The Michigan basketball team likely thought all those mistakes - the defensive lapses, missed assignments and shooting struggles - were in the past.

Yet here they were again, all back and accounted for in Michigan’s 55-51 loss to Penn State on Saturday.

Nowhere was it more frustrating than on defense for Michigan coach John Beilein, who mentioned his team having an “off night” multiple times in his post-game press conference.

“We just had some rough possessions defensively,” Beilein said. “The ball went off of our hands three or four times. This was very close to being a six-point win and what did it turn out to be, a four-point loss.

“When you have off days, balls go off your hands or out of bounds and some tough situations, you have to clean up some of the imperfections that we have. Tonight, we resorted back to some of it.”

Michigan fell victim to the backdoor cut multiple times throughout the game and struggled with Penn State’s dribble drives. They often missed the Nittany Lions’ cutters and as Beilein has done throughout the season, he looked at the missed shots on offense as part of the reason for the defensive woes.

“We had good looks, just missed shots and they made big plays,” junior guard Manny Harris said. “They made them mostly in the late shot clock. We did a good job defending them and then something would happen and they would score.

Darius Morris strong on defense If Michigan was to find one positive from Saturday’s loss to Penn State, it was the defensive play of freshman guard Darius Morris.

The Los Angeles native used his lanky 6-foot-4 frame to disrupt Penn State star Talor Battle, who is generously listed at 6-feet.

He stuck with Battle’s speed, altered the guard’s shots and kept him in check.

“I think I did pretty good,” Morris said. “I remember one transition three he got on me on a pick, but I just tried to use my length on him, because I’m obviously a lot bigger than him.”

When Morris came out, Battle took advantage, scoring 14 points and grabbing 11 rebounds despite often being the smallest player on the floor.

It ended up being a conundrum of sorts for Beilein because while Morris played well on defense, teams often sag off the freshman on offense to double-team senior forward DeShawn Sims.

“He did a really good job when he came in there,” Beilein said. “We were trying to mix pick your poison right there.”

When Morris came out, Michigan often had sophomore guard Laval Lucas-Perry on Battle and Lucas-Perry couldn’t keep up with the potential All Big Ten player.

This and that When asked if this year has been the most frustrating of Beilein’s career, he responded, “oh, no.” … With eight rebounds, Sims moved into 14th place all-time at Michigan with 684 boards. On Saturday he passed Butch Wade (678) and Terry Mills (682). Next up is Chris Webber, with 702. … With two steals, Harris moved into a tie for eighth place on the all-time Wolverines steals ledger with Dion Harris and Thad Gardner at 135. ... Football coach Rich Rodriguez and his staff were in attendance for a Michigan junior recruiting day. Among the juniors there was Rivals.com four-star offensive tackle Aundrey Walker of Glenville (Ohio) High. Walker is every bit of his listed 6-foot-5, 355 pounds.

Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein.