Michigan Basketball: 3 takeaways from win over UNC Asheville

Game one was a glaring success as the maize and blue knocked out the preseason Big South favorites by hanging one away from 100 on them.

In one night Michigan basketball eclipsed its 2022-23 highest point total output by six points. The offense was humming like it was in midseason form. In his debut, Olivier Nkamhoua and sophomore Dug McDaniel put on a show for the home crowd. They combined for half the points and both were 60% or better from the field. The duo looked like they had played years together already. Michigan improves to 12-0 all-time when going head-to-head with a Big South opponent.

Here are three of the takeaways from the splendid victory.

1. Terrance Williams showed pleasant improvement

The senior starter only had 15 or more once last season. He had exactly that in Tuesday night’s opener. He shot 60% plus from the floor and beyond the arc as well. Williams grabbed six boards in his 24 minutes Tuesday evening. He also looked more cool, calm, and collected than he did all last year.

If Williams can play at a consistent level like this all year, then Michigan basketball will be in great shape. However, it’s just one game and we’ll know more about him, perhaps as soon as next week when they take on St. John’s. For a starter, he has to find ways to carry it over to his next time out, unlike his past efforts.

He did nail a trifecta of triples, as the team itself swished 12 of them at nearly a 50% clip. McDaniel had four himself, while Will Tschetter and newcomer Nimari Burnett also had a pair of their own. Michigan was two shy of tying last year’s mark at 14, which they did in the decisive win in Lincoln in February.