Like clockwork, Michigan basketball steps up again when it matters most

INDIANAPOLIS — Michigan basketball is sweet yet again. And like the previous four consecutive trips, this one is special. 

They all are when you make it out of the first weekend of the tournament, of course. But nobody other than Michigan has been to five straight Sweet 16s.

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Nobody. And Gonzaga is the only other team to make it four straight times.

Yup — it’s Michigan, with three from John Beilein and two now from Juwan Howard. Howard’s team found a way to beat the hottest squad in the nation in Tennessee to advance, a 76-68 win in which U-M overcame adversity (again) to find a way. 

The Wolverines had been inconsistent all year, and they didn’t make it easy on themselves at times Saturday. The quicker, more athletic Volunteers scored 20 points off Michigan turnovers. Many of them (15) were unforced or careless, the ‘pick six’ variety. 

Tennessee got up 13 more shots (67 to 54), hauled in more offensive rebounds (11 to 7) and outscored U-M 18 to 11 off the bench. They even had a 19-to-5 advantage on the fast break. 

Starter Caleb Houstan was held scoreless in over 32 minutes. Another starter, DeVante’ Jones, went to the locker room at half and didn’t return.

Somehow, Michigan clawed one out.

And the best part about it for this time of year?

They still haven’t peaked.

“I don’t think we’re playing our best basketball, like to our potential,” fifth-year senior Eli Brooks said. “We still have a lot of mistakes that we have to clean up. Turnovers … miscommunication. That’s the scary thing with this team. 

“If we keep on staying connected, good things are going to happen down the line.”

But let’s be clear — this was already pretty damn good. 

It felt more like an Elite Eight game than round of 32, in fact, from the intensity on the court to the atmosphere in the stands. The Volunteers fans showed up, but the Michigan fans were right there with them, especially when sophomore center Hunter Dickinson (fittingly) dribbled out the last few seconds. 

He was gassed, having left everything on the floor in his 37:41 on the floor. For those who aren’t aware how hard it is to lug 250 or 260 pounds of a 7-2 frame at an exhausting level for so long (which is most of us), that’s an eternity. 

On paper, the Volunteers had advantages in many spots. But you almost always have a shot when you have the best player on the floor. Dickinson was that guy Saturday (with Tennessee’s Kennedy Chandler a close second).

With Houstan struggling, he stepped outside for two, huge first half triples. He worked inside in the second half, hit another three and added 11 rebounds for his latest double double. 

“He is so humble talking to you guys, but sometimes you see him on the floor, you might think he’s arrogant,” Howard said to reporters in the postgame. “But he plays with a lot of emotion. One thing you didn’t say is Hunter works hard, man. He’s behind the scenes. He puts in the work.

“How I know — individually, him and I work together on player development before practice, sometimes after practice. And, on off days when we are allowed, as coaches, to work with our guys.”

It’s one of the reasons Dickinson came to Michigan, after all. Dickinson could have gone just about anywhere. When it came time to decide, though, he pointed to the coach and said, “I’m going to get to the NBA — and you’re going to get me there.”

He’s not today’s prototypical pro, but we wouldn’t put it past him. He’ll have a decision to make in the near future. 

But not today. He wasn’t ready for that, like fifth-year senior Brooks (23 points) wasn’t prepared to take off the uniform for the last time. He pulled a running hook out down the stretch with the shot clock running down and U-M up two with 53 seconds remaining. 

That’s when most felt it — “yeah, it’s going to be Michigan again. Michigan.”

It was thanks, too, to sophomore Terrance Williams III, whose minutes down the stretch helped Michigan claw back from down six. He finished with nine points and led the team with a plus-14 plus-minus rating in 14 minutes. 

Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes lamented his team’s 2-for-18 three-point shooting, and that was key. The Vols missed several good looks, shots they drained regularly in an opening-round win over Longwood.

The beauty and the cruelty of this tournament — sometimes, that’s all it takes to send you home. 

But not Michigan. The Wolverines will advance to San Antonio to face the winner of the Villanova – Ohio State game next week, alive and well. Any disappointment from an inconsistent regular season has been erased, thanks to a group that found a way. 

“It starts at home with their parents. They have done an amazing job of raising some fine young men that trust, that believe in the leadership, whether it’s myself or the other staff,” Howard said. 

“There has never been a moment where one of our guys have been one foot in and one foot out. They bought into the culture, trusted in the culture. And I always gave credit to the parents of doing an amazing job of raising fine young men.”

But give him his due, too, in what’s been a tough year. He’s two for two in protecting Michigan’s reputation as a team nobody wants to face in the postseason. 

And it ain’t over yet.