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

Michigan still has work to do offensively

While it’s hard to complain too much about a 74-point outing and a 19-point victory, there are things that need to be cleaned up before taking on a very good Florida team Saturday.

Michigan Wolverines

The Gators aren’t necessarily a great shooting team, but they are stout defensively as they showed in their win over Nevada. The Wolf Pack made the Sweet 16 a year ago and returned three key scorers, which is why they spent much of the season ranked in the top 10.

Yet, Florida put the clamps down. Nevada’s big three scored a total of 49 points but needed 45 shots to do it and made just 33 percent of those attempts. Nevada was also 5-of-24 from 3-point range and that’s one area of concern for Michigan.

The Wolverines made just 5-of-17 shots from deep, which is 29 percent, not a terrible number, but one that will need to be better against the Gators. After all, Michigan has lost just one all season when shooting 35 percent or better from deep.

Another area of concern has to be turnovers. Michigan basketball ended up with 12 and lost the turnover battle to the Griz. Thankfully, it wasn’t costly but Simpson had four turnovers and if not for some good fortune that saw Montana miss at point-blank range, the game could have been much tighter in the opening half.

It will be strength against strength, as Michigan came into the NCAA’s leading the country in fewest turnovers compared to Florida which is among the best in taking the ball away. Obviously, the win was great but Simpson and UM need to take better care of the ball Saturday.