It didn’t end the way that the maize and blue faithful had hoped, but given that Michigan basketball wasn’t a lock for the NCAA Tournament, losing in the Sweet 16 to Villanova wasn’t such a bad deal.
The Wildcats didn’t thoroughly outplay the Wolverines as much as Michigan struggled in spots that they generally don’t — free throw shooting, hitting layups and dunks, and getting massive production from Hunter Dickinson. However, Villanova’s defense clamped down and made things difficult for the maize and blue, while Michigan’s defense also mostly held serve, forcing turnovers, getting blocks, and holding the Wildcats to long scoring droughts.
After the game, head coach Juwan Howard reflected on the performance as well as the season. Here is everything he had to say.
Villanova disrupting Michigan’s timing
Give Villanova credit. Very good team, well coached, played a very solid game, extremely competitive on both sides of the floor. We knew coming in that they were going to switch a lot, and we prepared for it. Hunter got the ball in some good spots.
Yes, some of the spots that he was pushed off the block, but overall we got some good looks at the basket. Unfortunately, it just didn’t go our way.
Assessing the season
Great young men to be a part of their development. Learned a lot from them as far as how competitive they are. They’ve competed throughout the season from start to finish. A great group to coach, accepted learning, stayed connected by supporting each other. Some of their roles were different. No one wavered on the other end. Did an amazing job of buying into their roles.
I think with some of the injuries that we faced, with some of the COVID, every guy was able to go out there and compete and save our season. So you learned a lot from who we are. We always talk about Michigan being family, and I’ve seen that we’ve been the most connected group this year because of…
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