ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) -- Michigan's season started with high hopes.
It likely ended Friday with a victory total of just 15 -- matching its preseason ranking.
Dave Brandon wasn't the one to give coach John Beilein a contract extension, but the new athletic director backs him.
"We didn't take as big of a step forward this season as we hoped and expected, but that doesn't diminish enthusiasm and confidence I have that John will bring this program back to where we all want it to be," Brandon told The Associated Press on Saturday, a day after the Wolverines narrowly missed upsetting top-seeded Ohio State at the Big Ten tournament.
"I've talked to him once since the game and he's disappointed like the kids, but he's already recruiting and back at it," Brandon added.
The Wolverines earned a preseason No. 15 ranking in the AP poll because most of their players were back from last year's team, which earned the program its first NCAA tournament bid since 1998.
The high expectations looked shaky as Michigan got off to a rough start, losing three of its first six games and failing to beat a solid team. The Wolverines defeated then-No. 15 Connecticut in January, but stunted momentum with a three-game slump and losses in nine of the last 13 regular-season games.
They were a split second away from possibly making the regular season moot when Evan Turner made a 37-foot shot just before the buzzer for Ohio State's one-point victory Friday.
"We never want to feel this way again," guard Stu Douglass said.
If Turner hadn't made the shot, Michigan still would have needed two more wins to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Beating the Buckeyes and perhaps Illinois in the semifinals might have been enough to impress the NIT selection committee.
It now seems improbable that the second-tier tournament will put the Wolverines (15-17) in its field Sunday night.
Beilein said last week that Michigan would not play in the College Basketball Invitational if it missed out on the NCAA and NIT. The school announced in January it gave Beilein a contract extension through the 2015-16 season that will give him $1.7 million next season and slightly more in following years.
"The university made the decision that we were going to try to go after the NCAA or the NIT," Beilein said before playing in the Big Ten tournament. "If we don't get there, then we gave it our best. It's much more difficult to get into the NIT than it was years ago. There's a lot of good schools that have had better years than us."
It might get worse if guard Manny Harris chooses to skip his senior season to enter the NBA draft. Michigan will definitely be without departing seniors DeShawn Sims and Zack Gibson
Harris said during the season that he planned to return, but declined to comment on his future plans after the regular-season finale at Michigan State and on Friday in Indianapolis.
Douglass gave Harris and Sims some help against Ohio State -- scoring 16 points -- but all too often Michigan's top duo didn't have another scorer throughout the season.
Harris averaged 18 points, Sims scored nearly 17 points a game and none of their teammates averaged seven points.
"Having that third and fourth scorer is very, very important," Beilein said Friday. "We've never been able to establish that. Who knows why people can't make open shots sometimes, but we haven't been able to do that."
The team combined to make just .299 percent of their 3-point shots in Beilein's offense that relies heavily on them.
If Harris leaves, Douglass and Zack Novak will have to become go-to players after both had disappointing sophomore seasons.
Without Sims and Gibson, the frontcourt will need both 6-foot-10 Blake McLimans and 6-8 Jordan Morgan after both redshirted as freshmen this season.
But Sims is holding out hope that he will get to play with Harris at least one more time at Michigan.
"We don't know if it's our final game yet," Sims said. "But it's definitely been a great adventure."