'Raising Hell' - Michigan's character on display in culture win at Ohio State

Don’t blame Michigan fans who flipped channels, or maybe found some spring leaves to rake when they heard Hunter Dickinson wouldn’t be playing Sunday at Ohio State. U-M needed a win over the rival Buckeyes to likely secure an NCAA Tournament bid. Instead, the Wolverines and their fans got a pregame punch in the gut. 

RELATED: Ohio State’s Chris Holtmann on Michigan: ‘I thought they played really well’

And speaking of guts — don’t blame Dickinson for sitting out such a huge game with a “stomach ailment.” Everyone who was asking, ‘what would a guy like Zack Novak do?’ for example … well, Novak reminded us that he missed a game at Utah several years ago with a horrible bug of his own.

He’s earned the benefit of the doubt, Novak would say. He’s taken a pounding all season, played huge minutes and persevered.

So, it was up to his teammates to rally in his absence where few expected them to be competitive. Winning might not even have been on the most optimistic fan’s mind. But with so much on the line, they played with the desperation that was lacking in a home loss to Iowa Thursday. They likely punched their Big Dance ticket with a 75-69 win.

Head coach Juwan Howard likes to use the “all hands on deck” cliché when his team is shorthanded. On Sunday, that’s exactly what won the Wolverines the game. 

“We were on every ball, so we were raising hell on that court — every guy that got in the game,” associate head coach Phil Martelli said. 

Martellli led Michigan to a 3-2 record in his five games filling in for a suspended Howard.

“… What we wanted to try to be was balanced. We didn’t want to come out here and say, ‘Well, we were too high or too low.’  We didn’t want to come out and say, ‘We’re too physical.’ We just wanted balance, and I thought we did that. 

“The number that jumps to me is for us to have 24 bench points. That is just an extraordinary performance.”

They needed every one of them. Michigan starting wing Caleb Houstan was off his game, going 0-for-10 from the floor and held without a point. Senior Brandon Johns, starting for Dickinson (he played the ‘four,’ with frosh Moussa Diabate moving to center), scored only two. 

Enter Terrance Williams, who made three of four triples on his way to 17 big points. He also hit a critical pair of free throws down the stretch. 

But DeVante’ Jones was the leader, and he was fantastic — again. He carried the Wolverines with 21 points and nine rebounds. He made the winning plays (shots, passes, name it) down the stretch, and played like an All-Big Ten point guard.

Diabate and fifth-year senior guard Eli Brooks each added 14. But this was Jones’ moment, and he seized it. 

“If you look at his numbers at Coastal [Carolina], they’re eye-popping,” Martelli said. “We watched a lot of film to make sure he was the right guy.

“That’s a tough spot. It’s a tough spot to be a point guard coming into a program that is successful. And you’re coached by a pro — Howard Eisley has been to the highest levels as a point guard. So, he has a point guard whisperer, so to speak, and there’s just been growth and a confidence.”

It’s rubbed off on frosh Frankie Collins, too, Martelli noted. He credited Collins for his four big points in the first half that helped Michigan hang around when the Buckeyes started finding their offense. 

Flat out, though, Michigan just outplayed its rival in its biggest game of the year — and yeah, it was huge. No, the Wolverines didn’t contend for a Big Ten title like many predicted, but great programs find ways to make the NCAA Tournament when they’re not at their best. 

Outliers come up with big plays, like Williams and freshman Kobe Bufkin, whose only three points came on a critical triple at 1:20. They found ways to make up points in other ways, too, going 11-for-11 from the free throw line — all in the second half — and didn’t turn it over in the last 18:56.  

You read that right. After throwing it away four times in the first stanza and two on the first two possessions of the second, Michigan was nearly perfect with the ball. 

As a result, the postseason will have meaning in Ann Arbor again. That starts with Thursday’s Big Ten Tournament game against Indiana. The eighth-seeded Wolverines will face the No. 9 Hoosiers, and no matter what happens, they’re expected to hear their name called Sunday night when the NCAA Tournament field is announced.

We’ll stop short of calling this a “dangerous postseason team” or predicting a run, because Michigan has been so inconsistent. They could win a few games or lose the first game in both tournaments. 

But they’re going to be there. For a program that’s had incredible postseason success over the last decade and a half, that’s a big deal.