Five things we learned from Michigan’s loss to UConn

Michigan lost its first game of the season to UConn on Friday night in Boston. The Wolverines trailed throughout most of the night, falling behind by as much as 18 points in the second half in the national title rematch.

Here are five things we learned about Michigan from the defeat.

1. An opening-week slow start is nothing new

Check in on Michigan ten days into either of the last two seasons, and the general reaction wouldn’t be much different from what it is now. The Wolverines didn’t play a team as good as UConn in the opening week in either year, but they got off to slow starts against Wake Forest and TCU. Michigan went on to successful seasons in both years, but it wasn’t smooth sailing in the first high-major tests either year.

Vlad Goldin struggled to finish early in his Michigan season. Danny Wolf made 2 shots and turned it over 6 times against Wake Forest. Morez Johnson Jr. was dominant against Oakland’s zone, then had to find his way. Yaxel Lendeborg scored in single digits in an overtime escape against Wake Forest. Elliot Cadeau had 11 turnovers combined against Wake and TCU.

This is what I wrote after the TCU game last year:

There are no bad road wins, especially in the second week of the season, but Michigan looked much more rough-and-tumble than a finely tuned college basketball team. The Wolverines figured out how to win, but survived more on sheer will than a perfect plan or execution.

The flashiest teams in November aren’t always the best teams in March, but through 125 minutes of competitive basketball, it’s still tough to decipher just what exactly this group will look like in its final form, or even in two weeks.

Ten days later, the Wolverines took Vegas by storm and never looked back. I don’t say all this to suggest Michigan will elevate to that level immediately, but this is the part of the season where you have to figure things out.