Michigan basketball loses final home game of the year, 71-65 to Maryland

Michigan Wolverines basketball fell to 22-8 overall and 14-5 in Big Ten play with a 71-65 loss to Maryland Wednesday night at Crisler Center. Michigan has one more regular-season game left, a Sunday afternoon tilt at Michigan State that could have a Big Ten title on the line, depending on how the Spartans fare Thursday at Iowa.

Here’s a recap of how the game unfolded.

First half

Maryland got the scoring going with an offensive rebound and Rodney Rice triple to go up 3-0, but there weren’t many other made shots in the early going. The Terrapins made a pair of free throws but Maryland (1-of-6) and Michigan (2-of-7) combined to shoot 3-of-13 from the field in the first four minutes. Maryland led, 5-4, at the under-16 media timeout.

Neither team could get shots to go down until Michigan went on an 8-0 run to take a 12-7 lead. The Maize and Blue have struggled from beyond the arc lately but got deep makes from junior forward/center Danny Wolf and graduate guard Nimari Burnett. The Terrapins called timeout at the 11:52 mark.

Wolf picked up his second personal foul and headed to the bench at the 9:32 mark. Maryland went on a 12-2 run, while Michigan’s offense sputtered. Wolf’s offensive foul was the second of 4-straight turnovers on trips down the floor for the Maize and Blue.

A triple by Selton Miguel put Maryland up 19-16, which was the score at the 6:35 media timeout.

Wolf checked back in with two fouls at the 6:15 mark. A second-chance triple by Miguel gave Maryland a 24-18 edge, and a few possessions later, backup forward Jordan Geronimo finished a dunk to give the Terrapins a 26-18 advantage. They were on a 19-4 run at that point, and Michigan had made only 2 of its last 10 field goal attempts.

Michigan’s offense was poor down the stretch of the first half, with the Wolverines scoring only 4 points in the final five and a half minutes. Maryland, meanwhile, saw Miguel cap off the stanza with a three-pointer with 32 seconds remaining, giving the Terrapins their largest lead, 33-22.

Wolf was the Maize and Blue’s most effective player in the first 20 minutes, despite playing with two fouls, which limited his effectiveness on the defensive end. He poured in 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting and dished 3 assists.

Michigan shot 31 percent from the field and turned the ball over 7 times in the first half. U-M made only 3 of its 8 layup/dunk attempts. The Terrapins, meanwhile, only shot it at a 37-percent clip, but knocked down 5 of their 12 triple tries.

Second half

Wolf struggled out of the gate in the second half, committing 3 of Michigan’s 4 turnovers that occurred in the first four minutes of the half.

He was subbed out at the 16:22 mark, and his replacement, redshirt junior forward Will Tschetter, drilled a three just after checking in. Michigan trailed 38-29 at the 16:48 media timeout but blew an opportunity to take advantage of Maryland starting 2-of-6 from the field in the second half.

Michigan made its run, though, on the back of graduate center Vladislav Goldin, who scored 8-straight points for the Wolverines. The Maize and Blue got a steal and went the other way, with junior guard Tre Donaldson pitching the ball ahead to freshman guard L.J. Cason for a layup. Maryland called timeout up 44-39 at the 13:05 mark, its lead having dwindled.

Michigan went with its 2-3 zone out of the timeout, and Maryland point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie made a three from the right wing to quiet what was a raucous crowd. That made it 47-39, before Rice tripled to give his team a 50-39 edge with 12:14 to play.

Michigan came out of the under-12 media timeout on a mission, going on a quick 7-0 run over a 1:08 span. Goldin found Burnett on a backdoor cut for a dunk, Donaldson hit a three and Wolf threw down a monstrous dunk in semi-transition. Maryland called timeout, only up 50-46, with 10:08 to go.

Michigan continued to score, but Maryland hit 2 killer triples — one by Gillespie, one from Rice — both off of ball screens with junior guard Roddy Gayle Jr. matched up with the ball handler. Maryland held a 57-52 edge at the under-8 media timeout.

The Wolverines’ turnover issues popped up again, the biggest reason why they went on a three-minute scoring drought after Wolf had a sick stepback three-pointer from the right corner at the 6:51 mark. Neither team scored for over two minutes, with Maryland leading 61-57 with 3:48 to go.

Maryland center Derik Queen broke the drought with 2 free throws to make it 63-57 out of the media timeout. He was effectively drawing fouls but wasn’t efficient from the field, shooting only 5-of-13 at that juncture.

Maryland forward Julian Reese made a pair of free throws (65-57), before Michigan finally answered and stopped the bleeding with a right-corner three from Burnett (65-60). Head coach Dusty May promptly called timeout with 1:29 remaining, and Michigan went with a full-court press out of it. Goldin wound up fouling Rice once Marylnd got into the half court attempting to burn some clock (with seven seconds left on the shot clock), and he made both free throws to make it 67-60 with 1:06 to go.

Maryland went 1-for-2 on back-to-back trips to the charity stripe, and Donaldson made a three with 17.5 seconds remaining. Michigan called timeout, set up its pressure defense and fouled again, but Gillespie made both free throws, Michigan didn’t score on the other end and the game concluded with the Terrapins winning 71-65.

Wolf and Goldin each led the way for Michigan, scoring 20 points a piece, but the Wolverines had only one other player in double figures, Donaldson with 10.

Michigan vs. Maryland box score