UCLA head coach Mick Cronin leaned against a wall in one of the back hallways of Crisler Center and, less than thirty minutes removed from watching his team wilt to No. 2 Michigan in a lopsided second half, didn’t need much time to reflect.
“It’s the worst second-half defensive field goal percentage of my career, 23 years,” Cronin said. “They’re [18]-for-23, they shot 78%. Worst of my career. And I don’t have to look it up, I can promise you that.”
It’s the second consecutive contest in which the Wolverines turned up the heat when it mattered, but still, this one felt different. This wasn’t a minutes-long, game-stealing stretch like the one against Northwestern. Nor was it a continuation of solid, winning basketball before and after the break that Michigan played against Ohio State and Penn State.
This was a 2-point lead at halftime that turned into a laugher shortly after the Wolverines jogged back onto the court.
The first half and the second half of Saturday’s win were essentially two separate games, and it didn’t matter that — despite leading for 40 minutes — it could be argued Michigan ‘lost’ the first half after allowing a 7-0 run to close things out. That was certainly the mindset the Wolverines emerged from their locker room with.
“At halftime, we talked about, we need to be more physical on the defensive rebounding, better on defense, just taking pride in individual matchups and guards getting downhill in 1-on-1 matchups,” graduate guard Nimari Burnett said. “And that’s exactly what we did. We had each other’s backs out there in the second half. And we knew how much better we could be, and it shows the greatness of this team to not play our best basketball but still be up and then just expand the margin.”
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