Michigan Basketball: 3 Things we learned in win over Rutgers

Mike Smith delivers again

When Mike Smith transferred from Columbia, there were plenty of questions about how he would handle playing in the Big Ten and he passed another big test on Thursday.

As we’ve said, Rutgers is a very good defensive team and they have forced more turnovers in Big Ten play than anyone else. U-M did have 11 turnovers Thursday night, which isn’t spectacular, but Mike Smith only had two and the turnovers didn’t have a huge impact on the game.

I was just impressed with how tough Smith can be. The guy may be just 5-foot-9, yet he still finds a way to finish inside and was 3-of-5 on his 2-point attempts, while burying a 3-ball.

The great thing about Smith is that he doesn’t force his shot, but he picks his spots to attack and his jump shot is good enough to make teams pay.

Smith wasn’t spectacular on Thursday night, but outside of Wagner, no Michigan basketball player was. However, this team did exactly what it needed to do and Smith’s ability to run the show at the point, even against a team like Rutgers, proves he’s ready for the tournament grind.