Michigan falls to Arkansas at Madison Square Garden in game of swings

The Michigan Wolverines saw their 7-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday night in an 89-87 loss to Arkansas at Madison Square Garden as part of the Jimmy V Classic, put on by ESPN Events. The defeat drops them to 8-2 (2-0 B1G) on the season.

It was a game of runs for both teams. Michigan was up by as many as 15 points in the first half before Arkansas stormed back and took an 18-point lead in the second half. The Wolverines pushed to the very end and had a chance to tie as time ran out, but it was not meant to be.

7-footers Vlad Goldin and Danny Wolf combined for 31 points on the night. Michigan was ultimately done in by 12 second half turnovers after surrendering only five in the first 20 minutes.

Here’s the full recap from MSG:

First half

Arkansas got the scoring started with a layup from Adou Thiero at 18:03 before Michigan scored the next three points on a Tre Donaldson layup and a free throw make from Nimari Burnett, taking a 3-2 lead at 17:24. The Razorbacks jumped back ahead on a 4-0 run on a pair of jumpers, then Vlad Goldin cut the deficit to 6-5 at 15:41. Arkansas’ Travon Bazile had a dunk at the other end, which Michigan answered by a 6-0 run on a dunk from Goldin and a pair of makes from Burnett to go up 11-8 at the 12:41 mark of the half.

Thiero ended the run with a layup, then U-M rattled off five more points to push its run to 11-2 on a three from Burnett (12:15) and jumper from Danny Wolf (11:39) to push the lead to 16-10. DJ Wagner briefly cut into the run at 11:27 before U-M rattled off 10-straight points – 8 of which came from Will Tschetter, to extend the deficit to 26-12 with 9:27 remaining in the first half of play. The teams would go back and forth over the next few minutes before Michigan pushed its lead to a game-high 15 points on a Donaldson three-pointer at 6:27.

That was when Arkansas started cutting back into the game, going on a 6-0 run to narrow Michigan’s lead to 36-27 with a little over five minutes to go before halftime. Goldin made a layup and hit his free throw at 4:50, pushing the lead back up to 39-27, which was followed by a 5-0 run from the Razorbacks. Freshman guard Justin Pippen hit his first-career three-pointer at 3:51, extending the Michigan lead to 42-32.

Arkansas ripped off a 13-4 run down the stretch, cutting the lead to 46-45 Michigan with 33 seconds to play. Sam Walters hit a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left to bring the game to 49-45 heading into the half.

Second half

Michigan’s fading momentum carried into the second half with Arkansas ripping off a 12-0 run to start the final 20 minutes, taking a 57-49 lead by the 15:40 mark. Goldin ended the run with a dunk that sent him to the free throw line for an and-1 make with the Wolverines down 57-52 at the under-16 media timeout.

Arkansas would push its lead to 70-60 with 11:48 to go before ballooning its lead to 78-60 with 10:15 remaining, a 33-point swing from Michigan’s 15-point first-half lead. Down 80-62 at the 9:45 mark, the Wolverines ripped off a 12-0 run with Wolf and Goldin combining for 9 of thos points, cutting the deficit to 80-74 with 6:11 remaining. Boogie Fland hit a pair of free throws at 4:48 to extend the lead to 82-74, followed by a 4-0 run from Michigan on paint baskets from Wolf and Roddy Gayle Jr. Arkansas got a basket back at 3:25, putting the game at 84-78, answered by a jumper from Burnett at 3:19 to narrow the lead to 84-80. Right before the under-4 media timeout, Johnell Davis scored on a layup where he was fouled on a questionable continuation and made the free throw after the TV timeout. Arkansas would lead 87-80 with 3:01 to go.

Michigan got a free throw make from Wolf, followed by a dunk from Goldin. Aidoo made a free throw at the other end, putting the game at 88-83 with 1:58 to go. The Wolverines pulled to within 1 at 88-87 with 1:28 to play, but could not get one more basket needed to tie or win the game. An Arkansas free throw would ice it, and the Razorbacks would walk out 89-87 winners.

Michigan vs. Arkansas final box score