Michigan Basketball: 3 keys and a prediction for Wolverines vs Ohio State

3. Stay sharp

The best thing that might have happened to this Michigan basketball team is having to win ugly against Nebraska and Penn State.

Michigan, particularly against Penn State, won with defense, holding Penn State to 23 points over the final 25 minutes. Then, the Wolverines held Purdue, the best offensive team in the Big Ten to less than a point per possession on Thursday.

So another key is just to continue that progress. Houstan and Diabate are playing much better defense. There were times when each would wonder or overhelp and that wasn’t the case this week. Kobe Bufkin also played well on defense after a bad outing in Happy Valley.

Even when they have struggled, Howard has trusted his freshman to improve and those experiences have been extremely valuable. Now, it’s starting to pay off.

The Wolverines have cut back on the fouls and the turnovers. But against Ohio State, they have to keep that focus. This isn’t the kind of game you can win allowing (essentially) uncontested 3-pointers because a defender falls asleep or by making unforced errors (turnovers).