At the Buzzer: Michigan 87, Northwestern 75

Share

Tweet

Print

Email

Rapid reaction to Michigan’s 87-75 win over Northwestern.

The Moment

Capitalizing on an 11-0 scoring run around the 10-minute mark in the second half, the No. 2 Michigan men’s basketball team fought its way back from a 16-point deficit — its largest of the season — to make it a one-possession game.

The play that got the Wolverines there: sophomore forward Morez Johnson Jr. swatted down a layup as sophomore guard L.J. Cason pushed the ball in transition and found Johnson on the other end for an emphatic alley-oop. The sequence displayed the strength and speed Michigan lacked all game long as Northwestern dominated the Wolverines defensively.

After the mid-half run that was emphasized by Johnson’s block and dunk, it seemed like every shot was going down for Michigan. All the Wolverines needed for their offense to get going over the Wildcats was that spark.

The Takeaway

The story of the first half of Wednesday night’s game could be summed up by one stat line — field goal percentage.

Michigan shot 35% from the field while Northwestern shot 51.6% from the field in the first half alone. Despite the Wolverines taking nine more shots due to winning the offensive rebound battle 11-4. The Wildcats continued to roll in the second half, giving Michigan its largest deficit of the season at 58-42 with 14:22 left.

But the takeaway is that the Wolverines continue to win in different ways. After returning to form against Penn State and Ohio State with dominant showings, Michigan fought its way back from that largest deficit of the season to win by continuing to crash the offensive boards and score at the rim.

The Wolverines played their brand of basketball with 17 offensive rebounds, 21 assists and a 55.2% second-half field goal percentage, it was just a matter of time before they finally clicked. 

The Star

An unlikely hero showed up in Evanston. Although Johnson had some emphatic plays that turned the tide from a 16-point deficit to a seven-point lead in a 10-minute span, sophomore guard LJ Cason was the true catalyst of what was a stagnant offense.

After the Wolverines struggled throughout the first half and the initial stretch in the second half to make shots, Cason was the spark plug. He checked in for Elliot Cadeau with 15 minutes to play and carried Michigan to the line. He finished with 18 points on 5-for-8 shooting while also adding three assists.

Cason didn’t have the flashiest performance or most notable on the stat sheet aside from his team-leading points, but his 11 points in the second half turned the tide in a crucial stretch in the middle of the half. His combination of poise to drive into the lane and make smart passes in transition kept Michigan composed when it was down and propelled it on the way back up.

The Stat

After the 14:00 mark in the second half, Michigan shot 15-for-16 from the field from the 14:00 to 2:30 mark in the second half after shooting 35% in the first half.

The Wolverines were getting the offensive rebounds they needed, limiting turnovers in the second half, and moving the ball effectively to get a high volume of assists — they simply needed to start making shots. And in the second half, when a few started to drop, the floodgates finally opened, and there was no stopping the top-scoring offense in the Big Ten.

At one point late in the second half, the Wolverines scored on five consecutive dunks between the 4:43 mark and 2:58 mark to pull away for good.

Four Factors