Michigan Basketball: 3 takeaways from Wolverines win over Villanova

Just how good can this defense be?

If you are following the Michigan football team, then you know those Wolverines know how to play defense, but after watching the Michigan basketball team Wednesday night, you almost have to ask, which team has the better defense?

Seriously though, the effort from the hoops team Wednesday night was special. In my opinion, it was the best effort from a Beilein coached team on that end of the floor, at least in the regular season.

Villanova lost some players from last year, sure, but the Wildcats were still scoring 90-some points a game. Michigan held them to 46. Villanova also scored just 17 in the first half, the lowest total for any Jay Wright team in the first 20 minutes.

The Wolverines forced the Wildcats into 21 turnovers. Nova also shot just 31 percent from the field and 20 percent from 3-point range. Eric Paschall had one nice dunk and 10 points, but he needed 14 shots to get there. Michigan’s length cleary affected Villanova and after a win like that, it’s clear the Michigan basketball team is no joke, especially on defense.