Phil Martelli admits to coaching mistake, gives message for Michigan closing season

Michigan competed with No. 15 ranked Illinois on Sunday, but the Wolverines ultimately suffered a 93-85 loss to the Fighting Illini at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor. Playing their second game without head coach Juwan Howard as he’s serving his five-game suspension, the Wolverines put up a fight and that’s promising to see – even if it was a loss.

Michigan, which is now 15-12 overall with a 9-8 mark in Big Ten play, trailed by just eight points at halftime and played an even frame with Illinois in the second half. While the Wolverines battled, associate head coach Phil Martelli thinks that the team could’ve been better in certain areas.

“We have been saying it since last Sunday – it’s together,” Martelli said. “We walked in here together, we walked out of here tonight … and we weren’t good enough. We just weren’t good enough. Trailed for 40 minutes. Defensively, we seemed to be chasing them a lot – maybe for the last eight minutes we stopped chasing and were able to dig our feet in and play.

“It has nothing to do with an individual player – it has nothing to do with the players. That is squarely on my shoulders in terms of what nugget did I leave out in preparation? Their speed coming off the dribble handoffs in the first half had a dramatic impact on us, and that’s where I really felt like we were chasing this game and not settled in.”

Now with the Illinois game in the books, Martelli and Michigan can correct their mistakes heading into the final week of the regular season, and the acting head coach thinks that’ll certainly be the case.

“Tomorrow, expect everyone to be wide-eyed and clear hearts and ready for the next challenge Tuesday night,” Martelli said.

Michigan returns to action Tuesday night at home against rival Michigan State, with tipoff scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1. Following Tuesday’s game, the Wolverines have remaining regular season matchups with Iowa (March 3) and Ohio State (March 6).