Michigan basketball a work in progress, but pieces are there for success

Zavier Simpson's final shot didn't go down. Neither did the subsequent tip-in attempt by Brandon Johns Jr. and Isaiah Livers. And that forced Michigan basketball to watch as Oregon celebrated a thrilling, back-and-forth 71-70 overtime win Saturday at Crisler Center. 

As the No. 13 Ducks fist-pumped and jumped down the court to their bench and the visitors' section, reality began to set in for the Wolverines (8-3), who have come back down to earth after their hot start. The loss was a missed opportunity to secure another signature win and bolster their NCAA tournament résumé. It also was their third loss of the past four games. 

But the big takeaway isn't that they are slumping, or that the season is headed in the wrong direction. Instead, they proved they're very much a work in progress, albeit one that has all the pieces in place to be successful in March. 

As Michigan enters a period where it must shift gears from a brutal non-conference schedule to the meat of the Big Ten slate, it has become clear it still has a ways to go. 

Saturday's contest was easily winnable. Yet Michigan, which typically plays well at home, struggled from the opening tip. Oregon hit a bunch of tough shots in staking an early double-digit lead, while the Wolverines' offense was disjointed and kept missing jumpers against a hybrid man-zone defense.

Some issues popped up near the end of the game, too, as Oregon started switching screens and isolating star point guard Payton Pritchard in crunch time.

The adjustment forced Michigan into some empty possessions, while its defense simply couldn't stop Pritchard. He scored 15 of his game-high 23 points in the final 9:15, driving into the lane time after time.

Meanwhile, there were several key turnovers that led to Oregon baskets. And on the final play, the Wolverines didn't seem to get the look that they wanted.

“We were trying to get Isaiah to take it to his dominant hand, get to the basket, maybe draw a foul," Johns said after the game. "All of us crash the boards, get offensive rebounds. It just turned out to be Zavier.”

Still, they showed a lot of promise in between their opening and closing struggles. 

They clawed their way back from a 16-point deficit, even as Oregon continually hit big shots in the second half.

How did the Wolverines get there? With a notable boost from the bench. David DeJulius provided instant offense, scoring a team-high 12 first-half points on 4-of-7 shooting. Johns entered the game and gave Michigan extra possessions with his offensive rebounding. The duo helped close the gap to just eight points entering halftime, setting the table for the frenetic, back-and-forth second half. 

At moments, the Wolverines looked as if they didn't belong on the same court as Oregon. Yet after falling behind 25-9, Michigan outscored the Ducks, 61-46, the rest of the way. Livers hit his first five shots of the second half, including three 3s. Franz Wagner was 7-of-8 in the second half and overtime, finishing with a team-high 21 points.

The small-ball lineup with Johns at center is certainly one that Michigan could revisit in the future. Starting center Jon Teske finished with a minus-11 in 24 minutes; Johns was plus-10 in 22 minutes. Johns' ability to play at the 5 position — which he hadn't done this season before Saturday — was another display of this roster's versatility. 

“There’s so many keys to our team," Johns said. "Where it’s kinda endless. We can do so many different matchups, so many different lineups, it doesn’t matter. I feel like we’re one really versatile team, and I think it’s really helping out.”

As Michigan enters a stretch in which it will play two games in the next 15 days before a Jan. 5 date at Michigan State, the key for coach Juwan Howard and his players will be finding other things that work, such as the small-ball lineup with Johns, and maximizing them.

The Wolverines will have to learn how to play more consistently and avoid cold stretches, like the one that made this game an uphill climb.

But they have an experienced and talented 1-5 combo in Simpson and Teske, even if neither played his best against the Ducks. Livers and Wagner are versatile two-way wings who can shoot from outside. Eli Brooks is a solid secondary option in the backcourt. And the bench continues to add invaluable depth,  as Johns and DeJulius showed. 

The Wolverines didn't play their finest, but all of the attributes that earned them a top-10 ranking in the first place remain.

"This game is all about runs, and when you’re playing against one of the best teams in the country, there are going to be some possessions out there when ... someone made a tough shot," Howard said. "They made some tough shots, especially in the paint. But we stayed with it, and that’s why I love our team and I love how we compete.

"Our guys ... didn’t get down. They continued to go out there and figure it out and find ways to, when our ball was in our hands, make the right play. And they did."

Contact Orion Sang at osang@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @orion_sang. Read more on the Michigan Wolverines and sign up for our Wolverines newsletter.