After one season, freshman guard Cole Bajema is potentially departing Ann Arbor having submitted his name to the transfer portal, a program spokesperson confirmed to The Daily.
Sophomore guard Adrien Nunez works to find a larger role in this upcoming season by improving on his past struggles and believing in his own ability.
When a wave of uncertainty about the severity of the spread of the virus reached his ears, Warren made the decision and called Michigan and Rutgers’ athletic directors Warde Manuel and Patrick Hobbs that their 12 o’clock game would not commence.
From there, the athletic directors told the head coaches, who then gave their team the news.
Reporters will not be allowed to enter team locker rooms following games at this week’s Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis, according to a statement from the Big Ten Conference. The statement, released Wednesday afternoon, confirmed that the tournament will “continue to be held as scheduled,” though postgame media availabilities will be held in a larger space in an attempt to avoid the close confines of locker rooms.
The tournament, however, will go on as planned with fans in attendance.
During Michigan’s loss to Maryland on Sunday, Franz Wagner was whistled for his second foul just eight minutes into the first half.
Due to the team’s autobench policy under those circumstances, the freshman wing spent the remaining 12 minutes of the half planted firmly on the bench. Prior to the foul, the score was 12-9, and the Wolverines were going toe-to-toe with the inevitable Big Ten regular season champs.
Once Wagner vacated the court, though, the offense fell to tatters.
So when the final buzzer sounded, it signaled a 83-70 dismantling of Michigan (19-12 overall,10-10 Big Ten). The Terrapins’ (24-7, 14-6) combination of outside shooting, offensive fluidity and dislodging of the Wolverines’ defense sealed the deal in the regular season finale.
Where things get particularly bleak for the Wolverines’ foes though comes from 3-point shots. In The Bahamas, Michigan was effective in limiting perimeter shots with opponents shooting just 29.7 percent from three in the Caribbean. Recently though, the Wolverines have been on another planet. Along with overall scoring, opponents’ shooting percentages have taken a dip as well. Rivals in The Bahamas shot 42 percent from the floor and now are connecting on just 37.2 percent of shots over the last five games.
Simpson — assuredly not known for his shooting prowess — has been trapped between the decision to take the open 3-point shot or carry on with one of many other options that he is more comfortable with, including driving to the hoop or finding another open man. But in an unexpected development, the veteran guard has added an effective 3-point shot to his arsenal, elevating the Wolverines’ offense. The senior made this addition even more apparent on Wednesday, when he hit two threes in the opening four minutes to ignite Michigan’s offense in its eventual 60-52 win over Rutgers.
Zavier Simpson took the ball up the court to kick things off against Indiana on Sunday. But, fairly uncharacteristically, Simpson attempted to find his man on the right side only to see the ball land squarely in the hands of a Hoosier. Rather than follow up Indiana’s opening bucket with a couple points of his own, Simpson was staring down a turnover and a less-than-ideal start. But that would be one of his only mistakes all afternoon.
On Wednesday, following a blowout win over Northwestern, junior forward Isaiah Livers was asked to describe junior guard Eli Brooks — the game’s leading scorer. Instead of diving into the minutiae of the guard’s performance, Livers kicked things off by giving the third-year player a new nickname:
“The silent assassin.”