Quick Recap: The Wolverines opened conference play with a 94-66 rout of
the Northwestern Wildcats in Evanston. Michigan controlled the game from start
to finish, jumping out to a 20-4 lead early and coasting to their 14th
straight win to begin the season. Northwestern could not sustain any momentum
without Drew Crawford and Reggie Hearn, their top two scorers, falling to 9-5
on the season.
Player of the Game: Trey Burke once again led the Wolverines with 23 points,
along with 5 assists. He was the catalyst on Michigan’s 20-4 run to open up the
game, shooting 5 of 6 for 13 points during that stretch.
X-Factor: Tim Hardaway Jr. showed no ill effects after sitting out
the previous game with an ankle injury. Hardaway scored 21 points on 8 shots
including 4 of 5 from beyond the three-point arc. His aggressiveness in
transition and quick and confident trigger on his three-point attempts proved
that his injury would not be of any concern moving forward, a major relief for
many Michigan fans.
Positives: Jordan Morgan looked great finishing in the post in his
workmanlike 12-point, 13-rebound performance. His finesse moves appeared sharp
and his ball awareness was better than usual. In addition, he did not fumble
the ball down low as much as he has in the past, something that will need to
continue against tougher big men in the Big Ten. Glenn Robinson III also looked
very poised and aggressive at the same time, finishing high in transition on a
couple of alley-oops, while continuing his spectacular work off the ball and on
defense. He finished with 10 points on 4 of 4 shooting.
Negatives: Nik Stauskas’s shot looked a little flat today, as he only
shot 2 of 7 from deep. Despite his lackluster shooting, Stauskas still figured
out a way to grind out 10 points on an off night. Expect him to shake this
performance off and come back strong on Sunday.
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