The 2017–18 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team represented the
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
during the
2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Wolverines, led by head coach
John Beilein in his 11th year, played their home games for the 51st consecutive year at the
Crisler Center in
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...
. This season marked the program's 102nd season and its 101st consecutive year as a member of the
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...
.
The entering class included 2017 Michigan
Gatorade Player of the Year and
Mr. Basketball of Michigan Isaiah Livers. Kentucky transfer
Charles Matthews became eligible to play this season after sitting out the
2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
The 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 11, 2016. The first early-season tournaments were the 2K Sports Classic, Charleston Classic, and Puerto Rico Tip-Off. The season ended with the 2017 NCAA Division I men' ...
, while graduate transfer
Jaaron Simmons became eligible to play immediately. The departing class included graduating seniors
Zak Irvin and
Derrick Walton who had completed their eligibility, and graduating seniors Mark Donnal and
Andrew Dakich. In addition,
D. J. Wilson declared for the
2017 NBA draft
The 2017 NBA draft was held on June 22, 2017, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players.
...
with two years of eligibility remaining.
Jeff Meyer and
Billy Donlon also departed prior to the season to take assistant coaching positions at
Butler
A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments, with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantr ...
and
Northwestern, respectively, and were replaced by
DeAndre Haynes and Luke Yaklich.
During the regular season, the team finished tied for fourth in the
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...
. They earned a 5th seed in the
2018 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament, where they won the championship, thus defending the title won by the
2016–17 Wolverines in the
2017 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament the year before. The Wolverines finished the season with a 33–8 record, setting a program record for wins during a season. The team earned the third seed in the
2018 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and reached the
Championship Game before losing to
Villanova.
Departures
Zak Irvin and
Derrick Walton graduated during their senior seasons for the
2016–17 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team.
[ Mark Donnal and Andrew Dakich graduated with one year of eligibility remaining, which they could use under the graduate transfer rule to play elsewhere. Donnal committed to play with the Clemson Tigers. Dakich committed to play with the Quinnipiac Bobcats, but could not gain acceptance into his preferred graduate program. Dakich announced in July that he had committed to play with the ]Ohio State Buckeyes
The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree, ...
. On June 20, Michigan assistant coach and former Butler Bulldogs assistant coach Jeff Meyer left the program to join former Michigan assistant coach LaVall Jordan's staff at Butler. On June 26, Chicagoan and assistant coach Billy Donlon left the program to become an assistant under long-time friend Chris Collins at Northwestern. On October 11, Fred Wright-Jones left the team, but remained at Michigan as a student on a full academic scholarship.
Preseason
In April 2017, some early pollsters included Michigan among the expected preseason top 25 teams: ESPN
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
(#22), and ''Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...
'' (#23). However, most early polls omitted the team: Yahoo!
Yahoo (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web portal that provides the search engine Yahoo Search and related services including My Yahoo, Yahoo Mail, Yahoo News, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Sports, y!entertainment, yahoo!life, and its a ...
, ''USA Today
''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
'', NBC Sports
NBC Sports is an American programming division for NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, that is responsible for sports broadcasts on their broadcast network NBC, the Cable television, cable channels NBC owns, and on Peacock (streaming service) ...
, CBS Sports
CBS Sports is the American sports programming division of Paramount Global that is responsible for sports broadcasts carried by its broadcast network CBS and streaming service Paramount+, as well as the operator of its cable channel CBS Sports N ...
, ''Sporting News
''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...
'' and Bleacher Report
''Bleacher Report'' (often abbreviated as B/R) is a website that focuses on sports and sports culture. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, with offices in New York City and London. ''Bleacher Report'' was acquired by Time Warner's Turner B ...
. At the time, ESPN's Eamonn Brennan felt it was a "foregone conclusion" that D. J. Wilson would declare for the 2017 NBA draft
The 2017 NBA draft was held on June 22, 2017, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players.
...
,[ with '']Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...
'' projecting him as a first round selection. On April 10, both D. J. Wilson and Moe Wagner declared for the 2017 NBA draft
The 2017 NBA draft was held on June 22, 2017, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players.
...
, but did not hire agents, which gave them until May 24 to withdraw their names and retain their athletic eligibility to return to Michigan. On April 25, Ohio
Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
grad transfer Jaaron Simmons announced that if he did not remain entered in the 2017 NBA draft, he would transfer to Michigan. Simmons, a 2017 first team All-Mid-American Conference honoree who averaged 15.9 points and 6.5 assists in 2016–17, had declared for the draft without hiring an agent on March 28. On April 30, Jeff Goodman of ESPN reported that Wagner and Wilson were invited to the NBA draft combine and Walton was named as an alternate. On May 23, the addition of Simmons as a graduate transfer was made official as Simmons removed himself from the NBA draft process. On May 24, Wagner withdrew his name from the NBA draft and Wilson did not. Following the deadline for returning to college and its announcements, Michigan was not ranked by some media outlets, including ESPN
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
, CBS Sports
CBS Sports is the American sports programming division of Paramount Global that is responsible for sports broadcasts carried by its broadcast network CBS and streaming service Paramount+, as well as the operator of its cable channel CBS Sports N ...
, NBC Sports
NBC Sports is an American programming division for NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, that is responsible for sports broadcasts on their broadcast network NBC, the Cable television, cable channels NBC owns, and on Peacock (streaming service) ...
, USA Today
''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
, Fox Sports
Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...
, and Yahoo! Sports
Yahoo! Sports is a sports news website launched by Yahoo! on December 8, 1997. It receives a majority of its information from Stats Perform. It employs numerous writers, and has team pages for teams in almost every North American major sport. ...
,
In the fall preseason, Wagner was selected to the 10-man preseason All-Big Ten team. He was also one of two Big Ten players named to the 21-man Karl Malone Award watchlist. He was a preseason John R. Wooden Award and Naismith College Player of the Year
The Naismith College Player of the Year is "the most prestigious national award presented annually to the men's and women's college basketball players of the year," as chosen by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Selectors. It is named in honor o ...
watchlist honoree.
2017–18 recruits and personnel
On October 23, 2015, four-star recruit Jordan Poole became the first commitment for the Class of 2017 after home gym visit from Beilein and assistant coach Jordan and multiple Michigan campus visits. Poole had several competing offers including Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, Memphis, Marquette, and Auburn. As a junior, Poole was a 2016 WBCA All-State Boys Basketball first team selection. On June 20, 2016, reports confirmed that Michigan had recruited Kentucky
Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
transfer Charles Matthews, who played his freshman season for the 2015–16 Kentucky Wildcats. Matthews would have to sit out the 2016–17 season. Michigan confirmed the story on July 1. The same day, Poole announced that he would transfer from Rufus King High School in Wisconsin to La Lumiere School in Indiana where he would experience a campus lifestyle, play a schedule with several ESPN broadcasts, and be teamed up with unsigned class of 2017 prospects Brian Bowen and Jeremiah Tilmon. On July 19, Spring Grove Area High School point guard Eli Brooks committed to Michigan over offers such as defending national champion Villanova, Ohio State, N.C. State, Temple and Kansas State. On August 7, 2016 Isaiah Livers committed to Michigan over contenders Michigan State, Butler, Minnesota, California and Boston College. On July 15, 2017, it was announced that Naji Ozeir would join the Michigan basketball team as a preferred walk-on. Ozeir, who had an offer withstanding from Wayne State to play on scholarship, had previously played for the Lebanese under-17 national basketball team in the 2015 Arab National Cup. Luke Wilson was added to the roster as a preferred walk-on on September 1, 2017. On the morning of the season-opening exhibition game, the team announced that student manager C. J. Baird would be elevated to the roster. In December, the team added Rico Ozuna-Harrison, who had been practicing with the team since walk-on tryouts in October, to the roster. Ozuna-Harrison had been a captain for the 2017 Cass Tech team that won the school's first Detroit Public School League title since 1998.
Livers was named 2017 Michigan Gatorade Player of the Year and Mr. Basketball of Michigan. He is Michigan's 11th Mr. Basketball of Michigan, but the first since Manny Harris in 2007. Poole was a member of the 2017 Dick's National High School Champion La Lumiere team.
On August 4, 2017, Michigan announced that it had hired Luke Yaklich and DeAndre Haynes away from the Illinois State Redbirds to serve as assistant coaches. At the same time, the team promoted Chris Hunter from director of player personnel to director of basketball operations.
Future recruits
2018–19
On December 22, 2016, junior recruit David DeJulius became the first commitment for the Class of 2018 after receiving a December 17 offer following his career-high 46-point, 7-rebound, 5-assist performance of December 17 in leading East English Village Preparatory Academy over Dakota High School. Brandon Johns became the second commitment for the Class of 2018 when he committed to Michigan on June 29, 2017, over several other schools including hometown Michigan State, along with fellow Big Ten universities Indiana, Iowa, and Purdue. At the time of his commitment, Johns was considered by several recruiting sites, such as 24/7Sports as well as ESPN, as the top recruit from Michigan in the Class of 2018.
In mid-June 2017, junior recruit Taylor Currie committed to Michigan, becoming, at the time, their first commitment for the Class of 2019. Two weeks later, Currie announced that he would be reclassifying and would be set to join the Class of 2018 marking the third member of the class. On September 22, 2017, Ignas Brazdeikis became the fourth; at that time he was ranked in the top 50 in the 24/7Sports composite top 100 rankings for recruits of the class of 2018. Brazdeikis committed to Michigan over schools such as Vanderbilt and Florida. On September 29, 2017, Currie decommitted from Michigan, dropping the amount of 2018 recruits to three. On October 2, 2017, Adrien Nunez became the fourth member of the 2018 recruiting class. Nunez received much attention over the summer scouting period and drew praise for his shooting ability; he committed to Michigan over schools such as Penn State, Texas A&M, and Boston College. In October, Michigan added its fifth recruit to the 2018 recruiting class with the addition of Colin Castleton, who selected Michigan over Illinois. Castleton noted his connection with new Michigan assistant coach Luke Yaklich as a driving force behind communication with Michigan.
Johns and DeJulius finished second (2,792 points) and third (2,542), respectively, to Michigan State recruit Foster Loyer (3,691) in the 2018 Mr. Basketball of Michigan voting. All five finalists were Big Ten conference recruits (Michigan-2, Michigan State-2, Purdue-1). Brazdeikis repeated as the Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association MVP in 2018 after earning the award in 2017.
Regular season
November
Michigan began the season with a victory over North Florida
North Florida is a Regions of the United States#Florida, region of the U.S. state of Florida comprising the northernmost part of the state. Along with South Florida and Central Florida, it is one of Florida's three most common "directional" regi ...
. Although the game was tied with 11:03 remaining, Michigan won 86–66. Michigan was led by Duncan Robinson with a game-high 21 points, while Charles Matthews posted 20 points in his Michigan debut, marking the first time Michigan had two 20-point scorers since March 3, 2015. On November 13, Michigan defeated Central Michigan
Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Lower Peninsula of the United States, U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said t ...
72–65. Michigan had five double-digit scorers, including Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman who led the team with 17 points and Moe Wagner who contributed his second consecutive double-double, and third of his career. With seven lead changes in the game, Michigan took the lead for good with 8:47 remaining. On November 16, Jon Teske, who had previous career highs of four points and three rebounds, led Michigan with a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double as Michigan overcame its third second-half deficit in three games against Southern Miss.
In the first round of the 2017 Maui Invitational Tournament (its fifth) on November 20, against Louisiana State, Michigan overcame an eight-point deficit with 12 minutes remaining to take a nine-point lead with five minutes remaining only to lose 75–77. In the consolation bracket, Michigan defeated the next day on the strength of Matthews' first career double-double (22 points and 10 rebounds). Michigan set or tied school single-game tournament records in scoring margin (38), field-goal percentage (64.9), assists (22), three-pointers made (15), three-point attempts (28), three-point percentage (53.6), steals (nine), turnover low (eight) and blocks (six). On November 22, Michigan defeated Virginia Commonwealth (VCU) 68–60, earning a fifth-place finish in the Maui Invitational Tournament. Michigan was led by Robinson with a game-high 18 points. Michigan trailed by three points with two minutes remaining, before the Wolverines outscored VCU 11–0 down the stretch. On November 26, Michigan defeated UC Riverside 87–42 on the strength of double-doubles by Wagner (21 points, 10 rebounds) and Matthews (17 points, 12 assists). It was the team's first pair of double-doubles in a game since Glenn Robinson III and Trey Burke did so for the 2012–13 National Runner-up Wolverines on January 6, 2013. On November 29, Michigan lost to (#13 AP Poll/#11 Coaches Poll) North Carolina
North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
71–86 in the ACC–Big Ten Challenge. Michigan was led by Wagner with a team-high 20 points. This was the first meeting between the two teams since the 1993 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game.
December
The 2018 Big Ten tournament was held at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...
in New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. Due to the Big East
The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...
's use of that venue for the 2018 Big East tournament, the Big Ten tournament took place one week earlier than usual, ending the week before Selection Sunday. As a result, each team played one road game and one home conference game in the first week of December.
On December 2, Michigan defeated Indiana
Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...
69–55 in its Big Ten conference opener. Jordan Poole led the team with a career-high 19 points, while Muhammad-Ali Abdur Rahkman added eight points and a career-high 11 rebounds, and Eli Brooks added five points and a career-high six assists. Two days later, Michigan lost to Ohio State 62–71, after leading by as many as 20 points with 1:31 remaining in the first half. Michigan was led by Wagner with a team-high 14 points, and one rebound shy of a double-double. On December 9, Michigan defeated UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...
78–69 in overtime. Michigan trailed by 15 points with 14:48 remaining in regulation, and tied the game with 10.9 seconds left to force overtime. Michigan was led by Wagner with a team-high 23-points, while Matthews added 20 points, marking the second time this season Michigan had two 20-point scorers in a game. Michigan forced 20 UCLA turnovers, with 12 coming off of steals. Zavier Simpson set a career-high with four steals, while Robinson tied a career-high with four steals. Michigan won despite shooting 8-for-22 on its free throws (including 2-for-13 by Wagner and Matthews), but Eli Brooks converted the two game-tying free throws when it mattered. Muhammad-Ali Abdur Rahkman's first career double-double (17 points and 10 rebounds), helped Michigan defeat Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
59–52 on December 12. Michigan remained ahead of Texas for the final 35:36 of the game, although Wagner injured his ankle with 7:36 remaining. On December 16, Michigan defeated Detroit
Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
90–58. Michigan was led by Matthews with a game-high 20 points, while Jon Teske made his first collegiate start and recorded his second career double-double (15 points and 10 rebounds). The game marked the first collegiate basketball game at Little Caesars Arena
Little Caesars Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Midtown Detroit. Opening on September 5, 2017, the arena, which cost $862.9 million to construct, replaced Joe Louis Arena and The Palace of Auburn Hills as the home of the Detroit Red Wings of t ...
. Detroit was coached by former Michigan assistant coach Bacari Alexander and was led by former Wolverine Kameron Chatman who posted 18 points and 13 rebounds. On December 21, Michigan handed winless Alabama A&M Bulldogs a 97–47 defeat behind a career-high 31 points by Matthews, who became the first Michigan player to score 30 points since Aubrey Dawkins in March 2015. Michigan forced a season-high 25 turnovers. On December 30 Michigan defeated Jacksonville
Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...
76–51 in Wagner's return to the lineup. Abdur-Rahkman posted his first 20-point performance of the season on 7-for-7 shooting from the field.
January
On January 2, 2018, Michigan defeated Iowa
Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
75–68. Simpson and Abdur-Rahkman led scoring with 15 points each, while Isaiah Livers added a career-high 13 points. On January 6, Michigan defeated Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
79–69 as six players reached double figures. Wagner led the way with 14 points and a season-high-tying three blocks in his first double digit scoring effort since his injury. It was the first time Michigan had six players reach double figures since a 2017 contest against Indiana
Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...
. On January 9, Michigan lost to (#5 AP Poll/#7 Coaches Poll) Purdue
Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...
69–70, ending their seven-game winning streak. Michigan was led by Simpson with a career-tying 15 points and career-high six rebounds. After trailing by as many as 14 points in the first half, Michigan took its first lead following back-to-back triples from Simpson with 4:30 remaining in the second half. Vincent Edwards then tied the game at 69 with 2:28 remaining in the game. The game remained tied until the final four seconds when Isaac Haas made his first free throw attempt to give Purdue the win. On January 13, Isaiah Livers replaced Duncan Robinson in the starting lineup, as Michigan won their rivalry game against (#4 AP Poll/#4 Coaches Poll) Michigan State 82–72. Wagner led the Wolverines with a career-high 27 points. There were 13 lead changes and 11 ties throughout the game. The win marked their first victory on the road against a top-five ranked team since defeating (#3 AP Poll/#3 Coaches Poll) Michigan State on January 25, 2014; it was also first win at Breslin Center since 2014
The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...
.
Following the win, Michigan entered the 2017–18 basketball rankings for the first time on January 15 at #23 AP Poll and #24 Coaches Poll. On January 15, Michigan defeated Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
68–67. After trailing by 14 points in the first half and 10 points at halftime, Michigan scored the first ten points of the second half in 3:02 of play and built up a 10-point lead with 5:50 remaining. However, Maryland eventually posted a go-ahead three-point shot with three seconds remaining, before Abdur-Rahkman recorded two free throws with 1.2 seconds remaining, giving him exactly 1,000 career points and the Wolverines the win. Michigan was led by Wagner with 18 points and 11 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. Other Michigan highlights included seven consecutive three-point shots. On January 18, Michigan lost to Nebraska
Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...
52–72, the Cornhuskers first win over the Wolverines since 1964, snapping Michigan's 10-game winning streak against them. Matthews led the team with 15 points, and eight rebounds. The 20-point loss was Michigan's most lopsided defeat against a Big Ten opponent since losing to Michigan State by 23 points in February 2013
2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years).
2013 was designated as:
*International Year of Water Cooperation
*International Year of Quinoa
Events
January
* January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
.
On January 21, Michigan defeated Rutgers
Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...
62–47. Michigan was led by Wagner with 16 points, while Simpson added 10 points and a career-high eight rebounds. Michigan's defense held Rutgers to just 47 points, 22.5 points below its 69.5 points per game average. During the game the 1967–68 team was honored as the first team to play at the Crisler Center, as part of arena's 50th anniversary celebrations. On January 25, Michigan lost to (#3 AP Poll/#3 Coaches Poll) Purdue 88–92. Michigan was led by Abdur-Rahkman with a then career-high 26 points. There were 24 lead changes and five ties during the game. On January 29, Michigan defeated Northwestern 58–47. After falling behind 19–11 early in the first half, Michigan held Northwestern without a point for over 10 minutes and held on for a victory due in part to a season-low five turnovers, while forcing 16 Northwestern turnovers. Michigan was led by Matthews with a team-high 14 points, seven rebounds and a career-high three steals, while Poole added eight points and a career-high three assists.
February
On February 3, Michigan defeated Minnesota
Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...
76–73 in overtime. Wagner (16 points, 10 rebounds) and Matthews (13 points, 11 rebounds) both posted double-doubles, marking the second time this season Michigan had two players record a double-double in the same game. Michigan took its first lead of the game with 16:15 remaining in the game. Minnesota then obtained its largest lead of the game at ten points five minutes later. On February 6, Livers was sidelined in the second minute of play, as Michigan was upset by Northwestern 52–61. Michigan was led by Wagner with 20 points and nine rebounds, one rebound shy of his second consecutive double-double. On February 11, Michigan reached 20 wins with an 83–72 victory over Wisconsin
Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...
. Michigan was led by Wagner with 20 points and 11 rebounds, for his seventh double-double of his career. Michigan rode a 22-point half time lead to victory as Robinson returned to the starting lineup, where he recorded 14 points and made four three-point shots in the first half. After missing the better part of two games, Livers returned to the starting lineup on February 14, as Michigan defeated Iowa for a second time by a 74–59 margin. The team posted a season-high 13 steals, including a season-high four from Wagner and three from his backup Jon Teske. Robinson posted a season-high six three-point shots, giving him 18 points, while Abdur-Rahkman contributed 18 points with a season-high seven assists. With his six three-pointers, Robinson surpassed Zack Novak for sixth all-time on Michigan's career three-point leaderboard with 215 for his career. On February 18, Michigan defeated (#8 AP Poll/#9 Coaches Poll) Ohio State 74–62 in their final home game of the regular season. Michigan was led by Abdur Rahkman with 17 points. Prior to the game Michigan honored seniors Abdur-Rahkman, and Robinson, graduate student Jaaron Simmons and undergraduate student assistant Austin Hatch during senior day. On February 21 Michigan defeated Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...
72–63. Robinson led the way with 19 points off the bench and the team had a season-high 84 percent free throw percentage, which included going 9-for-10 in the final minute of the game. On February 24, Michigan defeated Maryland 85–61 in the final game of the regular season. Michigan was led by Abdur-Rahkman with a career-high 28 points, including 22 points in the first half. Michigan's 24-point victory was the worst home loss for Maryland since the 1997–98 Terrapins lost to Duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...
by 32 points in 1998. The win was the Wolverines' first win at Maryland since 1937
Events
January
* January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua.
* January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Feb ...
.
Postseason
Big Ten tournament
On March 1, Michigan opened its 2018 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament play with a 77–71 overtime victory over Iowa. Michigan survived a rough shooting night (56% on free throws and 16% three-point field goals) and foul trouble (Wagner and Abdur-Rahkman fouled out) to get the victory. Matthews led the way with 16 points, but Robinson made the go ahead three point shot with 2:17 remaining in overtime and the sank two free throws to give Michigan a two-possession lead with 10 seconds remaining.
The next day, Michigan defeated Nebraska 77–58 in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament. Michigan was led by Abdur-Rahkman with 21 points, while Wagner recorded his seventh double-double of the season with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Michigan's defense held Nebraska to just 30% shooting for the game (16-of-53), including 1-of-20 during a 13:32 stretch in the first half. Robinson scored his 1,000th career point on his second 3-point field goal of the first half. Abdur-Rahkman (5–5) became the second player in the history of the Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament to be perfect on at least 5 three-point shots in a single game. On March 3, Michigan defeated (#2 AP Poll/#2 Coaches Poll) Michigan State 75–64 in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament. With the win, Michigan advanced to the Big Ten tournament final for the second consecutive season, and snapped Michigan State's 13-game winning streak. Michigan was led by Abdur-Rahkman, Simpson and Wagner with 15 points each. Wagner scored his 1,000th career point in the second half of the game, becoming the 54th Wolverine to reach the milestone.
On March 4, Michigan defeated (#8 AP Poll/#8 Coaches Poll) Purdue 75–66 to claim their second consecutive Big Ten tournament championship. They became the first fifth seed to win the championship and the first team to win consecutive tournament championships since Ohio State in 2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
and 2011
The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
. Michigan was led by Wagner with a team-high 17 points, and was named tournament MVP, while Abdur-Rahkman recorded 15 points and was named to the All-Tournament Team.
NCAA tournament
On March 15, Michigan began their participation in the 2018 NCAA tournament with a 61–47 victory over Montana
Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...
in the first round. Michigan was led by Matthews with 20 points and a career-tying 11 rebounds, for his fourth double-double of the season. After Montana jumped out to an early 10–0 lead, Michigan's defense held Montana to just 32.1% shooting for the game, including 1-of-14 during a ten-minute stretch to start the second half. The second half was delayed for over 10 minutes with 17:53 remaining when the shot clocks lost power.
On March 17, Michigan defeated (#21 AP Poll/#19 Coaches Poll) Houston
Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
64–63 in the second round, following a game-winning buzzer beater
In timed sports, a buzzer beater is a successful shot made as the clock expires at the end of a period or at the end of the game, leaving zero seconds remaining. A buzzer sounds whenever a game clock expires, hence the name "buzzer beater." In b ...
three-point shot
A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or triple) is a field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, in contrast to the two ...
by Poole as time expired. Abdur-Rahkman and Wagner led the scoring with 12 points each. There were 17 lead changes and 12 ties during the game, while neither team ever led by more than six points. With the win, Michigan advanced to its fourth Sweet 16 in six years. On March 22, Michigan defeated Texas A&M
Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...
99–72 in the regional semifinals. Abdur-Rahkman led with 24 points, while Wagner added 21 points, and Matthews 18 points. Michigan made 10 of its 14 three-pointers in the first half to take a 52–28 lead at halftime. Eight different Wolverines made a three-point field goal, setting a program record for most players to make one in an NCAA tournament game. Michigan posted 12 steals, including a career-high six by Simpson, which tied a Michigan NCAA tournament record. Michigan's 99 points were the sixth most in program history in the NCAA tournament, and the most they've scored since scoring 102 against East Tennessee
East Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. Geographically and socioculturally distinct, it comprises approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee. East Tennessee consists of 33 coun ...
in 1992
1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General.
* January 6
** The Republ ...
. Michigan's 61.9% shooting was its second-best in program history in the NCAA tournament. With the win, Michigan advanced to its third Elite Eight in six years.
On March 24, Michigan defeated Florida State
Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...
58–54 in the regional finals. Michigan was led by Matthews with 17 points. With the win, Michigan advances to the Final Four for the eighth time in program history and for the first time since 2013
2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years).
2013 was designated as:
*International Year of Water Cooperation
*International Year of Quinoa
Events
January
* January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
. Michigan set a single-season program record with its 32nd victory of the season, surpassing the previous record of 31 wins set by the 1992–93 and 2012–13 teams. Michigan's defense held Florida State to just 23.3% (7-of-30) shooting in the second half. Matthews was named West Region Most Outstanding Player and was joined on the West Region All-tournament team by Wagner and Abdur-Rahkman. With the Wolverines men's basketball team advancing to the Final Four and the 2017–18 Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey team advancing to the Frozen Four, it was the fourth time that both programs made their respective final four tournaments during the same season, and just the sixth time overall.
On March 31, Michigan defeated Loyola–Chicago 69–57 in the national semifinals. Michigan was led by Wagner with 24 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, for his eighth double-double of the season, while Matthews added 17 points. Wagner became the third player with at least 20 points and 15 rebounds in a national semifinal game, and the first to do so since Hakeem Olajuwon
Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon ( ; ; born January 21, 1963), nicknamed "the Dream", is a Nigerian and American former professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played Center (basketball), center in the National Basketball Association (NB ...
in 1983
1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...
. Michigan thus advanced to its seventh national championship game, and first since 2013
2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years).
2013 was designated as:
*International Year of Water Cooperation
*International Year of Quinoa
Events
January
* January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
, and set a single season record with its 33rd victory.
On April 2, Michigan lost to (#2 Coaches Poll/#2 AP Poll) Villanova 62–79 in the National Championship Game. The loss snapped Michigan's 14-game win streak that dated back to February 6, and was the longest active winning streak in the nation. This was Michigan's longest winning streak since winning the first 16 games to start the 2012–13 season. Michigan was led by Abdur-Rahkman with 23 points, who finished his collegiate career as Michigan's all-time leader in games played with 144 games. Wagner was Michigan's only representative on the Final Four All-Tournament Team.
With the loss to Villanova, Michigan’s record in the national championship game fell to 1-6, the worst record among teams that have previously won a national championship. This was the fourth consecutive loss in the championship game for the Wolverines since their sole title in 1989
1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...
, having previously lost in 1992
1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General.
* January 6
** The Republ ...
, 1993
The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as:
* International Year for the World's Indigenous People
The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...
, and 2013
2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years).
2013 was designated as:
*International Year of Water Cooperation
*International Year of Quinoa
Events
January
* January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
.
Schedule and results
The team's motto that could be seen on some of the team's athleticwear was "Do More, Say Less", which was the name of a song by Ann Arbor rapper
Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...
P. L. that pays tribute to the team.
, -
!colspan="12" style="background:#; color:#;", Exhibition
, -
!colspan="12" style="background:#; color:#;", Regular season
, -
!colspan=9 style="background:#;", Big Ten tournament
, -
!colspan=9 style="background:#;", NCAA tournament
Roster
Coaching staff
;Support Staff
: Chris Hunter – Director of Basketball Operations
:Chinedu Nwachukwu – Director of Player Personnel
:Bryan Smothers – Video Analyst
:Devon Mulry – Graduate Manager
Rankings
Statistics
The team posted the following statistics:
Honors
Following the season, Wagner was a second team All-Big Ten selection by the coaches and the media; Abdur-Rahkman was an honorable mention selection by both the coaches and the media; and Robinson was named the All-Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year by the coaches. Wagner was an All-District selection by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association based upon voting from its national membership. Wagner was an All-District selection by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association based upon voting from its national membership. He was a second team selection in the Big Ten by the National Association of Basketball Coaches
The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is an American organization of men's college basketball coaches. It was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, the men's basketball head coach for the Univ ...
. The team had five members earn Academic All-Big Ten honors for maintaining a 3.0 grade point average: Austin Davis, Matthews. Robinson, Jaaron Simmons, and Wagner. Wagner was the Most Outstanding Player of the Big Ten tournament and Abdur-Rahkman was on the All-Tournament team.[ In the NCAA tournament, Matthews was named West Region Most Outstanding Player and was joined by Wagner and Abdur-Rahkman on the West Region All-tournament team.][ Wagner was named to the Final Four All-Tournament Team.]
Team players drafted into the NBA
Wagner was drafted with the 25th pick in the first round of the 2018 NBA draft
The 2018 NBA Draft was held on June 21, 2018, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, including internationa ...
, becoming Michigan's 27th first round selection and 7th under head coach Beilein. He was the fourth and final 2017–18 Big Ten Conference player drafted in the first round of the 2018 draft, and the fourth of eight drafted overall in the draft.
Sources:
See also
* 2018 in Michigan
* List of Michigan Wolverines men's basketball seasons
*Michigan Wolverines men's basketball
The Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team is the College basketball, intercollegiate men's basketball program representing the University of Michigan. The school competes in the Big Ten Conference in NCAA Division I, Division I of the Nationa ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:2017-18 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team
Michigan Wolverines men's basketball seasons
Michigan
Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
Michigan
Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
Michigan
Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
Michigan
Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons
Big Ten men's basketball tournament championship seasons