Michigan entered the Big Ten tournament likely needing two wins to make a last-second push into the NCAA tournament. It exited without even getting one.
The Wolverines dropped what amounted to a must-win game against Rutgers on Thursday, getting outworked by the Big Ten’s most blue-collar program and in the process sealing their fate as an NIT team. Rutgers outrebounded Michigan by seven, won far more than its share of 50-50 balls and had far more energy on its bench all game long. The dejection really became noticeable midway through the second half, when the Wolverines looked shell shocked to be approaching elimination, and with it, the reality of missing the NCAA tournament.
“Our young men [are] able to see it, read it, and they understood the magnitude of this game,” coach Juwan Howard said postgame. “They've heard it so many times from media or social media how every game's important, what lies on it.”
