The month of March is here and Michigan basketball is still in control of its destiny.
Given how things have felt the past 24 hours around the program, that’s important to remember.
The Wolverines suffered a notable setback, 93-73, to Illinois at home Sunday, but if they defeat Maryland at home on Wednesday, the season finale at Michigan State’s Breslin Center next Sunday (noon, CBS) will put the Big Ten championship on the line.
A loss to the Terrapins, coupled with an MSU win at Iowa, would eliminate U-M from a chance at the title. The rivals are the only two teams that can win at least a share of the league crown.
The Wolverines have already locked up a double-bye and top-four seed in the Big Ten tournament the following week in Indianapolis; their first game will be Friday in the quarterfinals.
Let’s look at Michigan’s résumé entering the final week of the regular season.
Michigan NET rankings: No. 25 (began last week No. 21)
All rankings through Sunday’s games.
Quad 1 record: 8-4
Quad 2 record: 7-3
Quad 3 record: 5-0
Quad 4 record: 2-0
RELATED: Michigan basketball talking tough after ‘pathetic’ loss to Illinois
Michigan KenPom rankings: No. 29 (began last week No. 24)
All rankings through Sunday’s games.
Offensive efficiency: No. 40
Defensive efficiency: No. 22
Michigan basketball bracketology projections
USA TODAY: 4-seed in West Region: San Francisco (as of Feb. 28)
ESPN: 4-seed in South Region: Atlanta (as of Feb. 28)
CBS: 3-seed in Midwest Region: Milwaukee (as of March 2)
Fox Sports: 3-seed in (as of March 2)
On3: 4-seed in East Region: Newark (as of March 2)
BracketMatrix.com: 4-seed (as of March 2)
Michigan basketball schedule this week
Wednesday: vs. Maryland (22-7, 12-6), 6:30 p.m., Big Ten Network, Ann Arbor.
Sunday: at Michigan State (24-5, 15-3), noon, CBS, East Lansing.
Michigan basketball scores last week
Feb. 24: 49-46 win over Nebraska: It was a slugfest to open the week in Lincoln, with both teams struggling from the floor all night long. Michigan took a 45-39 lead behind an 8-0 run, when Danny Wolf and L.J. Cason canned a pair of 3-pointers to start to pull away. However, U-M led by one in the final 10 seconds when Roddy Gayle Jr. missed the front end of a 1-and-1. The Huskers came the other way and Connor Essegian got off a clean look, but he missed. Tre Donaldson hit two free throws to go up three and the Huskers missed a tying 3 at the buzzer.
Feb. 27: 84-82 win over Rutgers: Michigan trailed or was tied for more than 30 minutes of the contest, including down by 12 with less than 10 minutes to play. It went on a 14-2 blitz to tie the game with less than five minutes to play, and after Donaldson gave U-M a one-point lead with 31 seconds left, he committed a foul on a 3-point shot with 11 seconds to play. Rutgers made two to go up 82-81, then coach Dusty May drew up one final play with 3.6 seconds left. Wolf swung the ball to Nimari Burnett who drilled a 28-footer at the buzzer to send a shockwave through Crisler Center in yet another thrilling win.
March. 2: 93-73 loss to Illinois: Everything seemingly caught up with U-M on Sunday. It made 4 of 18 3’s (22.2%), 13 of 19 free throws (68.4%) and allowed the Illini to grab 19 offensive rebounds for an unfathomable 30 second-chance points. The Wolverines also had nearly a dozen turnovers and as a result got off 12 fewer shot attempts than their adversary. U-M trailed by double digits for the final 9:51 of the game in its third double-digit loss in Big Ten play.
Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball bracketology update: Where Wolverines stand
