College basketball can be unpredictable, but the end is telegraphed. The mistakes that teams make all year tend to be the same mistakes that they make when the season ends.
For Michigan, that was the case on Thursday afternoon in Chicago. The Wolverines got off to a hot start through Hunter Dickinson and controlled the game in the post on both ends of the floor. He outplayed Cliff Omoruyi one-on-one on the block, got the ball in good spots, and carried the offense.
Rutgers couldn’t make a shot early but never went away. Eventually, the Scarlet Knights adjusted, sending more and more bodies toward Dickinson. Michigan never found another way to score. The Wolverines never got their ball screen offense in gear and then timely mistakes, like a blown free-throw box out in a 4-point game, let things spiral out of control.
A dreadful shooting half and those costly second-half mistakes were enough to end Michigan’s slim NCAA Tournament hopes once and for all.
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