Michigan Basketball: 3 takeaways from win over Minnesota

Michigan needs to break out of this funk and quickly

What disappointed me the most was the Wolverines start to the game. After a really poor showing against Wisconsin, you expected Michigan basketball to show up and dominate — send a message.

Only that didn’t happen. The Golden Gophers came into Crisler Center and pushed the Wolverines around early. They were getting offensive boards, which they are known to do and pushing Michigan around inside. The 6-foot-6 Murphy was a force with 15 points and 11 rebounds

It wasn’t a shock that Minnesota outrebounded Michigan 43-33. It’s one of the things the Gophers do well. But it was surprising to see them make more 3-pointers and to come back from a 10-point deficit to less than five minutes left to tie the game.

Outside of a few lapses, the defense played pretty well, just like it did against Wisconsin. The offense, however, was horrible and that has to stop. With games against Indiana, Ohio State and Iowa on the horizon, the Wolverines need to be sharper and a lot more consistent.