Takeaways From Michigan's Lackadaisical Win Over Minnesota

Michigan was able to coast by in this one to win by a score of 77-67. It was a balanced scoring night for the Wolverines, with four of them reaching double figures. Elliot Cadeau led the way for the Wolverines with 15 points, followed by LJ Cason with 14, Trey McKenney with 12, and Aday Mara with 10.

Minnesota did a good job of slowing this game down and making Michigan execute in the half court, which made them uncomfortable for the first 30 minutes of this game. It was not a pretty game by any means for Michigan, but a win is a win. Let's dive more into the takeaways from this game below.

Michigan's frontcourt is still dominant

Michigan's front court got outplayed against Duke but they played much better here against Minnesota. Michigan was able to win the rebounding battle in this one 39-18. Minnesota had no answer for Michigan's big guys in this game and that just reinforces how good Michigan's front court still is. Duke may be one of the few teams in the country who can match the length of the Wolverines, who can just ride these bigs to wins in most games because all three of them are so good. Michigan got a really nice contribution from the back court in this game but make no mistake, the front court is what keeps other team's coaches up at night.

Michigan's turnover problems are very real

They had 14 more turnovers in this game, and are amongst the leaders in turnovers in the Big Ten. Some turnovers they can live with because they play so fast, but there's no excuse to be careless with the basketball and Michigan has done just that in several games this year. If Michigan wants to accomplish all of its goals later on this season, they need to find ways to keep the turnovers in check.

Michigan needs to move on from this game quickly

After losing to Duke last Saturday, and then this lackadaisical effort against the Gophers, Michigan needs to snap out of this mini-funk they're in and focus on this game against Illinois. Illinois is likely the second best team in the Big Ten and they are fully capable of beating Michigan this Friday night if the Wolverines don't play better. Maybe they were just going through the motions in this game after a tough loss, but another effort like this will not cut it against Illinois next time out.

Nonetheless, they were able to come away with another double digit victory despite not playing very well. This team can be scary good when they're clicking, let's hope they can get back to firing on all cylinders for their next game as they take on Illinois in Champaign.