Despite inconsistent Big Ten run, Michigan enters postseason in buoyant mood

College Park, Md. — Michigan took its lumps and had its ups and down throughout the grind of Big Ten play.

There were the lower-body injuries to junior forward Isaiah Livers. There was the one-game suspension for senior guard Zavier Simpson. There was the broken nose for junior guard Eli Brooks.

There was the 2-6 start that saw the Wolverines fall behind early in the race. There was the five-game win streak that saw them make a push. Then there was the stumbling finish as they dropped three of four to close out the regular season.

By the end of it, Michigan found itself alone in ninth place in the conference standings with a 10-10 mark. But while the record may seem mediocre on the surface, the Wolverines feel far from it heading into the postseason.

“The Big Ten is a hard conference,” senior center Jon Teske said after Sunday’s 83-70 loss to No. 9 Maryland at the Xfinity Center. “We struggled out of the gate, we got a little win streak and now we've struggled lately. We've just got to bounce back. Yeah, our record says we're 10-10, but I think we're still a really good team.”

And Teske isn’t the only one. Maryland coach Mark Turgeon thought Michigan could’ve been in the same situation as the Terrapins if it had good health: Celebrating a share of the Big Ten regular-season title.

“That could’ve been a championship team there if Livers would’ve played all season,” Turgeon said. “Think about that. They lost five games without him in league play. We beat them by four (games) in the league. They could’ve been a championship team.”

Freshman wing Franz Wagner added he feels the Wolverines are better than what their record shows, even though they had their chances to prove it.

They couldn't hold late leads on the road at Iowa and Minnesota. They couldn't find a way to finish at home against Illinois and Ohio State. They couldn't get stops when they needed them against Wisconsin and Maryland.

And despite recording only four wins against the eight teams ahead of them in the standings, Wagner said the Wolverines are capable of beating anyone in the Big Ten tournament.

“Some games we just gave away that we didn't have to give away, but at the same time we still lost all those 10 games,” Wagner said. “You've just got to own it. We made a lot of mistakes during the season.

"We've got to be more consistent every game during the whole season. You can always have winning streaks, losing streaks but you've got to be able to keep the same level of play, especially defensively. I think it's most important that we do that every game and I think we can because we've showed it in the past. We've got to do that next week."

Even though Michigan fell short of what it wanted to accomplish in conference play, sophomore guard David DeJulius was already ready to turn the page.

That's because with the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments on the horizon, it's officially do-or-die time starting with Thursday's noon matchup against Rutgers.

"We talked about a fresh season now, a new start,” DeJulius said. “Everyone is 0-0. We can't get it back now. We have to move forward, and we have two championships ahead of us."

No foul

Wagner sat the final 12 minutes of the first half after he picked up his second foul for stripping the ball away from Maryland sophomore forward Jalen Smith under the basket.

However, Michigan coach Juwan Howard and Wagner both said the official who blew the whistle admitted he made the wrong call and there shouldn’t have been a foul at all.

"Crazy,” Wagner said. “I think that changed the game to be honest.

"I think the ref agreed I got only the ball, but still I think playing well without my hands can always prevent being called for a foul. Even if you don't foul him, refs look at that if you swipe at the ball."

With Wagner on the sideline, the Terrapins went on to build a 13-point halftime lead that the Wolverines could never dig out of. 

Throughout the season, Howard has typically benched any player who picks up two fouls in the first half. Sunday was no different and Howard said he was never tempted to bring Wagner back in because he wanted to avoid the risk of him picking up his third foul before halftime.

"I respect the referees. They have a tough job," Howard said. "(The official) came back and told us that was my fault on that foul. There was no foul. Unfortunately it was Franz's second foul, so we had to scramble."

Slam dunks

For the second time this season, Simpson was called for a flagrant foul for ripping the front of an opponent’s jersey after a video review.

Just like the Ohio State game last month, the foul occurred in the final minute when Simpson was falling to the ground after being fouled on a layup attempt by Smith and grabbed the jersey to break his fall.

Simpson initially shot his first free-throw attempt before officials noticed Smith's torn jersey and went to the monitor. After review, Simpson was assessed the tech.

That ended up being Simpson's fifth foul, which sent him out of the game. Howard picked Teske to replace Simpson and shoot his second free-throw attempt.

… Simpson is shooting 38.4 percent (10-for-26) from the free-throw line over the past six games.

… Michigan commits Hunter Dickinson and Terrance Williams as well as former Wolverine Mortiz Wagner were on hand for the game.

Big Ten tournament schedule

At Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis; all games on BTN unless noted

Wednesday

No. 12 Minnesota vs. No. 13 Northwestern, 6

No. 11 Indiana vs. No. 14 Nebraska, 8:30

Thursday

No. 8 Rutgers vs. No. 9 Michigan, noon

No. 5 Iowa vs. Minnesota-Northwestern winner, 2:30

No. 7 Ohio State vs. No. 10 Purdue, 6:30

No. 6 Penn State vs. Indiana-Nebraska winner, 9

Friday

No. 1 Wisconsin vs. Rutgers-Michigan winner, noon

No. 4 Illinois vs. Iowa-Minnesota/Northwestern winner, 2:30

No. 2 Michigan State vs. Ohio State-Purdue winner, 6:30

No. 3 Maryland vs. Penn State-Indiana/Nebraska winner, 9

Saturday

Semifinals, 1 and 3:30 (CBS)

Sunday

Final, 3:30 (CBS)

jhawkins@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @jamesbhawkins