Michigan Basketball: 3 takeaways from the magical win over Houston

Foul trouble is going to haunt Michigan

Houston is a good team and the Cougars played a great game, but Michigan was the better team, it just made a bunch of mistakes and shot poorly. The shooting will be addressed later, but something the coaching staff needs to focus on this week is staying out of foul trouble.

Wagner had issues with it in both games and barely played half the game against Houston because he was constantly in foul trouble. He still managed 12 points and scored 10 in the second half. That was in limited minutes, imagine his impact if he was on the floor for 30-35 minutes as expected.

Charles Matthews also sat with fouls and Duncan Robinson fouled out. That ended up being a blessing in disguised as Poole attempted the game-winning shot. But if the Wolverines continue to foul like that, winning another game in the tournament will be difficult.

Not only does it take your best players off the court, it puts cheap points on the board of the other team. To be fair, a lot of calls on Michigan seemed ticky-tack, especially on Wagner, but still, it’s something that needs to be fixed.