3 Things we learned about Michigan Basketball in scare against Oakland

Michigan center Hunter Dickinson (1) makes a layup against Oakland forward Trey Townsend .(Detroit Free Press)
Michigan center Hunter Dickinson (1) makes a layup against Oakland forward Trey Townsend .(Detroit Free Press) /
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Franz is in a funk

One thing I didn’t expect during these first two games was seeing Franz Wagner struggle. He scored nine points against Bowling Green and added just six Sunday night.

In the two contests, Wagner has not looked confident shooting the basketball and is 0-of-6 from beyond the arc. In the first game, he didn’t force things but you could see that Wagner got a little frustrated and forced the action to the basket, leading to a pair of offensive fouls.

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Yet, Wagner also is proving he’s much more than just an offensive threat. He grabbed 13 rebounds in the win for Michigan and also had three assists and two steals. He also attempted just five shots, which was different from Chaundee Brown, who chucked up 14 and went 1-of-10 from deep.

It’s hard to be upset at Brown, just about every shot he took was in rhythm and was a good shot to take. They  just weren’t falling.

While it’s a little worrisome that Wagner hasn’t started hitting from 3-point range yet it’s only a matter of time.

The sophomore has also showed some improved skills getting to the bucket and scoring inside, but you do have to wonder if we are going to see a repeat of last season when Wagner was a 31-percent shooter from deep.

The hope was that he could get himself in the high 30s and that’s been more consistent with his career average before coming to Michigan. So we’ll see if this slump is just a temporary thing to start the season or if he really isn’t quite the 3-point shooter we thought he was going to be.