Michigan Basketball: 3 things we learned in win over Minnesota

The defense is dominant

Juwan Howard has been a home-run hire in so many ways but prior to coming to Michigan he was known for developing bigs with Miami and his work coaching the defense.

Those were strengths and he has only built on those with Michigan basketball. Obviously, he has a tremendous staff and talent too, but the Wolverines defensive work has been really impressive.

This was the second straight game holding a top-25 team under a point per possession and the 3-point defense has been exceptional. Minnesota shot 25 percent and Northwestern shot just 27 percent.

One thing I noticed was Dickinson seemed more aggressive when he was hedging on screens and as impressive as he has been offensively, you have to be impressed with how he continues to get better defensively too and it’s actually amazing how little he fouls for a 7-foot-1 freshman.

Beyond that, Eli Brooks is one of the best defenders in the conference but even after he had a tooth knocked out and had to leave the game, it didn’t matter. Franz Wagner has also turned into a weapon and add Chaundee Brown to the mix U-M is as good on defense as it is on offense.

That point is reinforced by the fact that the Wolverines are one of six teams to rank in the top-18 of the Kenpom rankings in both offensive (6th) and defensive efficiency (18th).