Sitting behind the microphone speaking to reporters, Jace Howard opened up. About his team’s upset loss to Central Michigan on home turf, about the lackadaisical effort his team displayed, about where it can go from here.
Because after a season in which the Wolverines have played down to lesser opponents and played up to skilled foes, their constant flirtation with disaster caught up with them, and they don’t need to look far for solutions.
“It’s been a trend now, these games — especially these home games — I feel like we just have been shooting ourselves in the foot and we’ve been able to sneak out of it,” Howard said. “And let’s just call it for what it is: we were down in each one down the stretch in the last five minutes and now it finally got us, it finally bit us in the butt.”
Howard’s honesty might come as a shock. All season, Michigan has promised that something better is coming, that the great team they want to become is right there waiting around the corner. But after losing to a MAC opponent ranked 296th in the country on your home court, there’s no time for excuses or promises, and Howard offered none.
Instead, Jace and Michigan coach Juwan Howard pointed to the root of their struggles: effort. All game, like they have all season, mistakes piled up and shot the Wolverines in the foot again and again.
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