Michigan Basketball: 3 things we learned in Wolverines win vs Montana

Michigan basketball played championship-level defense

There were a number of reasons why the Wolverines were able to make a Final Four run in 2018 and one of the biggest was elite play on the defensive end of the floor and in the first game of the 2019 tournament, it was back.

In fact, with Teske playing a much bigger role, this year’s defense might be even better. In the early going, it was incredible how much Teske’s 7-foot-1 frame disrupted the Griz. The length of guys like Matthews, Isaiah Livers and Ignas Brazdeikis was also key as well as the incredible on-ball defending of Simpson.

Montana came into the game as one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the country at 38 percent and with an average of more than eight makes from beyond the arc per game.

Yet, in the first half, the Wolverines suffocated the Griz, holding them to a paltry .57 points per possession. Montana also shot just nine percent from three and 36 percent on 2’s in the first half.

In the second half, the Griz managed five 3-pointers but many were once the game was no longer in doubt. When it was all said and done, Montana made 20-of-60 shots from the field and Ahmaad Rorie was shut down for the second straight year, as the Big Sky Tournament MVP scored just 10 points on 3-of-13 shooting.