It was not meant to be for Juwan Howard and the No. 1 seed Michigan Wolverines on Tuesday night as they lost 51-49 to No. 11 UCLA.
Though the loss was extremely disappointing, Howard is proud of his team for how they conducted themselves throughout the season.
“Just want to say that it was a great run this year for this team, for this staff. Very disappointing loss to end our season this way. I give a lot of credit to the UCLA Bruins, their head coach, players, for fighting hard to earn a victory to advance to the Final Four.
“It’s very disappointing for our guys, working extremely hard this year, coming down to, you know, one possession. And that’s how it goes sometimes. In the game of basketball, there’s one or two possessions that can really either help you or hurt you, and for us, we came up short.
“But I’m so proud of this group and how they competed all season long during some very difficult times, it’s been a very challenging year but at the end of the day, we all need to walk out of this building with our head up with nothing but humility, gratitude and dignity.”
Just moments ago, Howard took to Twitter to let everyone know how proud he is and how his team will “walk tall.”
I love each of these young men who committed & worked so hard to reach our goals. They stayed connected, committed & diligent. We were close but we don’t hang our heads down.
We walk tall.
We walk proudly.
We walk TOGETHER.Until next time.
Go Blue #ForCompetitorsOnly pic.twitter.com/ajuVLvQ2bW
— Juwan Howard (@JuwanHoward) March 31, 2021
Juwan Howard is a stud! Watching him coach his players and the obvious love and respect that they have for each other is beautiful. UM is in great hands! He is so respectful of the players, their families, his university. Class act! I’d hate to recruit against him!! Go Blue!