"A loss is a loss"

Here is what two Michigan basketball players had to say last night after their 76-63 loss at Ohio State:

"Everybody's going to look at the score and think we got blown out. It was a lot closer than what it seemed. This is the best we've played on the road. We can build on this." - senior center Courtney Sims

"We took our time and didn't let anything affect us. Usually, we let other teams go on runs, and we self-destruct. We kept within our game plan and did what we wanted to do on offense and defense." - senior guard Dion Harris

Both players' statements are true. The game was fairly close until the final three minutes. This was the best game Michigan has played on the road all season - and possibly the best game it has played all season overall. Michigan did avoid the turnovers that have plagued it all season. It committed just nine of them. Michigan turned the ball over more than that in the first half of its road loss to Purdue.

Sure, this is a game the Wolverines can build on. They can feel good about themselves going into Saturday's home game against lowly Minnesota.

BUT... did I mention the Wolverines lost?

Michigan players and coach Tommy Amaker can say all the positive things they want to about the loss to the No. 3 Buckeyes, but at the end of the day it was nothing more than their fourth consecutive defeat.

Michigan is now 16-8 overall and 4-5 in the Big Ten. It has yet to pick up a quality win this season. If the NCAA tournament started today, it would be left on the outside for the ninth straight year.

That, right there, is what matters. Not the Wolverines' "execution" on Tuesday or how they didn't "self-destruct."

They lost!

Tuesday's game should not make Amaker's job any more secure. It should not keep fans and columnists from blasting the program for its ineptitude.

No, instead the game should serve as a wakeup call for the team. If Michigan played against Iowa last week like it did Tuesday, it would have blown the Hawkeyes out of Crisler Arena. If Michigan played against Indiana two weekends ago like it did Tuesday, it would have had a good chance of escaping Bloomington with a victory instead of another lopsided road loss. Ditto the loss at Purdue

Where has this play been? Especially against the Big Ten's lesser teams, which is everybody sans Wisconsin and Ohio State. Let's face it: Michigan would have to play perfect to beat either of those teams. But it could beat any of the other eight Big Ten teams the way it performed on Tuesday.

Sims actually played like a man on Tuesday. The 6-foot-11 center, who usually plays as if he’s scared to be touched, wasn't afraid to challenge behemoth Greg Oden. Despite getting blocked a handful of times by Oden, Sims finished with the same number of points - 17 - and almost as many rebounds - seven to six. Sims has now scored 46 points the last two games and grabbed 17 rebounds. Where has this been the entire Big Ten season? He's a senior, and he should have been ready from the start.

Harris' play is just as perplexing. Against Iowa last week he shot 0-for-11 from the field and scored one point. On Tuesday he was 6-for-11 for 14 points, including many difficult pull-up jumpers. Half of his performance Tuesday - if used against the Hawkeyes - likely would have produced a needed victory.

So here we stand, not knowing what to expect from Michigan's two leading scorers on a nightly basis, talking about the best game Michigan played all year - which happened to be a loss - and wondering what the heck happens next.

I, for one, have no idea. Michigan needs to win at least four of its final seven conference games to have a chance of making the NCAA tournament without having to win the Big Ten tournament. While it has two games remaining against the terrible Gophers, it also faces Ohio State again, Michigan State twice, Illinois on the road and Indiana at home.

All of those games are winnable... if Michigan plays like it did against the Buckeyes. They're also very losable... if it plays like it did against the Hawkeyes.

And, no, a 5-point, or 3-point or even 1-point loss will not count as a win. The Wolverines no longer have the luxury of accepting moral victories. A couple more L's and they'll be headed back to their regular March destination.

The NIT.