Jett Howard injury casts a pall over Michigan 60-56 win over Minnesota
Michigan battled back from 10 down to beat Minnesota Sunday, pulling away for a 60-56 win. The Wolverines did it without any scoring from freshman sensation Jett Howard, who was held without a point for 15 minutes before going down with what appeared to be a lower left leg injury.
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Trainers helped Howard off the floor when he couldn’t put weight on it. The Wolverines turned to backups Joey Baker, Tarris Reed, and Will Tschetter for more minutes in Howard’s absence, and they all added something in victory. Tschetter, in fact, finished with a team-high plus-8 plus-minus rating.
Head coach Juwan Howard, Jett’s dad, didn’t have much to say about his son’s status in the postgame.
“I don’t have any information to give you on Jett other than as you saw, he was in a boot,” Juwan Howard said. “He came back out there in the second half to support his teammates, which was great. I feel sorry for the young man because he hates missing basketball. He’s in love with the game of basketball and wants to help his teammates on both ends of the floor.
“Now, we’re not sure how long he’s going to be out, but it goes to show you how our season is panning out. We have so many built-in excuses for injuries, starting with Jaelin [Llewellyn], our starting point guard. Then you look at Dug [McDaniel] in the Maryland game … Dug stepped on a basketball and turned his ankle. He still came out and played in the Maryland game. Kobe Bufkin is dealing with an injury; Terrance Williams is dealing with an injury. You also have Jace [Howard] out with a concussion. Hopefully, we’ll get him back soon.”
They’ve been piling up, Juwan Howard noted, and the list is growing.
But he’s been part of something similar plenty times before, he said, and he understands there’s no time to sulk.
“That’s part of the game of basketball,” he said. “You can’t predict it if it ever happens. You wish it never happens to you and your team, but I love how our guys respond as far as next man up mentality. They’re still not making excuses for themselves, because they have the right to …. but they still love going out there and competing. They’re going to lay it all on the line.”
McDaniel and Tschetter said as much in the postgame, noting they’d be doing their teammate a disservice if they didn’t go all out for him. Junior center Hunter Dickinson turned it up in the second half to will the win, finishing with 23 points and 9 rebounds.
His thoughts were with his teammate in the postgame.
“Obviously, we are pulling for him. That’s one of our brothers,” he said. “It’s definitely a bad sign when you see one of your brothers in pain.
“But I’m really proud of the guys that stepped up. Will, Tarris, Joey … they really came in there and gave us great minutes. We even had Terrance at the three. So … just good all-around effort. We talk about it as a team, the next man up mentality for us to be able to do that. To really step up when our brother goes down is big for us.”
