In case you had not heard by now, the New Jersey Institute of Technology Highlanders pulled off one of the biggest upsets in recent college basketball memory this past Saturday, defeating the No. 17 Michigan Wolverines 72-70. Say it out aloud: the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
This wasn’t the second round of some obscure early season tournament played in Hawaii or something. This was in Ann Arbor. Not even the Highlander’s own coach could really process what had transpired.
“I don’t really know what to say,” NJIT head coach Jim Engles said afterwards.
Can you blame him? This is the same Michigan program whose team played for the national title two years ago. A program that’s won three Big Ten titles in the past four seasons. A program that has renowned history and pride, full of alumni who have gone on to great things in the NBA. A program that, at least for that weekend, was the laughingstock of the basketball world.
Good thing for them, there were 22 regular season games remaining to wash away the taste of such an embarrassing defeat. Michigan faithful assumed that their team would get back on track in Tuesday’s matchup at home against Eastern Michigan.
It didn’t happen. The Eagles defeated the Wolverines in a very defensive-minded affair by a score of 45-42.
Now, it is worth mentioning that Eastern Michigan is no pushover. They are now 8-1 and are 20th in the nation in points allowed. Still, it doesn’t excuse a second consecutive non-conference loss at home to an inferior team. Such losses could prove to be RPI killers to Michigan’s resume when March rolls around.
While Michigan’s loss to NJIT had a lot to do with not taking the Highlanders seriously and consistently leaving their players open to hit three-pointers, their loss to EMU had to do with the fact that they simply couldn’t score. The Wolverines went a staggering 14 minutes in the first half without a field goal. It also didn’t help their case when they were shut out in the final three minutes of such a tight game. That is almost an entire half of scoreless basketball.
That is pretty troubling when you consider that the Wolverines have led the nation in offensive efficiency the last two seasons.
This particular Michigan squad is currently averaging a fairly decent 70.7 points per game. Against Eastern Michigan, they were 14-43 from the field, which included a futile 4-21 from three point range. The Wolverines held EMU to similar numbers, but had no answers of their own against a solid defense.
When taking Michigan’s prior season performances into account, things don’t add up. The Wolverines hung close with No.7 Villanova, losing 60-55. They overcame a tough 2-3 zone defense against Syracuse just prior to this ugly stretch, edging the Orangemen 68-65 on Dec. 6th.
So what’s been their deal this week?
The simple answer might have to do with the team’s youth. The Wolverines are trying to continue their Big Ten dominance with a team that lost the likes of Nik Stauskas, Glen Robinson III, Mitch McGary, Jon Horford, and Jordan Morgan from last year’s unit. It is fair to point out that Michigan performed at a high level last season after losing Tim Hardaway Jr. and Trey Burke early to the NBA. But even so, those are some pretty hefty losses. Their current starting lineup consists of two freshman, two sophomores, and junior guard Caris LeVert, who leads the team in scoring with 17.7 per game. Hardly a lineup full of wisdom and experience, a glaring fact in light of the last two games.
Even if it’s a youth problem, it is a hard one to excuse. Besides, Damon Lynn, the NJIT player that dropped 20 on the Wolverines, including the game clinching three-pointer, is a sophomore himself. Head coach John Beilein and his staff have routinely pulled in loaded recruiting classes, as the NBA draft has shown in recent years. Their players know the program they are joining, know the coach, know the names that have come through. They should be prepared enough already.
Whatever the root problem actually is, the bottom line is that the Wolverines have shown that they are incapable of both guarding and scoring in back-to-back games, one week after putting together solid performances against other non-conference foes.
Maybe it’s just bad timing for the Michigan. Maybe it was just one of those bad stretches that teams can have during a long season. Perhaps they will steadily improve throughout the year, soaking in more and more of John Beilein’s coaching, positioning, and strategy, building on these losses and using them as motivation to not be embarrassed in such ways ever again.
If it is indeed a merely a bad stretch, the Wolverines better snap out of it fast. They travel to Tuscon this Saturday to take on an undefeated No.3 Arizona Wildcat team that is far superior to anything they’ve faced all season.
It’s time for the Michigan Wolverines to decide which team they want to be.
