Michigan has a roster full of freshmen and sophomores, but coach John Beilein was happy his team made plays down the stretch of its latest game to hold on for what he felt was a quality win.
Coach Greg Kampe couldn't have been much more disappointed with the quality of team's last performance, and surprisingly, it was standout senior guard Reggie Hamilton who took much of the blame for Oakland, Mich.
The 20th-ranked Wolverines continue their seven-game stretch in Michigan on Saturday at The Palace of Auburn Hills, where they'll go for their sixth consecutive victory in this in-state matchup.
With guard Zack Novak the only senior starter, Michigan (6-2) has leaned heavily on sophomores Tim Hardaway Jr. (team-high 15.9 points per game), Evan Smotrycz and Jordan Morgan, as well as freshman point guard Trey Burke.
It bounced back from a Nov. 29 loss Virginia last Saturday against Iowa State, though it wasn't easy. The Wolverines had to hang on for a 76-66 victory when they didn't convert a field goal for the final 5:03 after building an 18-point lead.
The Wolverines went 8 for 8 from the foul line in the final minute - six coming from Novak.
"We're playing a lot of sophomores, and we've got a freshman point guard, so we've still got a lot of things to learn," Morgan said after scoring a season-high 16 points. "Coach got frustrated with us, but we kept going and finished off the game.''
The Golden Grizzlies (6-3) will try to get off to a better start Saturday after falling behind by 14 in the first half of Wednesday's 84-82 loss to Ohio. Travis Bader's miss in the final seconds brought an end to the team's six-game winning streak, but Kampe felt the game was lost well before that attempt.
"To (commit a season-high 22 turnovers) that in our own arena is just very unusual for Oakland," he said.
Even more surprising is that Hamilton committed seven of those and fouled out with 32 seconds remaining. He admitted that he lost track of his fouls, leading to just his second disqualification in 44 games with the Golden Grizzlies.
"It was just me making dumb decisions, and that won't happen again," Hamilton said after scoring 23 points to raise his scoring average to 20.1.
If Hamilton is able to stay out of foul trouble Saturday, he could present plenty of problems for Hardaway and Burke. The senior is shooting 91.0 percent (61 of 67) from the foul line and has averaged 7.3 assists in three games this month.
Hamilton had 23 points and four turnovers in a 69-51 loss in Ann Arbor on Dec. 18.
Saturday marks the second time the Wolverines and Golden Grizzlies will play in Auburn Hills. Michigan won the previous matchup at The Palace, 89-76 on Dec. 20, 2008.
Laval Lucas-Perry, who hit four 3s and scored 14 points in that game - his Wolverines debut following a transfer from Arizona - is now scoring 10.9 points per game off Oakland's bench after Beilein dismissed him in June 2010 for violating team standards.
The Wolverines' frontcourt could face a tough test in this matchup against Drew Valentine (11.9 points and 7.6 rebounds) and center Corey Petros. The freshman has three consecutive double-doubles after setting season highs Wednesday with 23 points and 16 boards.
"Those are pretty amazing numbers, but to be honest with you, those numbers mean nothing," Kampe said. "The only numbers that matter are 84 and 82."
The Wolverines are 6-1 all-time against Oakland.
