Quick Takeaways: Michigan Grinds Out A Win In Big Ten Opener
Michigan remained unbeaten and started Big Ten play off on the right foot with a 62-58 victory over Penn State on Sunday afternoon.
The two teams traded blows throughout a rugged second half of basketball. Penn State led 58-56 with just under three minutes left in the game, but the Wolverines scored the final six points of the contest to improve to 6-0 on the year.
Michigan played somewhat loose with the basketball to open the game, struggling to find answers against Penn State’s full-court pressure.
It was freshman Hunter Dickinson, making his first career start in the absence of senior Austin Davis, who helped the Wolverines shake off the early jitters. Dickinson made his presence felt early against the Nittany Lions to help Michigan build a 24-14 lead.
Once the Wolverines settled in, the offense began to flow nicely, resulting in a 13-for-25 shooting performance in the opening half, including 5-of-9 from three point range. Eli Brooks led all scorers with 10 first half points.
Michigan led 36-27 at the break.
But it was Penn State who came out of halftime energized, as the Nittany Lions went on a 12-2 run to open the second period to take a 39-38 lead. It was a dogfight from that point forward, with neither team able to assert its will on the other.
In the end, however, the Wolverines made the winning plays in crunch time, holding Penn State scoreless in the final 2:53 of the game to grind out a victory.
1. Hunter Dickinson shines in first career start
The true freshman looked right at home in the Big Ten, and that’s great news for the Wolverines. Dickinson was Michigan’s best player on Sunday afternoon, and he came up with some huge baskets down the stretch for the Wolverines. Dickinson finished the day with 20 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks. Head coach Juwan Howard could not have asked for a much better performance out of his freshman center in his first career start. Penn State is a little undersized in the post for a Big Ten team, but this was still an encouraging performance out of Dickinson to open conference play.
2. A tough shooting day for Isaiah Livers
The senior shot the ball extremely well in Michigan’s opening four games, but he’s gone cold in the last two outtings. Livers made his living today from the free throw line, hitting a perfect 8-of-8 attempts from the stripe, but was just 1-of-7 from the floor. He finished with 10 points, 6 rebounds and a pair of assists. Livers did hit two free throws with five seconds left to ice the game however. The Wolverines don’t need the senior to be Superman, but he’ll need to rediscover his shooting stroke for Michigan to compete on a nightly basis in the Big Ten.
3. Offense starts hot, sputters in second half
As mentioned above, Michigan played well offensively in the first half to build a lead as large as 15 points. In the second half, however, the Wolverines struggled against the aggressiveness of the Nittany Lions’ defense. Michigan shot just 7-of-20 from the field in the second half, and was a woeful 0-of-5 from the three-point line. The Wolverines have struggled with turnovers in a couple games this season, and that continued today as Michigan turned it over 16 times. The Wolverines found themselves in scoring droughts several times a season ago, which cost them a couple of wins. That’s what parts of today’s game felt like for Michigan. Penn State had an 18-2 run that stretched from the end of the first half to the beginning of the second half. Long scoreless stretches like those will get you beat in Big Ten play this season, and Michigan will have to find a way to avoid them moving forward.
4. Brandon Johns Jr. struggles in an increased role
With the absence of Austin Davis, Michigan will need a couple frontcourt players to step up and fill the hole left behind. They got exactly that from Dickinson, but Brandon Johns Jr. struggled with his increased role on Sunday. The junior had four turnovers, and didn’t make much of a positive impact, finishing with 6 points and 2 rebounds. This isn’t a new situation for Johns Jr., who filled in admirably as a starter last season when Isaiah Livers was out with injury. I expect the junior to bounce back from today’s performance, and Michigan needs that out of him.
5. A long layoff coming for the Wolverines
With the hot start Michigan has gotten off to this season, it’s unfortunate that the Wolverines will have to wait nearly two weeks before getting back on the court. Michigan’s next game will be at Nebraska on Christmas Day, a full 12 days away. It’s plausible that the Wolverines could try to reschedule the cancelled NC State game during this long layoff, and it might not be a bad idea to get one more game in before the holidays. Regardless, it remains to be seen if the Wolverines can continue this hot start when play resumes.
