Michigan’s dominating season includes 10 wins by 25 or more points, but now there is a blemish on the ledger.
The No. 4 Wolverines will look to bounce back from their initial defeat of the season when they visit Washington on Wednesday night in Big Ten play at Seattle.
Michigan (14-1, 4-1 Big Ten) saw its level of play decrease over its past two contests, and coach Dusty May said the team deserved to be handed a loss.
“Our plan, our coaching, our playing wasn’t up to our standards,” May said Monday. “But in reality, it’s been four games since we’ve played really well.”
Michigan could easily be bringing a two-game skid along for its trip to the Pacific Northwest to face Washington and Oregon (on Saturday).
The Wolverines escaped with a 74-72 road victory at Penn State on Jan. 6 when the Nittany Lions’ Freddie Dilione V had his 3-point shot bounce off the back rim as time expired.
Then, Wisconsin outplayed the Wolverines down the stretch to notch a 91-88 victory on Saturday at Ann Arbor. Michigan missed its final five shots and eight of its last nine.
“We’ve played at a high level of intensity until recently, so will we ever be satisfied with our intensity? Probably not,” May said of the loss. “Part of being a championship team is the focus, concentration and intensity that goes into winning at a high level. This team has played with more intensity than our team last year and most of the teams that we played against this year.”
May is focused on how the squad responds. That makes sense to Michigan guard Nimari Burnett.
“This is a lesson — it’s like a smack in the face,” Burnett said. “We have the chance to grow from it, and I think this group will. We have tons of great people, leaders, etc., and I’m excited to go to war with them. And no team is gonna go undefeated.”
Elliot Cadeau matched his career-best output of 19 points against Wisconsin. He first scored 19 against Miami during his time at North Carolina two years ago.
Washington (10-6, 2-3) is coming off a solid 81-74 home victory over Ohio State on Sunday.
Zoom Diallo scored 22 points and Hannes Steinbach added 21 points and nine rebounds as the Huskies improved to 7-1 at home.
“We started making shots and just capitalizing on missed shots and their mistakes,” said Diallo, who ranks second on the squad with a 15.1 scoring average. “I feel like it just built momentum for us.”
Steinbach nearly recorded his 10th double-double of the campaign. He leads Washington in scoring (18.4), rebounding (11.0) and field-goal percentage (58%).
It isn’t yet known if Desmond Claude (14.5 points per game) will play against the Wolverines. He sat out against Ohio State due to what coach Danny Sprinkle termed a “team decision.”
Though the Huskies are below .500 in Big Ten play, Sprinkle is convinced his roster matches up well against a Michigan team that leads the nation in scoring margin (26.1) and ranks second in scoring offense (94.6).
“We can compete with anybody,” Sprinkle said.
Last season, Michigan cruised to a 91-75 home victory over the Huskies. Burnett scored 16 points on 6-of-6 shooting and sank all four of his 3-point attempts.
The Wednesday contest marks the first time the Wolverines have played at Washington since losing 65-61 on Dec. 30, 1994.
–Field Level Media
