Michigan basketball's historically bad season ends in Big Ten tournament opener

Minneapolis — At long last, the curtain has fallen on arguably the worst season in Michigan basketball program history.

The Wolverines’ final act in the first round of the Big Ten tournament was another performance where they hung tough, faded late and couldn’t put together a full 40 minutes.

It all culminated in a 66-57 loss Wednesday night against No. 11 seed Penn State at Target Center, as No. 14 seed Michigan dropped its ninth straight and 19 of its final 21 games to end a colossal failure of a campaign.

“It was just tough to go through that as a team, go through that adversity,” said grad transfer guard Nimari Burnett, who scored 11. “It was just a tough season.”

And one that ended with a whimper, as the Wolverines (8-24) finished with the most losses in program history, the fewest wins since 1981-82 and the second-worst win percentage in Michigan’s 107 seasons.

BOX SCORE: Penn State 66, Michigan 57

After a bunch of turnovers and a poor finish to the first half put Michigan in an 11-point halftime hole, the Wolverines battled back and made their first six shots of the second half. Sophomore guard Dug McDaniel, following a scoreless first half, got going and cut the deficit to 35-31.

Penn State countered with the hot hand of Zach Hicks to push the lead back to double figures. Hicks, who lit Michigan up from deep, drained one of his six 3-pointers to make it 47-35 with 14:40 remaining.

Senior forward Terrance Williams II (15 points) did his best to keep Michigan in it. He hit one mid-range jumper after another to help the Wolverines claw back within 50-46 at the 9:53 mark. But once again, they couldn’t string together stops and get any closer as Penn State hit them with a stiff-arm.

This time, it came in the form of free throws as foul trouble mounted for Michigan. The Nittany Lions made six freebies during a margin-widening stretch. To make matters worse, sophomore center Tarris Reed Jr. (12 points) fouled out with 5:01 to go after a steal by Ace Baldwin Jr. led to a trip to the charity stripe and a 61-49 Penn State advantage.

That led to a fitting finish. The Wolverines made one field goal over the final 7:53. Penn State widened the lead to 15 despite not making a shot over the final 5:50. It all ended in a familiar result.

“We lost a tough game. This is a heartbreaker for me and my entire staff, as well as our players,” said Michigan coach Juwan Howard, who expects to meet with school administrators to discuss his future soon.

“It's going to be tough to sleep tonight for all of us.”

Hicks scored 20 and Baldwin 17 for Penn State (16-16), which finished 23-for-29 at the free-throw line and scored 17 points off 15 Michigan turnovers.

The matchup between two teams at the bottom of the Big Ten standings looked the part from the start. Neither side could settle into a groove or find the bottom of the net in what turned out to be an ugly rock fight.

Michigan and Penn State both opened 3-for-12 from the field, struggled to knock down shots from anywhere on the court and grinded through one empty possession after another. On top of that, the Wolverines had issues turning the ball over and committed eight turnovers in the opening 11 minutes.

Penn State was the first to reach double figures, when a driving layup by Baldwin made it 11-7 midway through the first half. Michigan finally reached that mark when Burnett cashed in on a second-chance opportunity and canned an open corner 3-pointer to make it 13-10 at the 8:51 mark.

But after pulling even at 20, Michigan didn’t make a field goal over the final 4:27 as Penn State closed the half on a 13-2 run. Hicks fueled the surge with three 3-pointers, including an open one on a defensive miscommunication and another clean look when a defender was late getting back in transition.

When halftime arrived, Michigan had 11 turnovers, seven made field goals and a 33-22 deficit it couldn’t overcome.

“Unfortunately, we did not come out on the winning side,” Howard said, “but I'm proud of every player that has been a part of this program this season, dealing with the adversity we dealt with, to be able to come out each and every night and give everything that we've asked.”

jhawkins@detroitnews.com

@jamesbhawkins