Michigan Basketball: 3 takeaways from Wolverines loss to Minnesota
Michigan basketball finally had an off day Saturday against Minnesota and here are three quick takeaways from the Wolverines loss.
At some point, Michigan basketball was going to lose a game and without Eli Brooks on Saturday, a tough game against Minnesota became even tougher.
Obviously, the fact that Michigan had its worst offensive performance of the season didn’t help matters and it was a humbling experience just days after becoming the first team in NCAA history to win three straight games over ranked teams by at least 19 points.
But no team was going to cruise through the Big Ten and the Wolverines are still in good position and are currently a half-game ahead of Iowa. Still, it was surprising to see Michigan basketball get blown out and here are three takeaways:
Michigan really missed Eli Brooks
Brooks is one guy that doesn’t get talked about enough when it comes to the Wolverines success. He’s one of the better two-way players on the team and his defense was missed on Marcus Carr. However, his ball-handling and offensive contributions were missed just as much.
It’s clear that Zeb Jackson isn’t ready to contribute on this level and that was reinforced Saturday so beyond Brooks and Mike Smith, Michigan doesn’t have any depth in terms of lead guards.
Brooks isn’t the first guy you would name when talking about offensive threats for the Wolverines but he’s a capable shooter and an important cog that was missed.
Hunter Dickinson can’t carry Michigan
Hunter Dickinson had a disappointing performance against Minnesota and the biggest downside was the five turnovers. He was solid from the field but he only got off five shots and this is the second straight game where he has struggled, at least for stretches.
That doesn’t mean that Dickinson isn’t going to play well. He will and everything is fine, but he’s not going to score 20 points and grab 15 rebounds every night. Franz Wagner and Isaiah Livers needed to step up Saturday and they just didn’t do it.
Michigan needs more from Wagner/Livers
Franz Wagner didn’t score until the second half and Livers was 4-of-11 from the field and that’s just not going to be good enough on the road against a solid Minnesota team.
Maybe the Wolverines success had them overconfident or the fact that they blew out the Gophers earlier this season but it’s hard to win conference games on the road when your three best offensive players struggle.
Those three players combined to go 11 of 25 and that was a big reason for the final result.