Dug McDaniel was missing early and Olivier Nkamhoua was missing late.
With Michigan unable to get the best out of its two best players, the Wolverines dropped an opening-round 71-67 loss to Memphis in the Battle 4 Atlantis and fell to the consolation round.
The Wolverines (3-2) will hope for more from their top two scorers on Thursday when they face Stanford (3-2) in Paradise Island, Bahamas.
Stanford fell 77-74 in double overtime against No. 20 Arkansas on Wednesday despite leading for much of the game.
In Michigan’s second straight loss on Wednesday, McDaniel missed his first seven shots and his team fell behind by 16 points early in the second half. Once McDaniel broke through, the Wolverines followed his lead.
Michigan whittled the deficit down to one point with 4:12 remaining in the game. But with 2:39 left, Nkamhoua fouled out after delivering 18 points and seven rebounds, and the Wolverines were unable to get over the hump.
McDaniel finished with 13 points and seven rebounds and Nimari Burnett provided 16 and nine, respectively.
Michigan out-rebounded Memphis 50-28 as Tarris Reed Jr. pulled down 12 to go along with his eight points. But the Wolverines also committed 18 turnovers to 11 for the Tigers.
“It was like we were climbing uphill the whole half,” Michigan interim coach Phil Martelli said. “(We) just didn’t look organized.”
Stanford gave Arkansas all it could handle as Spencer Jones tallied 27 points and eight rebounds and Jared Bynum added 13 points and eight assists.
“It was obviously an impressive game,” Stanford coach Jerod Haase said of Jones. “The way he produced out there, the way he competed defensively. … He was an absolute warrior. The guys fed off of him. We loved him being out there. He was the cornerstone of what we did tonight.”
Stanford trailed toward the end of the first overtime but Benny Gealer scored his only three points of the game, hitting a buzzer-beating trey to extend the contest.
The winner of the Stanford-Michigan game will face the winner of the other consolation game between Northern Iowa (1-3) and Texas Tech (3-1).
–Field Level Media
