Empty possessions late doom Michigan — again — at Indiana

There’s no question Michigan basketball has improved this year. The Wolverines had nowhere to go but up after a non-conference slate in which they inexplicably lost at home to Central Michigan and were taken to the wire by other bad teams.

RELATED: Michigan gets Rutgers in 8-9 game, will play Purdue with a win. Thoughts on the draw …

RELATED: Rapid reaction observations after a Michigan OT loss at Indiana 

Had they not lost to the Chippewas, the Wolverines would like still be on the NCAA Tournament bubble after the latest devastating loss, a 75-73 overtime setback at Indiana. Instead, they’re out on all but 4 of 68 brackets at bracketmatrix.com, a consensus of the the “bracketologists” prognosticating the NCAA Tournament field heading into the Big Ten Tournament.

“We are in a great position — now starting a new second part of our season,” Michigan head coach Juwan Howard said after the latest missed opportunity. “There’s no other way but to now have an opportunity to hold up a trophy, and it’s going to take one game at a time.

“We don’t look ahead. We’ll find out tonight as far as who will be our next opponent and we’ll be preparing to go to Chicago and compete.”

The opponent will be Rutgers, a home loser to Northwestern, in the 8-9 game. This will be a chance for another Quad 1 win against a team that’s reeling … and, according to the advanced metric sites, one that wouldn’t move the needle as far at tourney berths go.

No, assuming a win Thursday — and even that’s a leap at this point — the Wolverines would need to beat Purdue Friday to move back to the bubble, most likely. That would give them the really impressive win they’ve been lacking this year.

As for Howard and his “compete” comment? It seems highly likely Michigan will given the desperation they’ve been playing with the last month. That’s not something we could have said all season, and that’s major improvement over where they were earlier in the year.

No, Michigan’s issue isn’t effort anymore — it’s been execution down the stretch. Empty possessions at key moments, often crucial turnovers at inopportune times, have doomed them, and that was the case again at Indiana.

The Wolverines had the final shot in regulation after blowing a 12-point lead, but rather than get the ball to sophomore Kobe Bufkin (19 points) and have the sophomore guard attack the rim, it was frosh Jett Howard with the ball for several seconds before he gave it up to junior center Hunter Dickinson for a contested three.

“We got a good shot,” Juwan Howard said.

Which is … debatable. At Illinois they had a “good” shot, a 5-footer in the lane from Dickinson that missed everything. This one was a rushed heave 22-feet away from the basket.

In overtime, they continued to turn it over, and it seemed fitting when Bufkin, with a few seconds left and Michigan down 2, threw it away one more time off Dickinson’s back rather than push it up for a desperation 35-footer.

It would have been a long shot, but at least it would have been a shot. Instead, it ended the latest late-game failure for a team that just hasn’t figured out how to finish.

The Wolverines scored 14 points in the last 14 minutes and were 1-for-6 with a pair of turnovers in the extra session. There were inexplicable shot clock violations in which nobody on the floor or otherwise had a clue how much time was on the clock, forced entry passes … frankly, more of the same we’ve seen too often from a young team that seems so close, but so far away.

“We got the ball right in a situation, and in a good spot,” Howard said of the last possession. “Unfortunately, the defender came in and took the ball away …

“It goes to show you our league is just a very competitive league, a lot of really good teams. I would say all of them are really good, and it’s going to be interesting to see which one’s going to be the last team standing, because now you’re playing on neutral site. I know that Michigan, we travel well and we’re going to need our Michigan fans in Chicago …”

The early Thursday game doesn’t usually draw well, however. And on Friday, No. 1 seed Purdue will likely bring a huge contingent. That will more resemble a road game if Michigan gets there.

Still, as captain of the ship, Howard is putting on a brave face.

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

“I also listen to them as far as how they’ve been looking forward to postseason play, but understanding that this season our goal was to win a Big Ten conference title. Unfortunately, we came up short. Now we have another goal in front of us, and that team is aware of it. those guys in the locker room, I’m all in with them. … Look at the overtime [at Indiana]. We lost by one possession. They only scored one more bucket than we did. We were one for six; they were two for six. That’s how it goes sometimes.”

Too often this year, unfortunately, to believe it’s magically going to change this week in Chicago.