Michigan basketball's season ends with Big Ten tournament loss to Penn State, 66-57 (2024)

MINNEAPOLIS — The most trying season in Michigan basketball history is officially over after its 66-57 loss to Penn State in the first round of the Big Ten tournament on Wednesday night.

All attention will now turn to the offseason and the major question surrounding head coach Juwan Howard: will he get to return for a sixth season after his program suffered a year with the most losses in program history (8-24, 3-17 Big Ten) and has now missed NCAA tournaments in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1998-2008.

Wednesday was U-M's ninth loss in a row to end the season and the 19th in the past 21 games, however it didn't appear the case of a 14-seed already eyeing an offseason. Rather, down by double digits at the half of what looked like the final game of the worst season in program history, there seemed little reason to fight, yet Michigan did anyway.

The Wolverines punched back out of the break as Nimari Burnett hit a slashing layup, Dug McDaniel drilled a 3-pointer from the left wing and then Terrance Williams Jr. knocked down a midrange jumper to get the game back within four and elicit a Juwan Howard fist pump.

In fact, Michigan made its first six shots out of the half after another McDaniel scoop, Will Tschetter mid-range and Tarris Reed Jr. finger roll, but as has been the case all season, the worst defense in the Big Ten reared its ugly head.

Ace Baldwin responded with a Penn State layup, then knocked down a step-back 3 before Nick Kern hit a layup, Qudus Wahab made a pair of free throws and Zach Hicks made a long ball and a mid-range jumper. Penn State responded by making six shots of its own to build its lead back to a game-high 12 points.

The Wolverines offense would go cold late, as it made just two field goals in the final 9:53 the last of which a desperation heave with 1.8 seconds left. U-M and missed nine shots in a row prior and 10 of their final 11 to end the day. Williams led the way scoring with 15 points and six rebounds, Reed Jr. added 12 points and eight rebounds and Burnett scored 11.

Second half goes cold

Down 47-35, U-M once more fought back. Williams sandwiched a pair of mid-range jumpers around a Reed bunny, then added an and-1 jumper, before McDaniel made a scooping layup midway through the second half to get Michigan back within 50-46 with 9:53 left in the half.

That was close as as U-M had been at any point since late in the first half, but wouldn't get any closer than that as Baldwin drilled another pair of free throws to extend the PSU lead back to six.

After a discombobulated offensive possession, Baldwin again knifed through the Wolverines defense and extended the Nittany Lions lead from the stripe, before Wahab knocked down a pair to make it five straight Penn State free throws and a nine-point lead.

Reed Jr. responded with another hook in the lane, then a free throw to get within eight, but Hicks, who scored a game-high 20 points, drilled his sixth 3-pointer of the day as time expired on the shot clock to put Penn State up 60-49 with 5:50 to play.

Reed Jr. would foul out moments later with 5:01 to play and Tschetter would foul out with 2:01 to play as U-M's season came to a painful conclusion. Howard called one final timeout with 1:04 to play, and the walk-ons subbed in.

First half as sloppy as the season

The Wolverines looked like a team early ready for their season to be over. Michigan shot just 1 for 6 from the floor and turned the ball over three times before the media timeout, but trailed just 5-3 as Penn State struggled through a 2 of 6 start from the floor.

It didn't get much better out of the break. U-M made just 2 of 6 shots between the next media timeouts and turned the ball over another three times, but answered a quick 6-0 Penn State spurt with buckets by Reed and Llewellyn to make it an 8-7 game.

Penn State scored five straight out of the break as Michigan's misses mounted; the Wolverines had missed eight of nine shots when Nimari Burnett canned a 3-pointer from the right wing after Terrance Williams kept the possession alive with an offensive rebound, only for Penn State to do the same thing on the other end.

Michigan had 10 points and eight turnovers with 6:46 left in the half when Reed Jr. put a baseline spin move on a PSU defender for the and-a slam to cut U-M's deficit to 16-13.

It sparked the Wolverines to a certain extent, as Burnett drilled his third 3-pointer of the half before Williams made a fall-away baseline jumper and then a pair of free throws to tie the game after a 7-2 run with 4:27 in the half, but it only lasted so long.

Zach Hicks drilled a 3-pointer from the right wing, Qudus Wahab converted a lefty layup in the paint, Puff Johnson knocked down a pair of free throws and then Hicks drilled his third long ball of the half from the left corner as Penn State put together a 10-0 blitz in just 109 seconds to put the Nittany Lions up 30-20 and force a timeout from Howard.

Williams made a pair of free throws to break a 3:01 scoreless drought, but Hicks would end the half with his fourth long of the period as Penn State took a 33-22 lead into the break.

U-M didn't make a field goal the final 5:30 of the half, as it missed its final six attempts and shot 24.1% from the floor (7 of 29) and 25% from long range (3 of 12). Meanwhile Penn State shot 37% from the floor (10 of 27) but made 44% of its long balls (4 of 9) and turned the Wolverines' 11 first half turnovers into 14 points.

Contact Tony Garcia:apgarcia@freepress.com. Follow him at@realtonygarcia.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan's painful season ends in Big Ten tournament vs. Penn State