On Thursday, Robert Traylor proclaimed Michigan would be a "Final Four team."
By the end of the evening Saturday, the AlamoDome in San Antonio - the site of this season's Final Four - seemed light years away.
A second-half collapse against Western Michigan left the Wolverines 0-1 for the first time since they lost to Arizona to start the 1989-90 season.
The 12,237 in attendance at Crisler watched the Wolverines let an 11-point second-half lead disappear and turn into a 68-63 Western Michigan (1-0) victory.
"Definitely not the way you want to start," Michigan interim and first-year coach Brian Ellerbe said.
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| SARA STILLMAN/Daily Michigan freshman Josh Asselin battles for a loose ball. |
Washington is one of four seniors on a veteran squad with just one true freshman. Rashod Johnson, also a senior, was the Broncos' second-leading scorer with 20 points.
"Once you get over the fact that you're playing against the University of Michigan, you're playing at Crisler Arena - all it is, is a regular basketball game," Washington said. "Down the stretch, we just stayed mentally focused, making plays when we needed them."
Just when it appeared the Wolverines were about to pull away for good, everything came out from under them - including the ball. With 10:28 left in the game, Louis Bullock capped off a 15-6 Michigan run with a fall-away jumper, his only field goal of the night, giving the Wolverines a 53-42 lead - their biggest of the game.
"That one stretch in the second half - I wasn't sure we were ever going to score," Western coach Bob Donewald said.
But in the remaining time, the Wolverines did practically everything they could to help the Broncos get back on track. Sixteen of the Wolverines' 24 turnovers came in the second half, and the majority of those occurred during a 13-2 Broncos run that tied the game at 55 with 3:34 to go.
The game was tied again at 57 when Washington picked off a pass from Michigan freshman Brandon Smith, who caught up to foul Washington at the other end of the court.
After Washington made both free throws, the Wolverines turned the ball over again on the ensuing possession, and Washington capitalized, nailing his final 3-pointer to extend the Broncos' lead to 62-57 with one minute left.
A Traylor tip-in got the Wolverines back within 65-63 with 20 seconds to go, but that was as close as they would get.
"We just kind of got outplayed down the stretch," said Traylor, who scored a team-high 22 points and played a game-high 39 minutes. "They made a lot of big plays. We turned the ball over and they capitalized on every mistake we made."
The Wolverines' collapse was almost a mirror image of the one against Athletes in Action on Nov. 3. In that game, the first of Michigan's two exhibition contests, the Wolverines blew a 13-point lead midway through the second half and ended up losing the game, 95-93.
In both games, Michigan was without senior point guard Travis Conlan down the stretch. Conlan broke his wrist during the second half against AIA, ending a brilliant 19-point performance. He is expected to miss the first month of the season.
"We're going to miss (Conlan)," Ellerbe said. "But we're not going to use that as a crutch."
Robbie Reid played 38 minutes and scored just two points, while Bullock was unusually quiet despite going 10-of-10 from the free-throw line. Bullock shot just 1-of-9 from the field and missed all three of his attempts from beyond the arc, ending his streak of consecutive games with a 3-pointer at 44. Maceo Baston, who pulled down 11 rebounds in the game, extended the Wolverines' lead to 16-10, when he left his feet and slam dunked an offensive rebound before landing again. But Washington kept the Broncos close, scoring 14 first-half points.
11-17-97
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