Jim Harbaugh once commented about how they don't track "pretty" on the scoreboard, which is a good thing for the Michigan basketball team.
That's because the Wolverines won ugly on Sunday. They battled and found a way to force overtime against Northwestern before gridning out a win with what seemed like a million free throws.
The final few minutes took forever due to reviews, but the result is all that matters and Michigan basketball survived with an 80-76 win.
Vlad Goldin was a force. He carried the Wolverines across the finish line with 30 points, eight rebounds, and four blocked shots. Goldin shot 56 percent from the field and it's a good thing he attempted 26 percent of Michigan's attempts. The rest of the team shot 28 percent. Danny Wolf was 0-for-7 from the field. U-M was 4-of-21 from 3-point outside of Goldin.
The defense held Northwestern to 40 percent shooting. Northwestern and Michigan basketball both made seven 3-pointers and attempted a combined 68 free throw attempts.
It was an ugly win. Michigan didn't cover the spread but they all count the same in the standings. Nimari Burnett scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds. Trey Donaldson scored 10, a total matched by Roddy Gayle, and here the gut reactions to the 80-76 win.
Gut reactions to Michigan basketball win over Northwestern
- Vlad Goldin carried Michigan to victory. He was the one consistent solution against a great defensive team.
- Championship teams have to be able to win without their best and Michigan did that.
- The Wolverines scored a come-from-behind win, instead of it being the other way around.
- Michigan needs more production out of the bench.
- It's crazy Michigan won with Donaldson and Wolf shooting 3-of-19 from the field.
- Michigan's defense wasn't perfect but did just enough. The ejection of Jalen Leach didn't hurt.
- Never apologize for a win, but Michigan will need to be much better against Purdue (on the road) Friday.