There's no way around it. Wednesday night in Charlotte, it was a heartbreaking loss for the Wolverines.

Michigan was right there with North Carolina. Every time the Tar Heels had a run to try to put Michigan away, the Wolverines clawed back.

The problem was they couldn't claw back all the way. Michigan never got it closer than two.

They never had a lead after halftime. After a really

strong start, Michigan was up by as many as eight in the first half. They played North Carolina well.

They overcame a ton of foul trouble, especially in the first half. And the Wolverines, you could see it.

In the players, in the aftermath of the loss, you'll hear from head coach Juan Howard here a little bit

later on the postgame podcast. This one hurts. It will sting because as we've talked about for a while

since before the season, Michigan came into this season with several opportunities to collect

impactful non-conference wins. And boy, were they close.

They had a chance against Virginia, against Kentucky.

And now, and this one against North Carolina, and couldn't quite get it done.

So they go into their final non-conference matchup against the Central Michigan team

that will come to Chrysler Center.

And then they're in a Big 10 play where they will almost certainly go

into March and into Selection Sunday with their biggest non-conference win being a victory over

Pittsburgh. Now, Pitt has played better since the early going. That win is aging a little bit

better, but boy, if you could have gotten this one or gotten Virginia or gotten Kentucky,

would have a little bit more umph to it.

The reality for Michigan is that they will have to draw up a very similar Big Ten season

in a very similar NCAA tournament resume to the one they had last year. The template is there.

Michigan was able to get into the dance. They avoided the first four. They ultimately

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