Michigan Basketball: 5 keys to Wolverines winning Big Ten championship

Simpson needs to set the tempo

This Michigan team is much different from the team that swept through Madison Square Garden a season ago, but one of the great similarities is Simpson playing at point guard.

In last year’s Big Ten tournament, Moritz Wagner was outstanding but Simpson might have stolen the show and over the four-day run, he might have been the Wolverines most valuable player.

He scored at least 10 points in each game of the tournament and on top of averaging over 12 points a game, Simpson averaged four assists, five rebounds and two steals. His play was simply incredible and the most impressive thing was his defense.

Guarding Cassius Winston in the semifinals, Simpson shut him down and held him to just 11 points on 3-of-10 shooting. That was probably the key to victory for Michigan basketball against its arch-rival. Simpson also helped limit Carsen Edwards of Purdue to 4-of-16 from the field.

Make no mistake, if Michigan is going to win this week, it needs Simpson to be great. Good might not cut it.