EVANSTON — It was around the three-minute mark of the Wolverines' 74-60 loss to Northwestern when Michigan men’s basketball center Jordan Morgan missed a wide-open dunk.

Everyone at Welsh-Ryan Arena looked on as Michigan's only starting post player couldn't put home the high-percentage shot.

Morgan has made plenty of dunks this season, but this time, the ball hit the back of the rim and it popped out. Whether it was an anomaly or not, it was representative of Michigan's struggles in the paint all night long and throughout much of the Big Ten season.

Dunking was the least of Morgan’s problems Tuesday night, but his miss revealed that the team is vulnerable and inexperienced in the paint.

Throughout the evening, the Wolverines played Morgan, freshmen Jon Horford and Colton Christian and redshirt freshman Blake McLimans in the post, and all four players had trouble in the paint.

The four combined for just seven points and 12 rebounds. Northwestern completely shut down the Wolverine big men any time they even attempted to make a move in the post. And when a Michigan post player did get a shot off, he often couldn’t finish.

“I can’t explain it,” Michigan guard Zack Novak said after the game. “We put a lot of time into that kind of stuff, working on different types of finishes. Some nights it just doesn’t fall.”

Michigan has known all season that its post players are young and inexperienced. But the four have had glimpses of greatness all season — giving even some of the nation’s most elite centers and forwards problems — but the Wildcats knew where they could exploit the Wolverines.

Scoring 13 points and collecting eight rebounds against Michigan, Wildcat center Luka Mirkovic scored at will. The Wolverines tried different man-to-man matchups, double-teaming him and even attempted to leave him open — no matter the circumstances, Mirkovic scored.

“I’d like to know how many games he’s played in the post in his life,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “I’d like to know his birthday, because he’s probably three or four years older than our big guys. He’s played in Europe, he’s played against all the best post players. I’m not saying he’s too old — I’m saying he’s really experienced … I don’t know where he’s played, but he gives them a great dimension.”

Like Michigan's offense, Northwestern’s offense focuses a lot on perimeter shooting. Thus, the 6-foot-11, 248-pound Serbia native is normally the Wildcats' only designated post player. But even with such attention, Mirkovic continued to back down any Wolverine that had to defend him.

“You can’t double him because he’s a really good passer,” Beilein said of Mirkovic. “Then they’ll get a three instead of a two.”