Michigan Basketball: Weeks 3 and 4 in Review for the Wolverines

Michigan basketball improved to 5-3 on the season after wins over Tarleton State and San Diego State, and a loss to North Carolina over the past two weeks.

The Wolverines have had some puzzling results this season — namely blowout losses to Arizona and North Carolina — but they may be finding their identity.

Saturday’s win over the San Diego State Aztecs epitomized everything we thought Michigan basketball would be heading into this season.

The Wolverines played stifling defense, made Hunter Dickinson the offensive focal point, knocked down shots around him, and had palpable energy for 40 minutes.

The energy is what stood out most to me in the 14-point victory because that has been lacking at times throughout the first eight games, which is something I did not expect from a Juwan Howard-coached team.

For more takeaways from Michigan’s big win over SDSU, check this out.

Now, let’s look back at all things Michigan basketball over the past 14 days.

Team MVP

This award was somewhat difficult to decide on this time around because you could argue the Wolverines’ best player has been someone different in each of the past three games.

Whether it was Caleb Houstan and his 14 points on just seven shots against Tarleton State, or Moussa Diabate’s dominant first half leading to a team-high 13 points in the loss to UNC, or Hunter Dickinson and his team-leading 23 points against SDSU, a different face led the Wolverines every night.

However, the award goes to Caleb Houstan.

Houstan averaged 13 points and 7.3 rebounds while shooting 46 percent from the field and an outstanding 57 percent from 3-point range.

If Houstan can maintain (or improve upon) those numbers, this Michigan offense is going to reach a new level.

Hunter Dickinson desperately needs Houstan to continue knocking down outside shots to keep the defense from clogging the paint.

The freshman from Montverde Academy in Florida has NBA lottery pick potential, and he showed that over the past two weeks.

All Michigan basketball needs from him now is a little bit of consistency.