Rapid reaction to Michigan’s 89-61 win over Villanova.
The Moment
Villanova had barely a moment to breathe after Nimari Burnett slid into the corner and sank a 3-pointer before Yaxel Lendeborg poked the ball away from the Wildcats’ Bryce Lindsay on the other end.
With around 14 minutes left in the first half, Lendeborg took off down the court without a defender in sight, elevating to the rim for a windmill dunk. With Crisler Center roaring louder than it has all season, Lendeborg turned to the student section, screaming as he flexed his arms.
The highlight dunk kicked off a 14-2 run in 2:44 and an outpouring of buckets that put Michigan up 24-9 early, a lead that the Wolverines never relinquished. It was emblematic of what Michigan did well for most of 40 minutes; the Wolverines never let Villanova get comfortable and frequently turned defense into offense.
The Takeaway
The Wolverines’ defense makes them really difficult to beat. When Michigan makes shots, that task becomes nearly impossible.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but Michigan just won its fifth consecutive game by 25-plus points (a very late Villanova 3-pointer stopped that streak from being a round 30-plus). The Wolverines actually won three of those games by 40, and the trend throughout all of them was the defense.
In the first half against Villanova, Michigan’s presence in the paint didn’t just block or alter the Wildcats’ shot from inside the arc. The Wolverines took 2-point shots out of Villanova’s game plan entirely. Since the Wildcats were essentially barred from driving to the basket, the result was a flurry of 3-point shots, which Villanova could only keep up for so long.
Eventually, Michigan limited the Wildcats from deep. Around the same time, the Wolverines started making some shots of their own. Big 3-pointers, dunks in transition, and getting anything they wanted in the paint turned a minor lead into a major one.
Michigan isn’t going to shoot the lights out every night, and didn’t in the second half. But as Dusty May said earlier this week, whether or not the Wolverines make shots is more an indication of how much they’ll win by, rather than if they win it all.
If Michigan’s defense stays at this level, this team is going to be really hard to beat. If the Wolverines keep shooting at this level, double-digit wins will become a norm.
The Star
Options are abundant when nine Michigan players score five points or more, but Elliot Cadeau was the individual standout.
He buried four 3-pointers on eight attempts and finished with a game-high 18 points and four assists. His tempo, passing, and playmaking were on display early and set the tone for the Wolverines.
Cadeau has made at least one 3-pointer in every game this season and is up to 39.5% from deep on the season.
The Stat
There are two stats from the first half — the half in which Michigan took a sizable lead and never looked back — that best demonstrate how dominant the Wolverines were Tuesday night.
The first is that Villanova made just a single basket in the paint in the first 20 minutes. The second is that the Wildcats had zero points in the last 6:32 of the first half.
When this team is connected on the defensive end, when they’re switching, communicating, and guarding like they did to beat the Wildcats, opposing teams need a prayer to score anywhere near the basket. And with how Michigan shot the ball, Villanova needed a lot more.
Four Factors
DMB43
Yeah we’re elite
Champions
The defense is a marvel and a joy to watch.
Davis104
A few moments later….
steve
I won’t know what to think until SpartanHoopsDK weighs in