3 Takeaways From Michigan Basketball's Dominant Win Over William & Mary

The Wolverines lit up the scoreboard in this one.

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The Wolverines found themselves in a battle through one half of play. Michigan was up 48-43 over William & Mary and there might've been some concern among the Wolverine faithful, but then you realized the Tribe wasn't likely going to shoot that way all game.

In the first half, William & Mary shot 48% from the field and 50% from three. The Tribe hit seven threes in the first 20 minutes, and Michigan was hot itself. Once the second half resumed, it was all Michigan, outscoring the Tribe 75-36. The Wolverines would go on to win 123-79 to move to 3-1 on the season.

Here are three takeaways from the win.

Balanced play will lead to a lot of good wins

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Typically, if you score 123 points, either one or two players went off or you had balanced play. The second option was the Wolverines on Sunday afternoon. Michigan had eight players with 10 or more points against William & Mary and the Wolverines showed they can score the hoop in a variety of ways.

Both Moustapha Thiam and Quinn Costello led the team, scoring 16 a piece. Once again, Costello was dangerous behind three, making four of his deep shots. It was also the most dominant game Thiam has had. Not only did he score 16 points, but he had seven rebounds, and four blocks.

To round Michigan out, J.P. Estrella continued his stellar year with 15 points, Trey McKenney had 14, Roddy Gayle Jr. had 13, Elliot Cadeau had 11, and both Kenny Boland and Oscar Goodman had 11 a piece.

Best bench play of the early season

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Michigan's bench play has been very underwhelming this season, aside from Quinn Costello. The true freshman entered the game averaging 10 points and he's been the sniper for the Wolverines behind the arc. But for the first time all season, more of Michigan's bench stepped up.

The Wolverines scored a whopping 54 points off the bench — Williams & Mary was right behind with 53 bench points. The Wolverines haven't seen much from Oscar Goodman, Kenny Noland, or Ricky Liburd, but they all stepped up.

Of course, Costello led the way, but as mentioned above, both Goodmand and Noland scored 11 points. Liburd only had five points, but he chipped in crashing the glass and notching two assists. He also had a breakaway dunk that made the crowd erupt. Jalen Reed also played against the Tribe, scoring six points and grabbing six boards.

Dominant defensive play

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Michigan was supposed to dominate William & Mary, and that's what the Wolverines did, which is a good thing. There would've been some concern if Michigan didn't blow the Tribe away, but it did and it was very convincing.

William & Mary shot 40% from three, but it's a three-point shooting team, and that's what the Tribe is going to do all season. The good part for Michigan is that it forced 24 turnovers in the game and the Wolverines scored 36 points off turnovers.

The Wolverines also ran well and scored 28 fast-break points in the game. The Wolverines blocked eight shots and it wasn't easy for William & Mary to do much under the basket, which forced it to shoot plenty from deep.

Keeping Thiam and Estrella healthy and on the court will provide the Wolverines with another good defensive duo.

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