The End of the Road
Michigan’s magical run, which began at Madison Square Garden on March 4 when they captured the Big Ten Championship, ended in San Antonio on Monday night. Michigan ran into a buzzsaw in Villanova who captured their 2nd national championship in 3 years.
While Michigan started the game hot - things cooled once Donte Divincenzo entered the game. The Big East’s 6th Man of the Year scored 31 points and was virtually unguardable by Michigan’s stingy defense. Michigan was down 12 at half and everytime it looked like they were going to get on a run, the Wildcats would hit a three and stymy the Wolverines momentum.
For Michigan fans everywhere, the ending was not what was hoped for. Michigan went on an incredible ride winning 14 games before falling to Villanova on Monday night. In hindsight, Villanova was arguably the most consistent and dominating team all season. They won every NCAA Tournament game by double-digit. Michigan didn’t lose the game - Villanova was just a much better team. That doesn’t mean that what the Wolverines did is somehow diminished.
Michigan wasn’t given much of a thought at the beginning of the season. The Big Ten writers figured they would finish middle of the pack in the conference. They did not begin the season in the Top-25. They lost early games against LSU and were throttled by North Carolina. But as John Beilein tends to do, he made his team better as the seaso went on. Michigan suffered a frustrating loss to Northwestern in early February - it was their last losss before Monday night.
Michigan is going to be returning to near full-strength next season. Yes Duncan Robinson and Muhammad Ali Abdur-Rackman will be departing, and it’s quite possible that Mo Wagner will be heading to the NBA Draft. But Michigan has a slew of talent coming back for the 2018-19 season: Zavier Simpson, Isaiah Livers, Jordan Poole, Jon Teske, Charles Matthews and a stout recruiting class.
Michigan is also going to hang 2 banners at Crisler Center next year: the 2018 Big Ten Tournament Champions and 2018 Final Four. Nobody should overlook the Wolverines next year. And everyone who supports the maize and blue should be grateful for the incredible ride these last 5 weeks.
While Michigan started the game hot - things cooled once Donte Divincenzo entered the game. The Big East’s 6th Man of the Year scored 31 points and was virtually unguardable by Michigan’s stingy defense. Michigan was down 12 at half and everytime it looked like they were going to get on a run, the Wildcats would hit a three and stymy the Wolverines momentum.
For Michigan fans everywhere, the ending was not what was hoped for. Michigan went on an incredible ride winning 14 games before falling to Villanova on Monday night. In hindsight, Villanova was arguably the most consistent and dominating team all season. They won every NCAA Tournament game by double-digit. Michigan didn’t lose the game - Villanova was just a much better team. That doesn’t mean that what the Wolverines did is somehow diminished.
Michigan wasn’t given much of a thought at the beginning of the season. The Big Ten writers figured they would finish middle of the pack in the conference. They did not begin the season in the Top-25. They lost early games against LSU and were throttled by North Carolina. But as John Beilein tends to do, he made his team better as the seaso went on. Michigan suffered a frustrating loss to Northwestern in early February - it was their last losss before Monday night.
Michigan is going to be returning to near full-strength next season. Yes Duncan Robinson and Muhammad Ali Abdur-Rackman will be departing, and it’s quite possible that Mo Wagner will be heading to the NBA Draft. But Michigan has a slew of talent coming back for the 2018-19 season: Zavier Simpson, Isaiah Livers, Jordan Poole, Jon Teske, Charles Matthews and a stout recruiting class.
Michigan is also going to hang 2 banners at Crisler Center next year: the 2018 Big Ten Tournament Champions and 2018 Final Four. Nobody should overlook the Wolverines next year. And everyone who supports the maize and blue should be grateful for the incredible ride these last 5 weeks.
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