Michigan Basketball: How Far Can the Wolverines Go in the 2018 NCAA Tournament?

When Michigan won the Big Ten Tournament last season, they went to the Sweet Sixteen? Can the Wolverines make an even bigger run this time around?

There was a little déjà vu for the folks in Ann Arbor on Sunday as Michigan basketball ran the table and won the Big Ten conference tournament – again. The Wolverines join Ohio State (2010-11) and Michigan State (1999-00) as the only teams to win the conference tournament in consecutive years.

As a Purdue alum, it was a tough pill to swallow seeing another big game slip away, but there was a reason we wanted to see the school from East Lansing instead. Michigan is a TOUGH team to beat and a matchup nightmare not only for the Boilermakers, but many teams across the country.

The Wolverines didn’t do anything groundbreaking on Sunday. Head coach John Beilein just opened his war chest of weapons and chose the best one to mitigate Purdue’s strengths. Instead of unleashing Zavier Simpson, who was the star in the two games leading up to Sunday’s title – Beilein chose to attack the Boilermakers with his skilled bigs and they answered the call.

Moe Wagner and Jon Teske carved up the Boilermakers all day on high-screen and rolls with the Michigan guards. What really started to scare the bejesus out of the Purdue defense, was the inability of these guys to miss jump shots. Wagner and Teske combined for 13-of-18 shooting from the field with 31 points. I had to double-check that stat, because I couldn’t remember a single miss.

When Purdue finally got around to containing the Michigan’s frontcourt, Wagner and Teske made smart decisions to hit cutting guards or to kick out for open threes. Those skills are deadly to have come tournament time, as any opposing defense will have to pick their poison.

Sunday’s win has Michigan basketball fans dreaming of another title in the near future and they aren’t just dreams now folks – these guys are for real. In addition to Simpson and the play of the big fellas, this team can shoot the lights out, run, defend and most importantly – they have experience.

What the Wolverines DO have to worry about in the tourney is their awful free throw shooting, which almost gave Purdue a chance to creep back into a game it had no business being in.

As a team they are 324th (!) in free throw percentage, only Indiana and Rutgers are worse out of all Power 5 teams. But most importantly, Simpson is a free throw shooting liability in close, late-game situations and as the team’s primary ball handler, that’s a problem.

Next: 2018 ACC Tournament Preview

Like any team, Michigan has its Achilles heel, but the versatile threats that Beilein has at his disposal night in and night out should frighten any team going up against the Wolverines over the next couple weeks. The tournament has a way of rewarding hot teams, but the Michigan basketball faithful is hoping this week off doesn’t cool down the back-to-back Big Ten champs.