Poor officiating isn’t why Washington lost 82-72 to Michigan– but it certainly didn’t help UW’s chances of an upset.
From a non-officiating standpoint: A valiant effort only gets you so far against arguably the best team in the country. It wasn’t just the white Adidas socks paired with all-black uniforms that hid Washington’s Achilles Heel for the majority of the night. It was the intensity on both ends of the floor, the return of a rowdy environment, and the desire to upset a premier foe.
But whenever the Huskies leapt at an opportunity to take control of the game, the heel was left exposed. The difference between Wednesday wasn’t simply talent. It was Washington’s inability to generate easy buckets. Unless it’s a slightly contested three-pointer, which UW’s opponents purposely give up, you haven’t seen the Huskies garnering consistently great looks in the half-court this season, and that continued against the Wolverines.
Unfortunately, persistence doesn’t lead to efficiency. Evidence of that is Washington going 9-33 from beyond the arc. Michigan baited the Dawgs into hoisting threes, and it worked because in the modern era, teams are going to put up threes if given room to shoot. Quimari Peterson made the Wolverines pay when catching a hot hand, but what were momentum-building baskets became ugly misses once he cooled off.
He went 4-12 from beyond the arc and was the only Husky starter to nail a triple. The only other players to make a three were Jacob Ohnacevic, who netted 2-4 and scored 10 points in his Husky debut, and JJ Mandaquit (also 2-4), who looks like a guy we could see back in the starting lineup sooner than later.
Also in action were Wesley Yates III, who returned from injury, and Desmond Claude, who missed the last game via coach’s decision.
As far as officiating goes, no player was impacted more than Hannes Steinbach, who was sidelined during a key stretch in the second half after being called for touch fouls throughout the game. He didn’t receive the same treatment from referees when he had the ball, or when feeling his ankle get rolled on by a Wolverine, or when watching an obvious goaltending violation against his shot attempt go uncalled.
The loss slides Washington to 10-7 (2-4 Big Ten) and makes the NCAA Tournament an increasingly less likely destination. But it’s tough to feel overly disappointed in Wednesday’s result after watching how UW competed against a team that could be college basketball’s last team standing in a few months.
How Washington responds will be interesting. Michigan State isn’t as good as Michigan, but its style of play can be demoralizing, with the way it plays above the rim and produces highlight slams. If the Huskies are left thinking about what could’ve been against Michigan, the Spartans will wreak havoc. If the Huskies can bring the same defensive intensity, we could see another great game. It’s worth noting that the game is on Saturday, when the Seattle Seahawks host the San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional Round; time will tell what the turnout is like.