Michigan opened Wednesday’s win at Northwestern with a 3-pointer and a lob dunk and looked ready for a game on easy mode. By the time it realized it was in for a fight, it trailed by double figures.
The Wolverines have played perfect basketball at points this year, but weren’t anywhere close to that level in Evanston. The effort was lackadaisical, and the execution was poor. The Wolverines didn’t finish, didn’t defend, and found themselves in danger of losing their second game to a team with two Big Ten wins.
It was no secret that Michigan had picked up a half-game in the Big Ten title race overnight, but that didn’t mean they had to play like it.
Northwestern opened up a 16-point lead with 14:22 to play in the second half and looked poised for the upset of the year — another significant twist in the Big Ten race — but Michigan had a response (and the better players).
Dusty May went with his young reserve guards — LJ Cason and Trey McKenney — and they helped dig Michigan out of the mess it created for itself.
The Wolverines were scoring .84 points per possession at that point in the game — a mark they’ve failed to top just once in the Dusty May era (last year at Nebraska).
Then Michigan roared into gear and took control. The Wolverines closed the game on a 45-17 run — a remarkable 1.73 points per trip to close the game. That included 20 consecutive possessions with a score, and a stretch of 15-of-16 made field goals that was capped off by four consecutive dunks to cap off a double-digit road win that was anything but routine.
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