[ad_1]
The Michigan No.10 Wolverines went into the locker room for Wednesday night’s game against the Minnesota No.16 Golden Gophers up six points.
The deficit at the end of the game was a bit larger than that.
Michigan has gone 10-0 this season (5-0 in conference) with an 82-57 victory over the Gophers. They were led by another career performance from Hunter Dickinson with 28 points and eight rebounds, while Isaiah Livers added 14 points.
Here are three takeaways from winning.
Stifling defensive performance
It was as complete a defensive performance as we have seen from Michigan throughout the season and their stock at that end of the floor continues to soar. The Wolverines kept Minnesota 32 percent shooting on the night and 7 for 28 from the three-point line. Star guard Marcus Carr was held on 14 points on 5 of 16 shots. At one point Michigan was on a 37-8 run to start the second half.
It was a real whooping cough.
What we’ve seen in recent weeks is that Michigan is finding out how to use its length and athleticism to its advantage and it is paying off. I’ve stated here before that I’m not sure this could be a team that hung their hat on their defense, but they quickly prove that to be wrong and keep improving. This team are playing extremely hard and are stuck on both sides of the field, but the advancements in defense are what could take them from good to great.
Brandon Johns night
I thought it was Johns best game in a year in terms of haste and impact. Lately, he felt like his role had started to falter a bit with Terrance Williams, but the coaches worked hard on him and he responded in the last few games. He finished the night with seven points and four rebounds in 14 minutes of play and had other moments that won’t show up in the box score. The excitement and energy that he and guys like Chaundee Brown bring to the bench is huge and keeps you on the accelerator when your starters need a break.
Oh yeah, Hunter Dickinson
It is good. What is there to say? He will again win the Big Ten Freshman of the Week and have another career outing on Wednesday night. Minnesota’s Liam Robbins was supposed to be his biggest challenge of the year, but it was Dickinson who got the upper hand again in a lopsided game. The jumper was part of his game again on Wednesday and if that starts to drop steadily, you’re looking at one of the top five centers in college basketball.
Another fun fact!
A little bonus here, as Michigan beat Minnesota in football and basketball by 25 points in their most recent clashes. This … should end better than the football season.
Michigan was originally scheduled for a game on Saturday at Penn State, but it was postponed due to COVID-19 in the Nittany Lions program. As of now, their next scheduled opponent is Wisconsin on Tuesday night in Ann Arbor.
[ad_2]
Source link