Five takeaways from Michigan’s 102-50 win over La Salle

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In the first 11 games of the season, the No. 2 Michigan men’s basketball team has eclipsed 100 points on six occasions, including five of the last six games. While the Wolverines’ win over La Salle wasn’t anything astounding, their ability to overcome a slow start and still completely dominate the scoring — especially after an eight-day hiatus — displayed just how good this Michigan team can be.

With the score reading 7-6 at the first media timeout, the Explorers had successfully capitalized on one of Michigan’s weaknesses by crashing the offensive glass while also limiting the Wolverines’ makes. But the ensuing 22-2 run put any of those weaknesses and woes to bed as Michigan cruised to yet another victory.

“(La Salle) did a really nice job, especially the first 10 minutes of the game,” Michigan coach Dusty May said. “But I think our depth and our numbers and size was able to overwhelm them later on.”

Here are five takeaways from the Wolverines’ latest drubbing:

3-point shooting made all the difference

When Michigan shoots the ball well, it’s pretty hard to slow down. Already with the best defense in the country by multiple analytics sites, the Wolverines’ ability to turn defense into 3-point opportunities has made it nearly impossible for opponents to keep up. Especially when opponents, like the Explorers on Sunday, can’t match or even come closer to Michigan’s shooting clip, that difference can open up quickly.

After the slow start, freshman guard Trey McKenney and junior guard Elliot Cadeau each knocked down a triplet of triples while sophomore guard L.J. Cason added two of his own, all in the first half. Shooting a staggering 9-for-15 from deep in the first half, the Wolverines set the tone for the entire game — and it got a shooting spark from players that aren’t always Michigan’s go-to players for a spark.

“We have good shooters,” May said. “I was bothered in the offseason, every article talked about how we couldn’t shoot. … We have really good shooters, but most importantly, we’re taking good shots and working together to generate good quality shots.”

Michigan is succeeding in that quest. The Wolverines are up to 38.9% shooting from 3-point range, which is good for 18th nationally, and are ranked third in the country in effective field goal percentage.

La Salle struggled from deep, ending the night with just two makes on 21 attempts. While many shots simply didn’t drop, Michigan’s defense also succeeded at forcing bad shots late in the shot clock.

The difference between the Wolverines’ fiery start from deep and the Explorers’ stagnancy all night both set the tone early and kept the game from ever really being competitive once Michigan took off.