Michigan basketball has been struck. Now he must show that he can answer. Again.

The nightmare apparently took place in slow motion.

Michigan basketball followed Michigan State with just over two minutes to play on Friday evening, and the shooting stopwatch ended.

Jeremy fears Jr., a career in a 31% 3 -point career, had the ball and had to throw it on the hoop almost. It was nearly 10 p.m. when he sent the uprising, but the bank was still open – the tank carged with glass and through the net.

If that was not enough to drop the collective shoulders of the Wolverines, a few moments later, Danny Wolf missed a pointer at 3 – UM went 1 per 10 beyond the arc in the last 22 minutes of the game – And MSU finished things for free, giving UM a defeat of 75-62 to take a sequence of victories of six games from Michigan.

Happier end: The Michigan Basketball Center Vlad Goldin offers court after loss of MSU

To add to frustration, MSU players celebrated on the short Crisler Center, long after the fans of Maize and Blue got out of the exit and those who support MSU started their “Go green, go white!” Songs.

“Give Michigan State Credit, in the second half, they were able to respond to each race,” said head coach Dusty May. “They were the attacker and tonight, we were not like a championship caliber program. But this group proved all year round that we answer, we unify when things are not going well, so no reason for expect different. “

After all, this is the main objective. Of course, the defeat for n ° 12 Michigan stings (20-6, 12-3 Big Ten)-The Wolverines are half a game behind the Spartans of first place with five games to play.

But UM still controls its destiny in the conference game – Win Out and Michigan will be Big Ten Champions, a season after having finished the conference last. \

Of course, this will require a clearly better game on Friday.

“100%is the main objective,” said the Vladislav Goldin center, after managing the Wolverines with 21 points. “Continue the fighting, because unfortunately, we have lost this match, it stinks, but we have all season ahead of us. We have a lot of basketball, and the main question is how we will react.

“It will show a lot of character, so that’s what we are going to do.”

Shawn Windsor: Jase Richardson of Michigan State Basketball changes the ceiling for the Spartans

Big Money: The new basketball contract Dusty May Michigan includes an increase, a zero investment

A bitter taste of rivalry

For the majority of Wolverines – apart from Nimari Burnett, who scored 12 points, and Will Tschetter, who added five – it was the first taste of most Wolverines of rivalry in the state.

Throughout the week, some wondered if UM was ready for intensity.

“If we could go back, we would do things differently, but you would still do it,” said May. “But we stay in the process. Our guys have put the work, but I think that Michigan State also had something to do with our problems today.”

The Wolverine “Plan 1a” was to limit the transitional attack on the Spartans, and they ended equally at 10 points each on the fastbreak. “Plan 1b”, however, was supposed to stop the offensive rebounds – MSU caught 14, which led to points of luck of 15 seconds.

Goldin said he was surprised by the way the Spartans never raised themselves and continued to come in waves. Danny Wolf, who finished with 11 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, said that the 3 MSU points in the second half, capped by the 25 feet tilted from Fears, were deflated.

“There is a cumulative effect not to play well and not to play the defense well. … We are not naive,” said May. “But I thought they were fast, aggressive for the ball, then these late chronometers 3, they were able to find them. This is what they did; thought they were playing very, very determined.

“Their guards were able to break our defense, we rotate and therefore they had free races, and we could not keep the bodies on the bodies. Sometimes it is as simple as that.”

‘No time to hang our head’

UM entered Friday with six consecutive victories, all by four points or less.

So, down 66-62 with 4:12 to play, UM felt decent about its chances. Instead, UM allowed an easy dunk Carson Cooper, followed by a Jones Rubin in missed 3. Wolverines then stopped before Roddy Gayle Jr. was tagged for a trip and the fears hit his Large 3.

On MSU’s next possession, the Spartans had three offensive rebounds, hung on the ball more than a minute before a pair of Jaden Akins free throws. After the match, Wolf used the sentence, “we broke out” several times.

“Lost in rivalry, there is sometimes a basketball match that requires execution and requires a balance,” said May. “We were not like a team of veterans connected more in balance this evening.”

This is the first defeat of Michigan in almost four weeks, a demoralizing loss of 91-64 in Purdue. After UM’s questions answered, the Wolverines snatched half a dozen victories.

May and UM agreed with a new five -year contract on Friday, partly due to the prospect he keeps.

Friday was not a good night. The rest of the path?

“This cannot be transformed into two losses,” said May. “We are half a game of first place in the Big Ten in mid-February. There is no time to hang the head and the cup, take care of our body and collect our edge.”

Tony Garcia Does Michigan Wolverines Beat Writer from the Free Press Strait. Send him an email to apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on x @Realtonygarcia.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball must show that it can react after being struck. Again.