If ever there were a microcosm of a season, Tarris Reed Jr. described it Saturday afternoon.

Michigan basketball's starting center sat in the Crisler Center media room not even 20 minutes after the Wolverines had let a 15-point second-half lead evaporate into a 10-point loss to Rutgers, 69-59, to stand completely alone in the Big Ten basement.

It marked the Wolverines' (7-15, 2-9 Big Ten) 10th loss in their past 11 games, the worst such stretch in Ann Arbor since the program suffered a 1-11 run during the middle portion of John Beilein's second season at the helm in 2007-08.

Only making matters worse during the Wolverines' current two-month stretch from hell, U-M has held a lead at half (or early in the second half) in all but one of those games, and six times Howard's team has led by nine points or more, only to let the game collapse in similar fashion with porous defense and broken offense.

Since mid-December, Michigan has blown leads vs McNeese (up by 11), Minnesota (up by 7), Penn State (up by 13), Maryland (up by 12), Iowa (up by nine), Michigan State (up by nine) and as of Saturday, Rutgers (up by 15).

That's not to mention a double OT loss vs. Florida, a 32-point beat down at the hands of Purdue, and the lone win against Ohio State, when U-M allowed a 16-0 run in the second half to let a double-digit lead collapse, but did ultimately find a way to win that game.

So, there Reed sat, as the sophomore tried to describe how potential wins continue to escape this group when he shared a story that happened after the team returned from a recent road loss.

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"I remember Dug (McDaniel), he was watching the game at home and he was like 'Man, we don't look together,'" Reed said. "He said that, that stuck with me and stuck with a lot of us. Like you guys don't look together? Okay, how can we fix that, what can we do? We ask him what he sees out there, what we got to work on.

"He's the captain of this team, he's the point guard, he has the ball the majority of the time."

A captain-less ship.

Yes, McDaniel is the captain, which says just about all that needs to be said as U-M has looked every bit like the team with a captain-less ship; the sophomore has been available for just four of seven games since the second semester of school started while he works his way through academic issues.

Of course, the Wolverines had lost nine of 12 games before McDaniel began going in and out of the lineup, but it certainly hasn't helped.

Also to be fair, it's not what coach Juwan Howard pointed to during his postgame press conference as the primary issue his club has lost 15 of 19 games since a 3-0 start in November that feels like it was a different season entirely.

This isn't simply a scheme issue, he said.

"Everything, just take your pick, everything is always addressed in practice," Howard said. "We have a great staff, we've done this before and had success while doing it. But the buy-in has to be reciprocated on the other end as well. When you have the buy-in, that you're going to do what we practice and apply it, it works. It's proven it works.

"That year that was COVID, got healthy, they were going to take the tournament. How far? We really don't know because the season stopped. The second year the team went to the Elite Eight. Then the third year that team, what? Went to the Sweet 16. The (expletive) works. It does."

One of Saturday's main examples of capability vs. execution was the rebounding. The Wolverines won the battle by one in the first half, then inexplicably got out-worked to the tune of 25-16 in the second half and it frequently appeared to be a matter of hustle.

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Rutgers not only out-scored Michigan 18-6 as a result of second chances, but won the battle in the paint, 40-20.

That's another example of a letdown on U-M's end, simply letting the Scarlet Knights get so many points near the basket instead of making the worst offensive team in the Power Five conferences beat them from the outside.

When Rutgers had to shoot long balls, it didn't work, as it made just 2 of 13.

Michigan's lead was 47-32 when the shots stopped falling. U-M missed its final nine 3-pointers and made just 6 of 24 field goals (25%) once their lead got out to 15 points. So what's the solution?

"I've considered you know, maybe going with my walk-ons," Howard said. "Because they care. They're going to give a lot of what we ask. They're all dialed in."

Unchartered territory

Last season was tough, as the Wolverines began the year with expectations to compete for the Big Ten, but lost a number of close games down the stretch to narrowly miss the NCAA tournament for just the second time in more than a decade.

However, this year has been a whole new level for those on the inside. Guys like Reed aren't able to bask in career nights − he scored 12 points and had a career-best 15 rebounds as the team's most energetic player − when the losing continues to this level.

The same happened to Jaelin Llewellyn earlier this week in East Lansing when he scored a U-M career-high 18 points, but it was marred by a second-half collapse and a 19-point defeat.

"I really couldn't tell you man, I got so many emotions, so many things running through my mind," Reed said. "It has been tough, but you can't let doubt and fear creep in, that's the biggest enemy, that's the biggest lie of the devil. I've been able to try and focus on what's now and not worry too much about the future."

Howard said this is a first for him, that he's never been in last place, as a player or a coach. The schedule also doesn't appear to get much easier, with the next six games all scheduled vs. teams that appear to be NCAA-tournament bound: home vs. No. 6 Wisconsin, road trips to Nebraska and Illinois, a home game vs. rival Michigan State, a game at Northwestern, then home vs. Purdue before a road trip to Rutgers ends up the month.

According to Bart Torvik, the Wolverines are projected to lose all of those games and the final road trip of the season at Ohio State. The lone game U-M is projected to still win is the home finale vs. Nebraska, and even that is weighted at just a 51% chance.

When asked how to keep the team buying in as the season falls off the rails day by day, Howard said all he knows how to do is roll up his sleeves and continue to work. He banged on the table as he said "We will not stop teaching."

But more than that, Howard went back to McDaniel's statement of togetherness. If the season is to get fixed, that's where it will happen.

"That's a strong statement," Howard said. "In the locker room, if that's the case and you really care about winning, fix it and come together. I liked what I saw where we had a stretch when [Rutgers] went to the foul line. ... the group was talking and I don't know what they were talking about, but they were huddled up.

"That shows a sign of togetherness, but we've got to do it for 40 minutes."

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan's Howard threatens to play walk-ons after loss: 'They care'