This team can win the Big Ten
The first bullet point from this game, or the entire trip to LA, is that Michigan basketball needs to be taken seriously as a Big Ten championship contender.
It's crazy to think that after an 8-21 season. I believed Dusty May when he said Michigan could have a fun and competitive team this season. An NCAA tournament berth seemed possible but now, the ceiling/expectations are much higher.
I had Beilein's second season in mind. Get into the tournament, win a game or so, and set the stage for the future. Instead, May added two of the best players from the transfer portal -- three if you count Trey Donaldson and molded an entirely new group of players into a team.
it's been impressive to watch. Michigan leads the Big Ten in field-goal percentage and 2-point field-goal percentage. The Wolverines are also making 9.7 3-pointers per game. Donaldson is shooting 46 percent (2.1 3-point field goals per game) while Nimari Burnett is shooting 47 percent. Mchigan basketball shoots 37.8 percent from 3-point range, which ranks 37th in all of college basketball.
The Wolverines can shoot the 3-ball like Iowa, can dominate the paint, and have one of the best defenses in the conference. In four Big Ten games, Michigan is allowing teams to shoot just 40.3 percent (2nd in the Big Ten) from the field, 25 percent from 3-point range and U-M has a league-leading 24 blocks.
Michigan is winning by an average of 8.75 points per game and considering that three games have been on the road, with two against top-25 teams, that's pretty impressive.
There is a lot of work to do to win the Big Ten championship, but there's no doubt this team has what it takes.