Juwan Howard explains his confidence in Michigan entering Big Ten Tournament

Michigan lost in a close one in their regular season finale, falling in overtime to No. 15 Indiana 75-73. The Wolverines finish the regular season 17-14 and 11-9 in conference play, with their eyes now set on the upcoming Big Ten Tournament. Following their latest loss, head coach Juwan Howard spoke about the confidence he still has in his team heading into tournament play.

“Man I’ve been having confidence in this team all season long,” Howard said. “I’m with them every day, I work with them, I see the work they put in. I see the talent, the skill level, I know where their heart is at, I listen to some of their stories.”

The Wolverines had a back-and-forth season, forced to battle through some injuries and managing to put together two three-game winning streaks in conference play this season. They’re the Big Ten’s fourth-best scoring and rebounding team, also ranking third in blockers per game in the conference.

Their goal was to end the regular season as the Big Ten champions, just like they did under Howard in the 2020-2021 season. But now that they haven’t, they’re likely even more to prove they are worthy in tournament play.

“I also listen to them as far as how they have been looking forward to postseason play but understanding that this season our goal was to win the Big 10 Conference Title, but unfortunately came up short. Now we have another goal in front of us and that team is aware of it, so those guys in that locker room, I’m all in with them,” Howard said.

The Wolverines end the season No. 8 seed in the conference excluding them from the first round of the tournament. Michigan will face a familiar foe that they played against just two weeks ago in their first game of the Big Ten Tournament, as they’ll take on Rutgers this Thursday. In their last matchup the Wolverines secured a big win on the road in Piscataway versus the Scarlett Knights, defeating them 58-45.

Michigan played stellar defense in their previous matchup with Rutgers, holding them to their lowest scoring output in conference play this season. They held Rutgers to just 38.3% shooting from the field, as the Scarlett Knights made just 18 shots on the night. Offense wasn’t a bright spot for either team, but Wolverine’s guard Dug McDaniel made an impact on both ends of the floor, leading both teams in scoring with 16 points along with five steals.

Beating a team twice is not easy, but we will see if McDaniel and the Wolverines can do it again on Thursday at 12:00 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network.