In the immediate aftermath of Michigan's loss to Minnesota in overtime on Thursday night,

as Dawson Garcia was mobbed after his half-court heave stunned the Wolverines,

three words came to mind, ball don't lie.

That sequence, those final seven seconds after Michigan tied it yet again in overtime,

yeah, they were a bit discombobulated.

But for the first 44 minutes and 53 seconds, Michigan was the one off kilter.

Michigan was unable to really ever grasp a hold of this game. They didn't oftentimes grasp the

basketball. It just felt like everything was difficult. Michigan was unable to hunt for singles well

enough.

And it showed Michigan coughed it up 13 times.

Not a massive number compared to where Michigan had been,

but so many of them were unforced, unnecessary.

And they came back to burn Michigan.

Minnesota scored 13 points off those.

The Wolverines outrebounded Minnesota by five. They came in as the number one team in the country in two-point field goal percentage, yet Minnesota outscored Michigan

in the paint 36 to 30. The Wolverines, after being dominant in the paint so many times this year, 9 of 26 on layups,

three of four on dunks, 12 of 30 from point blank range.

Not all of those are going to go down, but not nearly enough of them did fall for Michigan.

And look to overtime. Michigan, unable to close it out

in regulation, had plenty of opportunities to do so. And the Wolverines never led in overtime.

They were playing from behind an OT. They were playing in quicksand. And ultimately,

Minnesota deserved to win on Thursday night.

...