Michigan Basketball: 3 takeaways from the manhandling of Minnesota

The Wolverines opened conference play with a much-needed win over Minnesota to lift their spirits following a pair of close losses to Virginia and Kentucky.

Michigan basketball was locked in from the tip and took it right to the Gophers all night. They got up by double digits and kept the foot on the pedal for a full 40 minutes.

It was their signature performance of the season thus far. Minnesota drops to 4-5 and 0-2 in the Big Ten, while Michigan gets some payback for last year’s loss at Crisler.

Here are the three takeaways.

1. Michigan basketball played like their lives depended on it

The maize and blue knew they had to begin winning sooner rather than later. The Wolverines never trailed and were ahead by as many as 32 on the road. Any time you can pick up a road victory in the Big Ten it accounts for something and the way that the Wolverines have been playing, they earned this one after two moral victories.

Michigan collected 10 3-pointers and shot 56% from there. Dug McDaniel was 100% from behind the arc at 3-3. Youssef Khayat and Will Tschetter even got involved in on the fun as they both saw extended minutes without Jaelin Llewellyn in the lineup.

Both should be used more and more as the campaign grows and they become more comfortable in their surroundings.

Michigan basketball gets another long break before returning home next week. They still have one notable out-of-conference battle, then they will dive head-first into Big Ten play with some stern tests directly out of the gate.

So getting this one was a must-have if they want to gain some steam and build off of how they have been excelling lately.