Michigan basketball begins Battle 4 Atlantis with 71-67 loss to Memphis

Michigan Wolverines basketball will play in the Battle 4 Atlantis loser’s bracket after falling to Memphis 71-67 Wednesday night on Paradise Island.

Michigan was down 16 at one point early in the second half but clawed back. However, the comeback attempt fell short.

The Maize and Blue will take on the loser of Arkansas vs. Stanford Thanksgiving Day at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Here’s a look at how the game unfolded.

First half

Sophomore forward Tarris Reed Jr. gets the scoring started with a left-handed jump shot on Michigan’s second possession. Reed also had 2 blocks, an offensive rebound and drew two fouls within the first three minutes of the game. Thirty seconds later, with 16:30 to go, he made a layup to tie the game at 4-4.

A transition layup from Michigan graduate guard Nimari Burnett put his team up 6-4 just ahead of the 15:33 media timeout. The Tigers were on a two-and-a-half minute scoring drought at that point.

A second-chance bucket from Memphis forward Malcom Dandridge in transition gave the Tigers an 8-6 edge with 14:30 to play.

It was an ugly first several minutes of the game. Michigan was 5-for-15 from the field at the media timeout with 11:14 to go, but the Wolverines had 6 offensive rebounds that only led to 6 second-chance points.

Memphis picked up the scoring with Ashton Hardaway scoring two-straight buckets — a two and a three. The Tigers led, 15-11.

Burnett kept Michigan in the game early, like he did at St. John’s last Monday. In addition to his finish at the rim early, he hit 3 triples, the last of which put Michigan within one, down 20-19 at 8:55.

Point guard Jahvon Quinerly began to take over, though, scoring six-straight Memphis points after Hardaway had eight in a row for the Tigers. The Tigers led 22-19 at the under-eight timeout.

Michigan had a clumsy position that ended up with a graduate forward Olivier Nkamhoua dunk off an assist from sophomore guard Dug McDaniel to cut the Memphis lead to 24-21, but it was immediately answered with a Nick Jourdain triple to give the Tigers a 27-21 advantage. That score held at the under-four media timeout. Michigan had made just 1 of its last 7 field goal attempts at that juncture.

Out of the timeout, Jayden Hardaway hit a two-point shot over Michigan senior forward Terrance Williams II. On the Tigers’ next possession, he hit a triple to give the Tigers their largest lead to that point, 32-23, at which point Michigan called timeout. Quinerly then hit a three and then Caleb Mills broke Nkamhoua’s ankles and hit a step-back long two. After the 8-0 run, Memphis led 37-23.

Burnett stopped the bleeding with a pull-up jumper from the elbow, making it 37-25 with just over a minute until halftime. Those were his 12th and 13th points of the night.

Memphis led 37-25 at the break. The Wolverines shot just 11-for-29 from the field and 3-of-12 from long range. Memphis was 15-of-32 for a solid 47 percent with 5 threes on 11 tries.

Second half

Michigan got a stop to start the half, and scored on its first offensive possession with McDaniel finding Nkamhoua for a right wing triple to make it 37-28.

Williams turned the ball over dribbling in transition, leading to a Memphis fastbreak that amounted in a Jayhlon Young layup to open up the Tigers’ largest lead of the night at 46-30 with 16:46 remaining.

It was 46-33 at the under-16 media timeout, following a fantastic feed from Nkamhoua to Burnett in the right corner, knocking down the triple.

Michigan continued to fight and had it at at a 10-point deficit (48-38) at the 11:30 media timeout. Nkamhoua was firing threes but only made 1 of his last 4 at that time and Jackson came away empty each time despite having 3 looks at the rim.

Memphis called timeout at the 10:20 mark when Michigan was on a 12-2 run. The Wolverines scratched and clawed their way back into the game, down 48-42, after two McDaniel twos and a pair of Nkamhoua free throws.

Michigan got even further back into the game, behind a couple Nkamhoua jumpers, two McDaniel free throws and a redshirt sophomore forward Will Tschetter triple from the right wing that made it 54-51 at the 7:33 media timeout. Michigan finally heated up, making 5 of its last 7 field goals. Memphis had cooled down, going 3 of its last 11 from the field.

Ashton Hardaway hit a back-breaking three to put Memphis up 57-51 with under seven minutes to go.

Williams missed a three that could’ve given Michigan a two-point lead down 59-58, before Memphis’ Jaykwon Walton drained a three against the Michigan zone to go up 62-58 with 2:59 to go. Memphis called timeout. The Tigers had numerous wide open threes against the zone prior to Walton’s make but missed 4 in a row from the 6:14 mark until that one.

Nkamhoua fouled out pushing a Memphis player in the back on a rebound. A minute later, David Jones nailed a right-wing three, a dagger that put Memphis up 65-58.

Memphis closed things out with made free throws even after a Michigan push highlighted by 2 McDaniel makes at the rim and a Jackson corner three. It was 69-67 with 9 seconds left but Jones made a pair of free throws to seal the deal (71-67).

All 10 Memphis players that saw time scored at least one point. Ashton Hardaway led the Tigers with 17 points, while Nkamhoua paced Michigan with 18.