest points this season. It lost on the glass (41-28) by its largest margin. It was outscored in the paint (34-24) in ways that hadn’t happened this season. On top of all that, the Wolverines 24% success rate on 3-pointers vs. the Blue Devils was their worst in nearly a month.
U-M was also hamstrung at times by Aday Mara playing just six minutes in the first half due to three quick fouls. Considering all of that, it’s almost impressive that Michigan only lost by five.
Now, let’s be clear: Michigan is beyond looking for “moral victories.”
But to know that Elliot Cadeau, Nimari Burnett and Trey McKenney made just two of a combined 17 shots and it was still a one-possession game in the final minute? It’s a argument that the Wolverines are right where they want to be, as long as the execution is there.
Duke played a role in U-M’s struggles, too; the second-largest team in America made the Wolverines fight for points in the spaces they normally dominate.
“Defensively, [Duke is] a lot better than everybody else in the Big Ten in my opinion,” said Yaxel Lendeborg, who led the Wolverines with 21 points despite just five in the second half. “They have a lot of athletes.”
Not finding the answers
Michigan missed nine shots in a row over a 6:09 stretch midway through the second half. It still never trailed by more than eight points, and the Wolverines rallied quickly with seven straight points in less than two minutes to pull within one with 3:49 to play.
But from there, U-M gave up a lob from Patrick Ngongba to Isaiah Evans for a slam, then conceded a Cameron Boozer 3-pointer from the left wing for a two-possession deficit the Wolverines wound up unable to overcome. Boozer, the favorite for national player of the year, was the best player on the Capital One Arena court, too, as he finished with 18 points, 10 boards and seven assists despite sitting four minutes in the second half with foul trouble.
Michigan’s front line has been able to stymie virtually every opponent in the paint this season, but Boozer had his way, particularly on the glass, grabbing four of Duke’s 13 offensive boards, which led to 18 second-chance points.
“Michigan is a physical team,” Boozer said. “If you don’t match that physicality and take it up a notch, it’s going to hurt you.”
That’s what was most surprising about this result: How it happened.
Duke got fully half of its points (34) in the paint. Michigan tried both Lendeborg and Morez Johnson Jr. (who had 13 points and six boards) on Boozer, but he forced U-M’s bigs into foul trouble and went 5-for-8 on 2s against one of the nation’s top three teams in stopping those shots.
“I would say it was shocking,” Lendeborg said. “There were times we were talking to each other on the court like, ‘We can’t allow any more 2s,’ and that’s the first time I’ve ever heard anybody in our circle [have] to say that.
“It was kind of frustrating because we thought we were playing pretty good defense. … But there were times where they would get easier baskets which was even more frustrating. … We got a lot to fix.”
The silver lining
May has said all season long that Michigan can’t get too high with wins or too low with losses.
After U-M’s resounding win over Purdue on Tuesday, he said the Wolverines wouldn’t let the result of this game affect its psyche either way.
Now, it’s time to prove as much, as the Wolverines − slotted in by the NCAA tournament selection committee at No. 1 overall in its mock top-16 seed release on Saturday morning − can lock up the Big Ten regular-season title this week with wins over Minnesota on Tuesday (8:30 p.m., Big Ten Network) and No. 10 Illinois on Friday.
“We’ve got to turn our focus back to the Big Ten,” May said. “We want the best seed, more optionality across the board but [controlling the destiny toward Philadelphia for the opening two rounds] is over now.”
May praised how Duke was “well-trained” in its ability to get to 50-50 balls. Johnson said that reminded him of U-M’s game last month against Michigan State, with the physicality down low. Lendeborg said Saturday’s game gave U-M a taste of what it hopes is a lengthy run next month.
Michigan’s inability to capitalize on key moments − like scoring just seven points off 11 Duke turnovers – was an issue, May noted. But this game was lost where so many have been won this year − down low.
“They’re a great front line, you can see that every time they come out,” Boozer said. “But we got a great front line too.”
Now, with all their goals still in reach, it’s time for Michigan to show its readiness for March.
Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball gets humbling lesson in March Madness preparedness