Michigan Basketball: 3 takeaways from another marquee loss to UNC

The men’s basketball squad couldn’t match what the women accomplished on Tuesday night by taking down North Carolina in the Jumpman Invitational.

For the first 15 minutes in the Spectrum Center, Michigan basketball was standing toe-to-toe with the 2022 national runner-up.

Unfortunately, it didn’t last as they lost their third headlining non-conference game this time to North Carolina. They have lost by a combined 10 points to Virginia, Kentucky, and now UNC and have nothing to show for it as they gear up for Big Ten play starting in January.

Here are the three takeaways.

1. Kobe Bufkin is ascending

The rising sophomore is about the only positive takeaway from Wednesday’s loss to North Carolina. He tied a career-high for the second consecutive outing. It’s his sixth in a row with at least double digits dating back to the Jackson State affair. Jett Howard is the only other player to notch double digits as they still scored 76 for a collective effort.

Michigan has to live with what it has now though. The Wolverines have little to no depth that they can count on for a nightly basis. Guys like Bufkin, Howard, and Hunter Dickinson will have to carry them to victory to get to where they want to be, but that is a tall task to ask of them every time they run up and down the court.

For the record, Bufkin shot 70% from the field but fouled out. He’s surpassed the 50% plateau in four of his last five and is exceeding expectations. Plus he has taken over the backup point guard role behind Dug McDaniel. So there’s not much more coach Howard can ask of his second-year peeking star.