Three Takeaways: Michigan Handles Ohio State Wire To Wire
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Michigan scored first against hated rival Ohio State and never looked back. The Wolverines led against Ohio State from the initial tip until the final horn. The Wolverines are now 12-10 overall after defeating OSU, 77-69.
Hunter Dickinson can still be dominant
At time, Michigan's 7-foot big man gets a little complacent. Or, his guards don't do enough to get him the ball. Too often Dickinson goes too long without scoring or in some extreme cases, without even touching the ball in a position where scoring is possible. Against Ohio State, however, that was not the case. Ohio State is not a very big team and they're really undersized when Zed Key isn't in the game. Even Key is just 6-8, but he's hefty and plays big. Dickinson had his way with Key, and whenever he wasn't in, Dickinson feasted. The big fella finished the day with 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds. He has to play like that when the matchup is so favorable and his goal should be to approach that kind of production regardless of the other team's size. On most nights, he's going to be the biggest player on the floor, so he needs to perform like it.
Solid is solid
Michigan led the Buckeyes from wire to wire, pushed the lead out to as much as 13 late in the second half and obviously ended up winning by eight. That can happen, against just about anyone in the Big Ten, when Michigan plays a solid, no frills, common sense approach and clean-ish brand of basketball. That includes efficient, smart shooting, playing through Dickinson as much as possible and taking care of the basketball. Michigan did all three at a pretty high level on Sunday afternoon.
At the end of the day, Michigan is a very talented team, player by player. They haven't played great basketball consistently this year, but when things are clicking, the talent is there and U-M can jump up and bite some of the best teams in the country. Against Ohio State, Michigan just about hit all of the "solid" shooting marks. If a team can shoot 50% from the floor, 35% from three and 75% from the free throw line, they can be tough to beat. Michigan went 49%, 35% and 72% respectively against the Bucks. That's a sign of playing within the offense and taking good shots. Dickinson was obviously involved early and often against the smaller Buckeyes allowing him to score 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting. And finally, Michigan only turned the ball over nine times, but more importantly, only gave up two points off of those turnovers.
Playing a pretty clean game like that, with talented players like Kobe Bufkin, Jett Howard and Dickinson, can lead to wins against solid teams. That's what we saw in Ann Arbor today.
Depth?
Sometimes, though, there's still a problem with the above mentioned approach. Sure, things are great when the team is efficient and Dickinson, Howard and Bufkin are pouring in a combined 52 points, but when any of those guys have an off night, it's tough for U-M to compete. There's just not a ton of depth on this team and it's rare for someone beyond the starters to contribute much. Once in a while, Duke transfer Joey Baker will pop up and knock down some shots like he did against Ohio State, but it has proven tough for U-M to win when the main three aren't playing really well. Only six players scored for Michigan, which speaks to that lack of depth. When Dickinson goes out of the game, the offense bogs down and there just isn't anyone else who can take over. Howard can and has, but it's difficult for him to score freely when Dickinson isn't out there to take some of the attention away from the perimeter or kick it out while being doubled.
Freshmen Dug McDaniel and Tarris Reed are getting better, but they're still so young and Reed just doesn't play much being Dickinson's backup. He was on the floor for just four minutes against Ohio State and did not attempt a shot.
It's going to be interesting to see how U-M continues to develop and if they can get enough quality wins to be talked about as a bubble team down the stretch. Of course, they could always get hot and win the Big Ten Tournament. It's unlikely, but U-M is talented and has one of the best bigs in the country in Dickinson. That will give them a shot, even if it's an outside one.
