Grading Michigan Basketball’s key win over Northwestern

Michigan basketball found a way to win against Northwestern on Wednesday and here’s the report card from the Wolverines 72-70 win. 

With just five minutes left in Wednesday night’s game between Michigan basketball and Northwestern, it was hard to have a good feeling about things as a Wolverines fan.

This team hadn’t found a way to win a game like that yet this season. There was the loss to Seton Hall and also to Minnesota that stuck out in my mind and when Hunter Dickinson fouled out with over two minutes left, it felt like that might just be the nail in the coffin.

But it wasn’t and Michigan basketball escaped with a huge win. No, it wasn’t a resume-building win, yet it was like if Michigan was playing in a golf tournament and just made back-to-back birdies then put its tee shot in the rough.

Par isn’t always pretty but it continues the momentum and that’s what happened on Wednesday night — the Wolverines made an eight-footer for par — and here’s the report card for Michigan’s win.

Wings

Caleb Houstan: A

This was one of Caleb Houstan’s best games as a Michigan basketball player. Not only did he make three 3-pointers including the one that gave that U-M the lead for good with less than two minutes to go, but he also scored 18 points and played solid defense.

His 1.52 offensive rating was the second-best of the starting five and he also tied for the best defensive rating. He’s shooting with confidence and playing much better defense.

And for a guy who looked world’s away from playing in the NBA a few weeks ago, now you can see why some projected Houstan to be a first-round pick. He’s shooting 43 percent on 3-pointers in Big Ten play and that’s a huge reason why the Wolverines are 4-3 in the league.

Terrance Williams: C

It wasn’t a great 11 minutes for Terrance Williams. But when the game was on the line, Williams made a critical 3-pointer, so it’s hard to be too harsh on his grade. His two turnovers weren’t great, however, he wasn’t the only Wolverine that had issues with turnovers on Wednesday.

And at the very least, Williams has proven to be a reliable 3-pointer shooter this season and he isn’t someone Big Ten teams can leave alone anymore.

Kobe Bufkin: I

Kobe scored two points in five points and looked good. But he still only played five minutes yet it still feels like he’s trending in the right direction.