Eli Brooks assesses highs, lows of Michigan's season

It was quite a year for Michigan, which went from No. 4 in the preseason AP Top 25 to a No. 11 seed in the NCAA Tournament to the Sweet 16. After the Wolverines’ season ended Thursday, Eli Brooks assessed the highs and lows of the season.

Michigan’s season came to an end against No. 2 seed Villanova in a 63-55 loss on Thursday. Brooks had 14 points, but had a rough day from the field, making four of 15 field goal attempts. In the postgame press conference, he reflected on the Wolverines’ up-and-down 2021-22 campaign.

“Just staying connected,” Brooks said when asked for an assessment of the season. “Coach said it best in the locker room. Battling adversity and staying together, that’s what brothers do. And that’s one of our core values of family. So I think we did a good job of sticking true to what Michigan basketball is all about this year and staying connected as one.”

Michigan proved to be one of the surprise stories of the NCAA Tournament this year. The Wolverines, who lost in their first game of the Big Ten Tournament earlier this month, toppled No. 6 seed Colorado State and upset No. 3 seed Tennessee to punch their ticket to the Sweet 16. That set up the rematch of the 2018 national title game, and Villanova came away with the win to advance to the Elite Eight.

Michigan falters against Villanova in Sweet 16, sees season end

Villanova is heading to the Elite Eight for the first time since the Wildcats won the 2018 National Championship after defeating Michigan 63-55 in San Antonio.

“I’m proud of them. It’s our players that are tough and that that Michigan team is, really smart and physical. They got us into some tough situations where our schemes weren’t working, we just had to be tough,” Villanova head coach Jay Wright said moments after the win.

The Wildcats led by as much as nine with 11 minutes left in the second half, but Michigan held on tight to a single digit deficit before Devante’ Jones went down with an apparent knee injury that slowed the Wolverines’ offense down. Despite checking back into the game at the under four minute timeout, Michigan never found their groove.

A Collin Gillespie deep 3-pointer gave the Wildcats another 9-point lead with under two minutes remaining after the Wolverines cut it to four. Gillespie’s shot put the game out of reach to knock the Michigan out of the tournament.