Michigan Basketball: Gut reactions from win over Southern Utah

Michigan basketball could have been challenged by Southern Utah Saturday night, but instead, the Wolverines rolled to an impressive win.

Southern Utah doesn’t necessarily sound like a tough matchup, but the defending Big Sky Conference champions could have given the Michigan basketball team some trouble.

Especially the Michigan basketball team that showed up against Minnesota.

That team wasn’t aggressive, didn’t shoot the ball well, and wasn’t committed to getting stops on the defensive end of the floor.

But on Saturday night, in a buy game (to be fair), Michigan put together a solid performance and won in dominant fashion (87-50) in a game in which it was favored to win by 14.5.

Eli Brooks set the tone on the defensive end and did a stellar job on John Knight who averages 18 points but scored just six and was forced into six turnovers.

DeVante Jones played quite possibly his best game of the season and Hunter Dickinson dominated on both ends of the floor from start to finish. The big man had 22 and 10, while Jones finished with 13 points, six assists, and three rebounds. Kobe Bufkin also added 11. Dre Marin was the only Southern Utah player to reach double figures with 12.

Here are the gut reactions:

Gut reactions from Michigan basketball’s win over Southern Utah

• DeVante Jones and Dickinson keyed the offense and that needs to continue to happen if this team is going to win consistently.
• Eli Brooks scored two points, attempted four shots, and played a hell of a game.
• Hunter Dickinson was exactly what Michigan basketball needed tonight.
• The defense took a huge step forward, at least for one game.
• Zeb Jackson needs more minutes. He’s valuable if he’s making shots.
• Kobe Bufkin looked good — he could play more too.
• Frankie Collins continues to play well when given the chance.
• This is the DeVante Michigan NEEDS.
• The turnover issue isn’t going away.
• This team is really good when it hits 3s.
• Go Blue!