Michigan basketball survived Tuesday, winning a road game against Northwestern 62-60. Here are three things we learned.
Winning on the road in college basketball is never easy but when it comes to the Big Ten conference, winning the on the road is even tougher, unless you are Michigan basketball.
There is no doubt, that the Big Ten is loaded this season. Right now, seven Big Ten teams are ranked in the AP Top 25 and eight are part of the coaches poll. Northwestern isn’t one of those teams, but again, the depth of the league was on full display.
Coached by Chris Collins, the long-time Duke assistant, the Wildcats do a lot of the same things Michigan basketball does, especially on the defensive end and even though both teams shot the ball well, it turned into a defensive battle.
It's EARLY early, but we have a feeling this will go down as one of the best @B1GMBBall games of the year.
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) December 5, 2018
No. 5 @umichbball survived a great effort from Northwestern to remain undefeated, and you can get full highlights here: pic.twitter.com/Ly3DFNt90W
Michigan had a better shooting half in the first half, scoring 36 points and shooting 56 percent. While in the second half, it was Northwestern that got hot. Vic Law started hitting from deep and Derek Pardon was tough to stop down low.
Things looked worrisome when the Cats went up by three with 5:47 to go. However, on the next possession, Ignas Brazdeikis buried a 3-pointer to tie the game. Eli Brooks hit another shortly after and a late dunk from Jordan Poole, plus some key stops, sealed the two-point win.
Michigan basketball is now 9-0 on the season and there is what we learned from the Wolverines win over the Wildcats Tuesday night on the road.