Dusty May: Michigan basketball learned plenty in loss to Wake Forest
Michigan basketball coach Dusty May made it clear when he arrived his team wasn’t going to shy away from big games in the non-conference, and he’s proven it be scheduling several tough games. The Wolverines lost the first one, blowing a big first half lead in falling 72-70 to Wake Forest in Greensboro, N.C. Sunday, but May insisted it was a good lesson for his squad.
U-M controlled the pace early and scored early and often in building a 25-12 lead. It got helter skelter at times, though, leading to too many sloppy turnovers (16 total). The Wolverines gave up too many second-chance points in the first half before tightening up — the Deacons finished with 11, but only 8 points off them total — and didn’t manage a field goal in the final 3:48.
They battled to the end, though, and there was a lot to like, though 10 consecutive missed shots late in the game sealed their fate.
“I felt we got a little bit stagnant,” May said on the postgame radio show. “We weren’t cutting well off the ball. The ball wasn’t moving quite as much. We fell down and slipped on the floor a few times in inopportune situations.”
Wake Forest also slowed the Michigan break, limiting the Wolverines to 8 fast break points.
“They forced us to play half court, and we didn’t have great pace and execution in the half court,” May said.
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On the plus side, the Wolverines got 28 points from the bench and took it to the wire despite not playing their best game. Big man Danny Wolf struggled with six turnovers against only four points and two rebounds. Center Vlad Goldin struggled a bit with the pace in a game in which the guards took the majority of the shots.
Freshman L.J. Cason had some nice finishes at the rim but was 0-for-5 on triples. The Wolverines made 10-of-33 from long range, led by Sam Walters’ 3-of-5, but shot only 34.5 percent in the second half.
“We learned a lot this game,” May said. “Our physicality — we have to become more physical. We have to embrace the contact.
“We didn’t have great timing on our sets and some things we were trying to do offensively, but we’re a work in progress. This is why we came to play this game — to figure out some things about ourselves.”
