Michigan Men's Basketball played a close game against an okay opponent. The game was back-and-forth and came down to a crucial closing minutes sequence. Michigan at one point had an opportunity to put an opponent away and did not do so. Michigan then lost the game. Nothing seems to ever change with the team and the program's year-and-a-half-long nightmares with close games continues after a 106-101 defeat to Florida at the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte, NC. 

The first half established many of the trends that would last for the duration of the game, Michigan's stellar three point shooting bolstering their offense, while Florida's offense was sustained through a high offensive rebounding clip. Michigan got out to an early 15-7 lead that was quickly winnowed by the Gators and from then on, it was pretty tight. Sloppiness was evident across the floor, with the two teams combining for 17 first half turnovers as the game devolved into rag-tag basketball for several stretches (something that would reappear in the second half).

The game was tied at 35 with under two minutes to go in the first half as the clock ticked down before the break. Dug McDaniel, who led Michigan with 15, delivered an underhand scoop off the backboard to put Michigan ahead. Both teams made stops on their next defensive possessions, which gave Michigan a chance to hold for the final shot and guarantee that they'd go into halftime with the lead. McDaniel looked for Olivier Nkamhoua on a potential alley-oop, which was intercepted by Florida's leading scorer in the half, Alex Condon. Condon passed it ahead to Zyon Pullin, who got just across half-court before pulling up for a long three. Pullin banked it in and Florida went to halftime up 38-37. 

[Click the JUMP for another three periods of almosts.]

[Marc-Gregor Campredon]

Both offenses were hot out of the gate to start he second half, Michigan putting up 18 points in roughly the first five minutes. That stretch was built on a 7-0 run with Terrance Williams II and Tarris Reed Jr. leading the way for Michigan offensively. But much like their quick run to start the first half, Florida came back and dwindled the lead in a hurry. The Gators answered with a 7-2 run of their own to pull it within four, finally hitting on a couple three pointers, and once Michigan began turning it over in rapid succession, Florida closed the gap. Just past the halfway point of the latter stanza, the game was tied at 63 thanks to a Thomas Haugh three pointer. 

The remaining 10 minutes of regulation were largely back-and-forth, until the final minutes, when Florida began to pull ahead. A three point play for Pullin made it 78-74 Gators with 1:36 to go and it felt like the contest was slipping away from Michigan. Tarris Reed Jr. made a layup and was fouled, hitting the free throw to complete the and-one (Michigan's free throw shooting was very strong tonight), pulling Michigan back within one with 1:23 left. Florida soaked up time on their next possession before Will Richard drove and was fouled, making the shot. He hit the free throw too, bumping the lead back up to 81-77, now under a minute to go. 

Florida had the right defensive approach on the next possession, slowing Dug McDaniel down and forcing him to pass it to the corner, where Nimari Burnett pulled up from three. Burnett's shot was blocked but he got it right back. Burnett dribbled just inside the arc and pulled up again, swishing the long two. 81-79 with just 33 seconds to play. The Wolverines had the possession arrow and used it well, trapping Walter Clayton Jr. in the corner with the duo of Burnett and Nkamhoua, who forced a jump ball. The arrow gave Michigan possession and they'd tie the game with 12 seconds left after Nkamhoua followed up a missed layup by McDaniel. 81-81. Florida's final possession was ragged, Pullin's layup being blocked out of bounds by Reed with only two seconds left and the final in-bounds going to Condon in the corner, who left the three short amid good defense. To overtime we went. 

[Marc-Gregor Campredon]

With the 4-0 run to regulation + the final stop to preserve the tie, Michigan had momentum going into the extra session and they would eventually find themselves in position to win the game. Michigan led for much of OT after Nimari Burnett hit a couple free throws to go ahead 85-84, eventually clinging to an 87-86 lead that they defended for nearly two minutes without either team scoring. Michigan's offense bogged down but they were defending hard on the other end, turning the Gators away from tying and after Clayton's three attempt was off the mark, Terrance Williams II snatched down the rebound and passed it to McDaniel with 21 seconds left. Florida promptly fouled and Dug went to the charity stripe. The sophomore point guard went 2/2 at the line and Michigan led 89-86.

Florida got the ball and Michigan opted not to foul with the three point lead, letting the Gators get multiple tying attempts up. Clayton attempted another three, which clanged off the iron as UF's cold-shooting night from deep continued, but Michigan's inability to snatch a defensive rebound haunted them in this massive moment. The ball ricocheted back out towards the arc, reclaimed by Tyrese Samuel, who passed it to Pullin and this time the three went down. Game tied with 9 seconds left. Juwan Howard opted not to use his timeout to draw up a play once Michigan got across half-court, instead letting Nimari Burnett run up and take an iso three (before his teammates were even up the floor) that was unsuccessful, the ball bouncing out of bounds. Florida's heave at the horn after the in-bound was no good and the game trudged on for another OT. 

Unlike the first OT, it was Florida who had the momentum going into 2OT and this time it mattered. Michigan did score first, a Nkamhoua fadeaway jumper, and then Florida got a lucky break after the referees ruled that Tarris Reed Jr.'s shot block attempt, which looked clean, was a goaltend- a decision they upheld after a mystifyingly long review. Refereeing shenanigans aside, everything that followed was on Michigan. The offensive flow and ball movement fell apart in favor of increasingly low percentage shots, while they had no answer on defense and Florida poured it on. The Gators embarked on an 11-0 run, capped off by a Clayton triple with 47 seconds left that represented the dagger.

[Marc-Gregor Campredon]

Michigan would end up trimming it back to four, 105-101, with 18 seconds left, but it was ultimately too little too late. Florida was able to get consistent penetration off the dribble in the second overtime and Michigan couldn't stop the ball once it got inside. Mixed with the increasingly ineffective offense, Michigan lost control of 2OT in a hurry and never got back in it. When the final horn sounded, Florida had won 106-101. 

The final box score reflects a close game, albeit one with different routes to the final point totals. Both teams shot a similar clip from the floor (47% for Florida, 45% for Michigan), but Michigan was quite solid from three all night (10/22), while Florida was generally cold from distance (8/29), other than the tying shot at the end of the first OT. Both teams attempted 29 free throws, but Michigan was a superb 79% to Florida's subpar 62% on those attempts. The biggest factor that decided the game in Florida's favor was the offensive rebounding, with an OREB advantage of 21-12, which allowed the Gators to attempt 86 FGs to Michigan's 76. 

Dug McDaniel led the way for Michigan with 33 points on 9/19 from the floor and 12/13 from the free throw line(!!). He played 45 of the 50 minutes in this game, with Michigan looking generally terrible in the few minutes he didn't play. Nkamhoua added 24 and Terrance Williams II came in third with 17. All three of the leading scorers for Michigan all made three three pointers.

[Marc-Gregor Campredon]

The bench was a complete nonfactor for the Wolverines, with all five starters playing at least 44 minutes(!!), while only three reserves played at all and none played more than 11 minutes. Jaelin Llewellyn was the only backup to score a point. On the flip side, Pullin, Florida's leading scorer, was not even in the starting lineup and UF got 43 points from the bench to Michigan's 3. In contrast to Michigan's starter-heavy usage, not a single Gator played 40 minutes. 

Michigan is now 6-6 on the season, with one more game left in calendar 2023. The final contest is next Friday against McNeese State after a ten day layoff, a tune-up game before the B1G slate begins in full. For all intents and purposes, tonight ended the real non-conference portion of Michigan's schedule and the issue is that they came away with very little in the way of resume-building wins (while taking an ugly loss to LBSU) and now must forage for those wins in a weak B1G. Wins over St. John's and Stanford are the best they came away with, while missing out on opportunities against teams like Memphis, Oregon, and Florida tonight.

More than anything, this game was another instance of chronic late game problems for this Michigan team... since the start of last season the Wolverines are 3-13 in games decided by four points or less or that went to OT. KenPom will attribute that sort of close games margin to "luck" but when bad luck persists for that long and at that clip, at some point it stops being luck and starts becoming who you are. It will likely be until 2024 for Michigan to to reverse the narrative about their team late in games, as that McNeese game is all that is left until January. That game is scheduled for 12/29 at 7:00 pm EST and will be broadcast on BTN.