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Upstart Michigan took No. 8 Gonzaga to halftime with an 11-point lead, but the Bulldogs weren’t going to let the Wolverines run away with it.
What was once double-digits quickly became a close one before even getting to the second-half under-16 timeout, as it became a two-point difference. How would the maize and blue respond?
After the game continued to be close for a few moments, Michigan punched back, extending the lead to 19. Gonzaga did its best to battle back, but the Wolverines were just too much, as the maize and blue took down their second top ten team in a row to win the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, beating the Bulldogs, 82-64.
Michigan was excellent from downtown, hitting 12-for-23, which helped continuously elevate the maize and blue whenever Gonzaga pulled within striking distance. The Wolverines put more points up on the Bulldogs than any other team to this point, as well.
Here’s our five takeaways from the game.
Juwan Howard can Coach
I don’t think even your most ardent Michigan homer would have predicted how well the Wolverines have played to start the season. We were very outspoken about how skeptical we were that head coach Juwan Howard would be able to get this team rolling this season — and he seems to have done just that, and early.
This team plays fast, smart and even has excellent strategy. Taking on a dangerous Gonzaga offense, ranked by KenPom as the No. 4 attack in the country, the Wolverines weren’t even attempting to collect offensive rebounds, in order to get back on defense. It paid dividends. The Bulldogs season low in FG% came on Thursday, at 38.7% against Oregon. Michigan managed to hold Mark Few’s crew to 40% — not the lowest, but close.
The maize and blue have been unranked all season, but now have wins over the current KenPom No. 6, No. 11 and No. 38 teams, and over a pretty good Creighton squad.
And the amazing thing is, it still looks like a work in progress. It’s not seemingly like this group is anywhere close to peaking. And, as ESPN play-by-play man Jon Sciambi noted at halftime, the winner of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament has won the NCAA Championship the past two years. Could that happen for these Wolverines? It seemed inconceivable not too long ago, but now? For Michigan fans, that’s an exciting thing.
Oh, and the Wolverines are still undefeated through seven games.
Jon Teske is the difference-maker
“Teske has been a man among boys, here!” ESPN color commentator Dick Vitale exclaimed as the game started dwindling.
It became obvious very quickly into the game, especially when Teske went out. With his replacement Colin Castleton in, immediately, Gonzaga attempted to go down low. It didn’t necessarily work, but it was obvious the respect that must be paid to Teske defensively.
On the other side of the court, was unstoppable, with 19 points and 15 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. Michigan was +16 when he was on the floor, and he’s clearly a player to be reckoned with.
His best work is certainly the job he did on Filip Petrusev, who scored a season-low 9 points and 9 rebounds.
We already knew Teske was really, really good. But is having Howard, the former Michigan center, as his head coach helping elevate his game to even another level?
It’s going to take a minute for Franz Wagner
The star out of Germany is clearly still acclimating, but has the look of a future stud in maize and blue.
His first few shots rattled in and out, but even with decision-making and team cohesion, it’s just a little off — which makes sense, since he missed a month-plus with injury, before his first college basketball season. For instance, he was on a two-and-one fast break, with Isaiah Livers streaking behind him. He was covered, Livers wasn’t. He took it, and missed the layup, when a dish to Livers in that scenario was almost certainly a dunk.
Chalk it up as a freshman mistake. He might have requisite experience playing in Europe, and certainly looks more polished than someone playing in just his third game. The flashes are there, but it might take another few weeks before we really start to see his potential.
That said, the Wolverines were +13 when he was on the floor. So clearly, he’s demanding respect, allowing opportunities for his teammates, even though he’s still rounding into form.
This crew is still streaky
We’ve seen it since the opening game, when the Wolverines saw a commanding lead over Appalachian State become a nail-biter as time dwindled.
Even more recently, on Thursday against North Carolina, a 24-point lead was reduced to single-digits late, though Michigan pulled away just enough to secure the victory. But, again, a double-digit lead all but evaporated.
This time, however, after the Wolverines allowed Gonzaga to claw back into the game for a moment, they did ultimately put it away, extending the lead back to 19 after three consecutive three pointers with just over four minutes remaining.
Still, as high-flying of a team this seems like it can be, it needs to find and maintain the killer instinct a little earlier.
Perhaps it’s a crew that’s still acclimating to the new system getting tentative when punched back. Or it’s the adjustments made by good teams that’s making the difference. But with the entirety of the Big Ten schedule coming up soon, when Michigan gets a chance to put a game away early, it needs to learn how do that and hold on for the duration.
Michigan shouldn’t just be ranked, it should be a top ten team
At least at this juncture. And it seems ridiculous now, maybe in hindsight, that Michigan has gone this long being unranked.
Consecutive wins over top ten teams to win the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, and with victories over Creighton and Iowa State, the Wolverines have a resume that can contend with anybody. While we won’t go as far as the ESPN halftime panel to suggest that Michigan should be No. 1 in the next AP Top 25, there’s no doubt that it should be up there. Because we agree — right now there isn’t a dominant force in college basketball, so like former coach John Beilein (still weird to say that) used to say: ‘Why not (Michigan)?’
Regardless, the Wolverines have a tough task, with their third-straight top ten matchup, as they head next to No. 2 Louisville.
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