Michigan Basketball: 3 Things we learned in win over Rutgers

Defense, defense, defense

There are a lot of things to like about this Michigan basketball team. The Wolverines have multiple NBA players in Wagner, Isaiah Livers, Hunter Dickinson and in my opinion, Chaundee Brown; they are extremely skilled offensively, but the best attribute might be the defense.

Michigan is still ranked as the No. 7 team in defensive efficiency according to the Kenpom rankings and the Wolverines showed why on Thursday night. Rutgers scored on a flurry of points late, but just like I predicted, Rutgers had to work really hard just to reach 60.

It feels like Michigan could play Rutgers 10 times in a row and the Scarlet Knights would never reach 70 points. The length of the Wolverines and their athleticism is just too much for Rutgers to overcome.

Plus, Rutgers isn’t a good 3-point shooting team. They want to attack but that’s not easy against U-M and the Wolverines forced them into a bunch of difficult 2-point attempts. It’s the same thing that happened last year when Rutgers averaged 57 a game in two losses.

Yet, Rutgers isn’t the only team struggling to score against the Wolverines. Only two Big Ten teams have reached 70 this year and only four total in 16 games and one of those was the overtime win over Oakland.

We’ll see how that defense translates to Columbus on Sunday in a massive showdown between the Wolverines and the Buckeyes, but come March, it’s as good a reason as any why this team could be playing on the final weekend of the NCAA tournament.