Michigan avoids first home loss with 76-72 win over Penn State

Penn State likes to drag teams into sloppy slugfests. And with both the Nittany Lions and the Michigan men’s basketball team recently slumping, the first half wasn’t a pretty start to Monday night’s game. 

Neither team ever gathered a double-digit lead as the game was always within reach for both sides. But alas, the Wolverines (15-5 overall, 7-2 Big Ten) dragged themselves out of the mud in the second half to avoid their first home loss of the season, triumphing over Penn State (13-8, 3-7), 76-72.

The Wolverines came out of the gates sufficiently adept, especially in comparison to the blowout loss they suffered to Purdue on Friday. By the under-16 timeout, they held a 12-7 lead. Yet, there were still flashes of the mistakes that allowed the game to remain competitive.

Graduate center Vlad Goldin — listed as questionable ahead of the game — appeared to be off. In Michigan’s third possession, he was doubled on the left baseline by the Nittany Lions’ defense, and lost the ball with the Wolverines’ maintaining possession on the out of bounds.

But with Penn State accruing three bad-pass turnovers in less than five minutes, Michigan still buoyed out front for most of the half. The Nittany Lions’ first lead came after the under-8 timeout, and in the first half they held that lead for less than two minutes.

But the Wolverines were making enough mistakes to keep the game interesting. They let Penn State out rebound them 20 to nine in the first half, and let the Nittany Lions take advantage with 10 second-chance points in that time. That was good enough for them to enter halftime squared at 35 points apiece.

Then finally, after three bad halves of basketball, Michigan’s offense began to show some remnants of what it did earlier this season. And in some aspects the Wolverines performed even better, not turning the ball over for the first nine minutes.

Junior guard Tre Donaldson commanded them, even with reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, guard Ace Baldwin Jr. matched up against him. He gave Michigan its first lead of the half finding a hole in the Nittany Lions’ box out for a second-chance layup. Again at the forefront he found graduate guard Nimari Burnett for a three to give the Wolverines their largest lead of the game, 52-44.

There were still mistakes, though, including that first turnover of the second half, which allowed Baldwin to hit a 3-pointer and cut the lead to 3-points. Michigan never afforded itself the liberty to feel confident that it wouldn’t suffer its first home loss.

But eerily reminiscent of the first half, the Wolverines began making mistakes late in the half. Off a bad pass from graduate guard Rubin Jones, Baldwin hit a 3-pointer to take the 67-65 with just over four minutes to play. 

But down five points in the final two minutes, Michigan’s offense was at its best. Junior guard Roddy Gayle Jr. struck first with a dunk followed by Donaldson attacking the rim for a layup. 

And then Donaldson delivered the final blow, nailing a three from the right wing — a flashy finish to a game that was anything but. Regardless, it let May’s perfect record at Crisler Center live to see another day.

The post Michigan avoids first home loss with 76-72 win over Penn State appeared first on The Michigan Daily.