No one would argue that the Michigan men’s basketball team isn’t drastically improved from last year’s squad.

The Wolverines lost a program-record 22 games last year and weren’t even good enough to earn an invite to the College Basketball Invitational, the tournament that takes teams not good enough to play in the National Invitational Tournament, which is for teams not good enough to make the NCAA Tournament.

This season, Michigan has, at times, looked like a legitimate Big Ten title contender, toppling teams like Duke, UCLA and Illinois to build one of the best early-season NCAA Tournament resumes in the nation.

Sophomore Manny Harris was on his ‘A’-game, putting up big numbers while still finding ways to dish the ball to teammates.

Junior DeShawn Sims looked like one of the most improved players in the Big Ten.

And Michigan coach John Beilein was enjoying the peak of the “rollercoaster” — an analogy that he has used all season.

Since then, the ride’s been a bit shakier.

Wednesday night, the Wolverines were manhandled by a taller, more physical Ohio State team and began to look more and more like last year’s team.

"Sometimes, things just don't go our way," Harris said after the Wolverines’ 72-58 loss to Purdue on March 9, 2008. "This year, it hasn't been going our way, and we haven't been playing all 40 minutes of basketball."

Harris may as well have been talking about the team’s Big Ten slate this year.

Just five field goals, 18 points and 12 turnovers in the first half Wednesday night against Ohio State.

Shooting 12.6 percent from 3-point range in a loss to Penn State.

Going scoreless for almost nine minutes in a win over Northwestern.

Tomorrow, Michigan travels to Mackey Arena to take on the Boilermakers for the first time since that game, and the same problems seem to be plaguing the team as it enters arguably the toughest part of its regular-season schedule.

The Wolverines are struggling to play a full 40 minutes — and it’s imperative that they start now. Michigan’s next 10 days look like this: at Purdue tomorrow, home against resurgent Penn State on Thursday, at Connecticut Saturday and home against Michigan State on Feb. 10.

Purdue is a team on a mission, coming in at No. 2 in the Big Ten in both scoring offense and scoring defense and winning games by an astounding average of 13.8 points.

Coming into the year, the Boilermakers had just about the loftiest goals a team can have.

“Oh, a national championship,” junior Keaton Grant said when asked about what he expected from this season at Big Ten Media Day in October. “That’s it. Nothing less, nothing more. A national championship.”

When told about Grant’s statements, Purdue coach Matt Painter couldn’t help but laugh at his mission.

“He’s got high goals,” he said at Big Ten Media Day. “We’ve had some tough days at Purdue. We’ve continued to stay positive and work hard to make strides. …We do have high goals, to win a championship and put ourselves in the best position to make the NCAA Tournament.”

Even though the Boilermakers may not look like a team that will be cutting down the nets in March, the team is vastly improved from last year, especially in one particular department that Painter has been focused on all season:

“Rebounding,” Painter said succinctly at Big Ten Media Day. “We have to be a better rebounding team.”

The Boilermakers are second-best in the conference at grabbing boards, snagging more than 36 a game. That could make this contest even tougher for the Wolverines, since Beilein’s 1-3-1 zone defense rarely emphasizes rebounding, meaning the Boilermakers may easily extend several possessions with offensive rebounds.

But Michigan can’t afford to start sluggish, toss up too many ill-timed 3-point attempts, fail to box out or simply not score for extended periods of time. And the team’s back-to-basics approach needs to start tomorrow against the Boilermakers.

— Reid can be reached at andyreid@umich.edu.