The Michigan basketball team might be defined by its dominant frontcourt, but to win in the NCAA tournament, you need to have elite guard play.
That's something the Wolverines got on Thursday night in a 110-69 win over Penn State. The second-ranked Wolverines scored 100 points for the eighth time this season. A key reason for that were the 31 points, thanks to seven 3-pointers, from senior guard Nimari Burnett.
Burnett first joined the program under Juwan Howard. He had to handle the ball too much that season, but Dusty May convinced him to return the past two seasons, and he has turned into one of the best three-and-D guards in college basketball.
Michigan needs guard depth to win it all
Burnett has been prone to slumps, though. He went through a shooting slump last season, and didn't see the floor much against Michigan State. After a 3 of 4 showing from deep against Indiana, Burnett made just one of his next nine 3-pointers.
The senior certainly caught fire against the Nittany Lions, though. He's now shooting 40 percent from 3-point range this season with 1.4 makes per game. What makes Burnett so valuable, though, isn't just his shooting ability, it's his defense.
The 6-foot-5 guard can defend any position 1-3. He's got a defensive rating this season of 98.5 which is the best of his Michigan basketball career. Trey McKenny has also emerged for the Wolverines. He's scored in double figures in five straight games. The freshman also made the game-winner in the top-5 matchup with Nebraska last week. Point guard Elliot Cadeau also did his part, taking over down the stretch against Michigan State.
So as far as the backcourt is concerned, it feels like Michigan basketball has exactly what it needs there to win a national championship, too, as long as this keeps up.