3 things we learned in Michigan basketball loss to Purdue

Michigan basketball missed another opportunity for a season-changing win on Thursday against Purdue and here are three things we learned. 

Much of the Michigan basketball game against Purdue went exactly as expected. You knew the Wolverines were going to battle and weren’t going to make it easy for the No. 1 Boilermakers, a team that U-M upset last season as No. 3.

Without its second-leading scorer Jett Howard, Michigan basketball nearly covered the spread and for about half the game, looked like Purdue’s equal.

However, a 13-0 run after the game was tied up at 28-28 and Michigan led for most of the first half, the Boilermakers took that lead and never relinquished it.

Michigan couldn’t match Purdue’s depth or its defense and the Wolverines needed a superhuman effort from Hunter Dickinson. He wasn’t good but it wasn’t one of the best games of his career or anything and fair or not, that’s what U-M needed.

With that in mind, here are three things we learned about Michigan basketball.

Hunter needs more help

Hunter Dickinson was good last night. There’s no doubt about it. He scored 21 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and dished out four assists. But he was also 6-of-14 from the field. Last season, Dickinson averaged 25 a game against Purdue and shot better than 60 percent.

It’s not easy to score on Zach Edey but Dickinson could have shot the ball better. At the same time, he went toe-to-toe with Edey who had 19 points. The Purdue big man is more impactful defensively, which was a big difference in the game.

However, one thing I took away is that Michigan just didn’t have enough, especially without Jett Howard to win this game more than once or twice out of 10 times.