2. Dug McDaniel is emerging rapidly
The freshman point was not in an ideal place once Jaelin Llewelyn went down to injury in December. He took over the starting role and immediately made his presence felt. He poured in 15 points in a win at Minnesota. He’s hit the proverbial freshman wall since then, but is on a roll in this current two game winning streak.
McDaniel has only one turnover in his last two games and he and Kobe Bufkin only combined for two of them in this win. He’s averaging 17 points over the course of the last week and is shooting at a 55% rate. He’s also led the Wolverines in scoring for the second straight time. He and Bufkin are a considerable reason why Michigan has won five of seven at the right time.
2) The struggles against smaller, athletic, pesky point guards continue. This has been a trend for a few years, but Dug McDaniel took over this game at both ends. Mulcahy & Simpson could do very little to move him into difficult spots to defend & he hit some terrific mid-ranges.
— Danny Breslauer (@DannyBreslauer) February 24, 2023
As for his backcourt running mate, Bufkin has 107 points since the road win at Northwestern. On Thursday night they did it without Jett Howard in the lineup too. They won’t win any postseason individual awards like Zach Edey or Trayce Jackson-Davis, but this duo is winning now and keeping Michigan’s goals alive with a dim pulse.