Michigan Basketball: What Went Wrong in Wolverines' Stunning Loss to NJIT?

Michigan’s 72-70 loss Saturday to the New Jersey Institute of Technology floored everyone who witnessed it unfold.

Well, everyone but the Highlanders, that is.

To say that senior Daquan Holiday knew his team would down the No. 17-ranked Wolverines at the Crisler Center would be inaccurate. However, to say he thought it never had a chance couldn’t be further from the truth.

“The funny thing is, when we got to Michigan, the first person we saw was—I guess—a Michigan [fan], and he started singing the fight song right in front of our face,” said the 6’8”, 205-pound power forward, who scored four points and raked in six key rebounds. “We took that personally. We take everything to heart.

“We came in with a chip on our shoulder. We knew we didn’t have anything to lose.”

Holiday was right. NJIT didn’t have anything to lose but another game—as it had done 50 times in a row during his four-year career. The win, albeit one, was monumental for the Highlanders, who entered at 2-5, with three of their losses coming by five or less.

“We didn’t want to regret anything,” said Damon Lynn, a 5'11", 165-pound sophomore guard who buried Michigan by scoring 20 points, including 18 from three-point range (6-of-10). “We want to play every game like it’s our last, and this game was a big game—one of the biggest on our schedule—so coming out here, we didn’t come out here just to compete.

“We came out to actually win.”

UPDATE: Here's the link to a recent interview with NJIT.

No Frontcourt for Young Men

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Coach John Beilein got 10 points and four rebounds from Mark Donnal (7, 2), Ricky Doyle (2, 2) and Kam Chatman (1, 0).

Donnal, a redshirt frosh, hit two threes, which of course helped, but he was a no-show in the paint.

Doyle, a true freshman, missed and attempted one field goal, which didn’t help. Like Donnal, Doyle must learn how to better assert himself in the post and on the boards. Second-chance scoring opportunities were there, but Doyle wasn’t.

The pair of 6'9," 240-pounders left a lot to be desired Saturday. 

As for Chatman, things couldn’t have gone any worse. The 6'7", 200-pound true frosh looked out of place, was pushed around and missed each of his six attempts from the field. His lone point came from a free throw.

It’s not going to happen overnight, but the Wolverines need to get their frontcourt on the fast track or risk losing plenty more games they should win. That’s not to discredit the Highlanders at all, but the score would have probably been different if Beilein’s forwards were more involved.

Too Much Caris?

Tony Ding/Associated Press

If he’s not on your favorite list for Big Ten Player of the Year, put him on it right now. Caris LeVert is easily one of the league’s most dynamic, athletic and skilled players on the court.

He’s scored more than 20 points four times this season and burst for a career-high 32 points Saturday afternoon. Those should have been enough, right? There was no way that Michigan would lose to the self-proclaimed drifters out of New Jersey after LeVert went nuts, right?

Right?

"I probably wouldn’t believe it," replied Lynn, laughing. "He's an awesome player. I really like his game."

In 2013-14, the Wolverines were 4-3 when LeVert scored 20 or more. Of course, stats can be stretched to fit context. There probably aren’t too many negatives that come from a 6’7”, 200-pound first-rounder going off—but Michigan can’t rely on him to do everything.

It seemed as if that were the case Saturday. LeVert can take over when needed and even carry the team. But even he needs help. Had he received a small donation from his forwards, we’d be talking about a slim victory rather than a crushing defeat to coach Jim Engles' boys.

Where’s the Secondary Help?

Tony Ding/Associated Press

With exception to seven points from senior captain Spike Albrecht, the Wolverines basically received zilch from their bench Saturday. On top of that, Zak Irvin scored just five points. That total would have been fine in 2013-14, but much more is expected from the 6’6”, 215-pound sophomore.

Defensively, Michigan was at its worst, allowing the Highlanders to scold the team for an astonishing 58.7 percent (27-of-46) from the field and 64.7 percent from long range (11-of-17). Some of those shots were contested, but the Wolverines couldn’t do much to throw off Lynn, who hit a pair of late threes to help progress the upset.

"We really don’t have a defense for those step-back jump shots…," Beilein said.

Follow Bleacher Report’s Michigan Wolverines basketball writer Adam Biggers on Twitter @AdamBiggers81.

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand by the writer.