Michigan Basketball: 3 things we learned in win vs Prairie View A&M
The Michigan basketball team defeated the Prairie View A&M Panthers 77-49 in a high-tempo game. The Panthers are currently the consensus favorites to win the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Michigan improves their record to 2-0 on the season.
There is a lot we can take away from this game against Prairie View A&M. There was a lot of good we saw last night from the Wolverines. However, there was also a great deal of bad. Nothing that is not correctable or irreversible but still something to take away.
I felt like mentioning this even though I am not going to include it but Michigan basketball needs to do better in transition. There were multiple times where the Wolverines looked abysmal in transition, whether it was chucking up poor shots or overthrowing the ball, even turning it over.
I understand the Wolverines are a very young and mostly inexperienced team that has some things they need to work out. It’s not a concern for me but it’s something that needs to be fixed if Michigan wants to compete down the stretch. It will slide against lesser opponents like Prairie View A&M, but it won’t slide against teams like Illinois and Purdue.
Now, for the 3 key things we learned about the Wolverines in their 28 point win against Prairie View A&M.
1. Turnovers were a major issue for the Wolverines Saturday
This is something that is unlike Michigan. I can’t recall a time where Michigan played with such a lack of control with the ball. Prairie View A&M is mostly known for forcing turnovers which could be a key factor to this but regardless it’s something that needs to be fixed.
Michigan ended the game with 20 turnovers. For reference, in the Sweet 16 and the Elite 8 Michigan had a combined 23 turnovers against two teams (Florida State & UCLA) that prided themselves on defense that year.
I’m glad that the Wolverines are having these problems early in the season though. It gives Juwan plenty of time to clean up the problem before it becomes something major.