Michigan Basketball: 3 takeaways from rugged win over Minnesota

Michigan basketball got a win, but it cost them a heavy bounty with the loss of its star freshman Jett Howard, who could miss some time.

Jim Harbaugh was in the building to watch Minnesota jump out to an 8-0 start. Michigan basketball climbed back in it by chipping away at the Gopher lead bit by bit.

The Wolverines tied it by half, but Jett Howard suffered an ankle sprain that kept him out the remainder of the day. They got it together in the second and finished off the regular season sweep of the Gophers to march into their biggest test of the year on Thursday night against Purdue.

Here are the three takeaways from the win for Michigan basketball.

1. How severe is Jett Howard’s injury?

The freshman got hurt late in the first 20 minutes and never returned to action on Sunday afternoon. He collided with a Jamison Battle going after an errant pass and went down in pain afterward. He returned to the bench in the second, but with a boot covering his foot. We probably won’t know his status until Michigan basketball hits the hardwood on Thursday again.

Howard was 0-for-5 at the time of the injury and was held scoreless for the first time in his career. Michigan cannot beat Purdue and the upper-echelon teams without Howard. They need him back as quickly as possible with nine quad-1 games remaining on the schedule and their thin postseason chances hanging in the balance.

Joey Baker started in his place for the second half. He didn’t make an impact. Will Tschetter also got a look, but couldn’t do much in Howard’s absence either.

Coach Howard turned to Taris Reed Jr. when the game was on the line and he had some moments of ups and some downs as well. Those were the only three reserves who saw the court in the win.