Michigan Basketball: 3 Things we learned from domination of Northwestern

Don’t forget the defense

With each win, the Wolverines have been moving up in the polls and other metrics and with the win over the Wildcats, U-M is now No. 10 in the country according to Kenpom.

The offense ranks seventh in efficiency but the defense is also ranked 29th and last night was a great example of how solid it can be.

Michigan has clearly made limiting 3-point attempts a priority under Howard and the Wolverines put that plan into effect against Northwestern. The Wildcats shot just 18, which is five lower than their season average and made five compared to their average of nine.

That’s a huge difference and it was because of guys like Eli Brooks, who is one of the best guard defenders in the Big Ten.

Northwestern won the turnover battle, as U-M only forced the Wildcats into eight, but that was about it. Michigan outrebounded Northwestern 41-26 and gave up just three on the offensive glass.

Michigan hasn’t had to defend many teams with elite offensive talent and we’ll see how it responds when it does, but the Wolverines were up to the challenge of Northwestern’s 3-point shooting Sunday night.