Michigan basketball fizzles late in 72-70 loss to Wake Forest

Posted by Admin November 10, 2024 Basketball

Dusty May is two games into his Michigan basketball coaching tenure, but the changes in play style and effectiveness is obvious.

The Wolverines got off to a hot start Sunday afternoon in the Deacon-Wolverine Challenge vs. Wake Forest in Greensboro, North Carolina. But the offense fizzled down the stretch, and back-to-back turnovers in the final 90 seconds while trailing by two points proved critical in a 72-70 loss to the Demon Deacons (3-0) at First Horizon Coliseum.

U-M fans showed support throughout the arena in what was effectively a Wake Forest home game, just more than 30 miles west of campus. But they watched U-M (1-1) shoot 2-for-16 on 3-pointers in the second half after making 8 of 17 in the first half (10-for-33 total, 30%). Wake Forest wasn’t any better, going 6-for-20 from 3 (30%). The Wolverines shot 42% from the field overall compared to 46% for the Demon Deacons.

U-M had balanced scoring with seven players scoring between eight and 11 points. Roddy Gayle Jr., an Ohio State transfer, led U-M with 11 points, and Tre Donaldson and L.J. Cason each scored 10. The bench scored 28.

Hunter Sallis led all scorers with 18 for the Demon Deacons.

U-M led by as much as 13 points in the first half at 25-12. But it had to rely on a Donaldson banked-in half-court 3-point shot at the buzzer to lift the Wolverines to a 38-34 halftime lead. The Demon Deacons used a 10-0 run over 90 seconds before Donaldson’s heave, and forced six turnovers in seven minutes to cut into the deficit.

U-M had 16 turnovers, nine coming in the first half, and six from Yale transfer Danny Wolf.

This was a good test for the Wolverines, who smashed Cleveland State on Monday, 101-53, in the opener in Ann Arbor.

The Demon Deacons were ranked third in the preseason ACC poll, behind just Duke and North Carolina, and received one vote for first place.

Wake Forest outscored U-M in the paint, 38-28, despite U-M starting two seven-footers in Wolf and Vlad Goldin.

U-M next season will host Wake Forest at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.

U-M returns to its home court at Crisler Center on Friday vs. TCU (6 p.m., FS1).

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