Michigan Basketball was one of the more notable programs, due to all the storylines that was created. There was the Caleb Love saga that didn't work out, the Olivier Nkamhoua sweepstakes that took months but ultimately did work out in their favor, as well as Coach Juwan Howard having to step away from the team due to heart surgery before the season started.
However, the Wolverines showed signs of life early on. They reportedly beat preseason top-5 team Marquette in a "secret scrimmage", along with scoring 89+ points in the first three games, including a road win over St. John's in the first week of the season.
But a loss to Long Beach State at home started a skid of 5 losses in 6 games that brought them back down to Earth. Even with Coach Howard back on the sidelines, things have slowly gotten worse. The team has now lost four games in a row, including to McNeese State at home and now to Minnesota and Penn State.
The recent setback was to the Nittany Lions, a game in which assistant Phil Martelli was able to take over since he was in Philadelphia. The fact that they lost is just abother unsetlling part for a program that continues to have bad news.
Ahead of a road matchup at Maryland this week, here's a look at three specific reasons why Michigan Basketball is so down, and whether or not there's hope for a turnaround for the rest of 2023-24.