'We were dominated': Howard tossed, Michigan drops dud in Battle 4 Atlantis finale

Michigan closed out its three-game trip to the Bahamas with one long, ugly night.

The Wolverines got off to a poor start and fell into another early hole. They were seemingly a step slow during a dismal first half that ended with head coach Juwan Howard getting tossed. From start to finish, nothing went Michigan’s way against Texas Tech.

Add it all up, it resulted in a lousy finish and a 73-57 loss where Michigan trailed by double figures over the final 30 minutes in Friday’s Battle 4 Atlantis finale at Imperial Arena.

BOX SCORE: Texas Tech 73, Michigan 57

“We were dominated,” said Phil Martelli, who continues to serve as Michigan's acting head coach while Howard recovers from mid-September heart surgery.

“We were dominated physically. We were dominated psychologically. We were dominated emotionally. Even when we tried to respond in the second half with some adjustments that we made, it was just a case of being dominated.”

Grad transfer forward Olivier Nkamhoua had 16 points, sophomore guard Dug McDaniel added 12 and senior forward Terrance Williams II had 10 for Michigan (4-3), which never led en route to its third loss in four games.

After trailing by 14 at the break, the deficit quickly grew. Two technical fouls on Howard, who was sitting on Michigan's bench for all three games in the Bahamas, at the end of the first half led to three made free throws. Coupled with a layup on the opening possession, Texas Tech extended its lead to 40-21 just 20 seconds into the second half.

Michigan used a quick burst and a string of 3-pointers to pull within 12 twice. McDaniel canned back-to-back 3-pointers during a 10-3 spurt. Another deep ball by Nkamhoua made it 50-38 with 14:38 remaining.

But each time Michigan threatened to cut it to single digits, Texas Tech had an answer. First it was a 3-pointer from Joe Toussaint. Then it was a blocked shot and a subsequent 13-2 run that Toussaint capped with two free throws following a technical foul on Williams. That widened the margin to 63-40 with 10:01 to go.

Michigan mustered a 13-4 run that Nkamhoua ended with a mid-range jumper to cut it to 67-53 at the 3:44 mark. But that’s as close as the Wolverines would get the rest of the way as they finished 1-2 in the tournament, with a five-point win over Stanford and a four-point loss to Memphis.

Devan Cambridge and Toussaint each scored 17, and Darrion Williams and Pop Isaacs added 13 apiece for Texas Tech (5-1), which made more free throws (18) than Michigan attempted (14) and outrebounded the Wolverines by a 41-30 margin.

“I felt like we were able to play hard on both ends for 40 minutes,” Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. “One big key was how do we keep them off the offensive glass? We got 13 offensive rebounds, and they got nine. I felt like if can we win that one it felt like that would be the difference.”

Much like it did against Memphis and Stanford, Michigan sputtered out of the gate and fell behind early against Texas Tech.

The Wolverines struggled to create anything and get good looks on offense. They weren’t hitting jumpers or winning the battle on the glass. They missed 12 of their first 15 shots over the opening 12-plus minutes. They went over six minutes without a made basket and went five minutes without scoring a single point.

Simply put, it was tough sledding.

“They swarmed us,” Martelli said. “We could not get into anything easy, even plays at the rim. … Their defensive scheme wasn't something that we hadn't seen, but when we got on the floor, you could feel it. That was real ball pressure. They make great use of their size to make that court very small for the most creative player that we have and that's Dug.”

Texas Tech, meanwhile, didn’t have any similar offensive issues. The Red Raiders cashed in on Michigan turnovers and were able to get their transition offense going during a 16-3 run to open a 24-9 lead with 8:04 left in the first half.

Michigan’s offense finally started to show signs of life when McDaniel snapped Texas Tech’s run and a six-minute field-goal drought with a bucket in the paint. That sparked a string of six straight points for McDaniel, but Texas Tech responded by extending its lead to 33-17 at the 4:02 mark.

The first half ended in fitting fashion for the Wolverines, with what Martelli described as a “frenetic” sequence. On one of last plays, Cambridge missed a dunk, recovered the ball and traveled. Martelli thought the play was being reviewed for a possible technical foul on Cambridge for hanging on the rim and Michigan was at least going to get possession of the ball.

However, an inadvertent whistle was blown before Cambridge walked and Texas Tech regained possession with four seconds left. On the ensuing play, the Red Raiders scored on a tip-in at the buzzer that originally counted. Howard exchanged words with an official about the call, was hit with two technical fouls and was ejected. The tip-in was eventually waved off after review.

When all the dust settled from that, Michigan entered halftime with nearly as many turnovers (seven) as made field goals (eight) and a 35-21 deficit that it couldn’t recover from.

“We were not good enough across the board — the coaches, the players, preparation,” Martelli said. “We were not good enough for this opportunity today.”

jhawkins@detroitnews.com

@jamesbhawkins

Battle 4 Atlantis

At Imperial Arena, Paradise Island, Bahamas

WEDNESDAY

▶ Game 1: North Carolina 91, Northern Iowa 69

▶ Game 2: Villanova 85, Texas Tech 69

▶ Game 3: Memphis 71, Michigan 67

▶ Game 4: Arkansas 77, Stanford 74 (2OT)

THURSDAY

▶ Game 5: Texas Tech 72, Northern Iowa 70

▶ Game 6: Villanova 83, North Carolina 81 (OT)

▶ Game 7: Memphis 84, Arkansas 79

▶ Game 8: Michigan 83, Stanford 78

FRIDAY

▶ Third-place game: North Carolina 87, Arkansas 72

▶ Championship: Villanova 79, Memphis 63

▶ Fifth-place game: Texas Tech 73, Michigan 57

▶ Seventh-place game: Northern Iowa 73, Stanford 51