Oftentimes in college basketball, the how and the why to who won and lost a game can be difficult to define.

In this matchup for Michigan on the road at Maryland, it was pretty simple.

It boils down to three stats, all very much intertwined.

Maryland gobbled up 15 offensive rebounds.

Those led to 13 second chance points, part of Maryland's 42 points in the paint.

You'll hear it later from head coach Joanne Howard, but he repeated those stats.

He certainly will drill those stats into his ball club heading into the prep for Minnesota.

Michigan just could not get the job done enough on the inside.

And the frustrating part of it is that Michigan won the overall rebounding margin.

They had 13 offensive rebounds themselves. But as Saudi Washington told Terry Mills at halftime,

sometimes it's about making the simple play. And boxing out, securing a rebound.

Saying it is simple. The actual doing of that can be challenging, especially with the way that Maryland

played. Remember, 18 days prior, Michigan bludgeoned the Terps. The Wolverines went up 17 to

nothing. They were up by 31 at the break, and Michigan went on to win by 35. The the how and the why was enough for Maryland to get the job done. In a game where Michigan's defense found a way to keep Michigan in it, Maryland didn't

make a field goal for the last four and a half minutes.

They missed seven of their last eight shots.

They shot just 41% as a team and three of 15 from downtown.

There were opportunities to win.

The avenue was there, but the how and why of Michigan being unable to secure enough defensive rebounds,

that'll be what Michigan will look back on on film and realize was indeed the howl and the why.

6458, the final here from College Park.

Michigan falls to Maryland.

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