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Juwan Howard defends final play call in loss vs. Ohio State: ‘Got exactly what we wanted’
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Michigan had a chance to defeat Ohio State in the final seconds of the Big Ten Tournament semifinals on Saturday afternoon, but a last-second step back 3-pointer by Mike Smith was off the mark.
Here’s the final play:
Michigan went for the last shot.
It missed.@OhioStateHoops holds on, 68-67, and will face the Illinois-Iowa winner in tomorrow's #B1GTourney final. pic.twitter.com/T8XFLTPUdh
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) March 13, 2021
Fans have been criticizing the final play for multiple reasons. First, Michigan was trailing by one point and could have left enough time for another possession incase of a miss.
There’s also a strong segment of Michigan fans who would have preferred to put the ball in Hunter Dickinson’s hands, as opposed to Smith. Smith finished this game 1-for-11 from the field.
However, Michigan coach Juwan Howard defended the play design in his postgame press conference. He said he drew up the play during a previous timeout, and the Wolverines “got exactly what we wanted.”
“I’ll take that shot any day,” Howard said.
Says he called the play during the previous timeout, did not want to call another timeout after the final stop to give OSU a chance to set up the defense.
"I'll take that shot any day."
— Orion Sang (@orion_sang) March 13, 2021
Unfortunately for Howard and the Wolverines, the shot didn’t fall.
Michigan is still likely to be a No. 1 seed when brackets are revealed on Sunday.
Spenser is the news manager at Saturday Road and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.