Zack Novak played well in Manny Harris' absence, but it was not enough to lift U-M to victory.

No matter who Michigan put out on the floor in West Lafayette, the Wolverines were going to have a lot of trouble upsetting Purdue on Saturday. When the news came down just a couple hours before tipoff that Manny Harris had been suspended for an undisclosed incident at practice, Michigan chances dwindled even further. What played out was not a surprise: DeShawn Sims continued his strong play for Michigan, scoring 21 points on 8-18 shooting and grabbing eight rebounds, but even with Zack Novak (16 points, 6-11 shooting, five rebounds) stepping up big, the Wolverines could not find the offensive production to keep up with Purdue, who walked away with a ten-point victory that could’ve been even worse.

The local news sites are reporting that Harris’ status for Tuesday’s Michigan State game will be determined later this afternoon, so I’ll hold off comment on that situation until more of the facts come to light. Instead, I’ll focus on the on-court issues.

Shooting has been Michigan’s Achilles heel for most of the season, but this team continues to find new, more frustrating ways to lose. This week, they pulled the “let’s suspend our best player, then shoot very well but turn the ball over like crazy” trick, which worked out really well if the goal was to cause my hairline to recede at a very accelerated pace. Besides the aforementioned Sims and Novak, nobody in a Michigan uniform could claim to have played well on the offensive end: Laval Lucas-Perry was the team’s third-leading scorer with seven points (on 2-2 shooting), but he turned the ball over three times.  Stu Douglass continued his brutally poor season with a two-point, four-turnover performance and a rough day on the defensive end. Darius Morris also chipped in four turnovers and missed six of his nine shots. Matt Vogrich was the only other player with a stat line that didn’t make me cringe, but four points on 2-3 shooting and two rebounds was not going to make up for the rest of the bunch.

Watching Michigan try to get into a rhythm on offense without Manny Harris was really tough to watch. We forget that, as well as being the team’s top scorer, Harris might just be the Wolverines’ best passer as well. He’s also the only player on the team that can consistently beat his man off the dribble, something which really opens up the offense when he’s playing well. Yes, there are flaws in Manny’s game, but watching the game on Saturday should squash any ill-formed arguments that this team plays better when he’s not on the floor. The rest of the guards just don’t have the ability to replace his production and what he brings to the team.

That said, Saturday’s game could be encouraging if Michigan is without Harris for any length of time. Despite playing a top-15 team on the road, without their best player, the Wolverines hung tough and managed to keep the game respectable. If they could have held on to the ball better, Michigan would have been in a position to really challenge Purdue. DeShawn Sims continues to make a strong push for first-team all-conference, and Zack Novak finally broke out of his shooting slump. There were some good signs here, even if you have to look hard to see them.

Unfortunately, it looks like Michigan will now officially be playing the role of potential spoiler: at 10-9, any tournament resume will probably be of the NIT variety. If Michigan loses Manny for any serious length of time, even the NIT may be a stretch. Let’s hope that isn’t the case.

For more postgame coverage, check out UMHoops and MGoBlog for their takes. I’ll be sure to post my thoughts on the Harris situation as soon as the details come out.

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