Takeaways from Michigan’s overtime win over Northwestern

Center Vlad Goldin was absolutely brilliant, scoring 30 points for the second time this season as the Michigan Wolverines beat Northwestern in overtime at Crisler. Here are some takeaways from the game:

In their second consecutive overtime game, the Michigan Wolverines were able to get back in the win column by beating Northwestern, 80-76, to earn it’s ninth straight home victory.

The Wildcats entered this matchup with an 11-6 overall record and a 2-4 Big Ten record, with the two wins being impressive overtime victories against Illinois and Maryland, two teams ranked in the top-25 on KenPom. The Wildcats are 55th on KenPom themselves and came into this one losing three of their last four.

The Wolverines needed to bounce back after losing to a bad Minnesota team at the buzzer on Thursday. In this back-and-forth affair that featured 19 lead changes, the Wolverines did just enough in overtime on both ends to come away with a much-needed victory.

Here are the takeaways from the win.

7-foot sniper

Before this season, Vlad Goldin had not attempted a three-pointer across his four seasons and 116 games of college basketball. But it’s never too late to learn a new skill.

Goldin is now 9-of-13 from three this season, making three of his first four attempts from deep against Northwestern to wake up a Michigan offense that got off to a sleepy start.

Michigan fans are well aware Goldin is far from just a stretch five, though.

Threes from Goldin and Nimari Burnett powered Michigan on a 12-2 run midway through the first half, where the Wolverines went from down five to up five. That was a huge swing of momentum in Michigan’s favor early on in the game.

Goldin was dominant in this one, leading Michigan with 31 points to go along with eight rebounds and four blocks. This is his second 30-point game of the season, with the first being in the win at UCLA .

To see the big man look so comfortable to let it fly from deep is incredibly encouraging, and Goldin making threes adds yet another wrinkle to an offense that is already difficult to defend.

Martinelli and Leach put spotlights on cracks in Michigan’s defense

Nick Martinelli and Jalen Leach provided Northwestern with consistent offense, combining to score 37 points and hitting shot after shot. They were especially good after Michigan makes, preventing the Wolverines to go on a lot of runs. When Leach got ejected after kicking Goldin below the belt , Brooks Barnhizer (19 points) also stepped up, making several clutch baskets late.

That duo got buckets in a variety of ways, putting a spotlight on the cracks in Michigan’s defense. While Dusty May’s offense has gotten all the headlines, Michigan won 13 of its first 16 games with outstanding defense, entering this game 24th in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency on KenPom.

I didn’t love how the team as a whole guarded Northwestern. While the Wolverines protected the rim well, I thought U-M was a step slow on rotations and didn’t close out well, giving up baskets to the Wildcats at multiple levels. Credit to Northwestern, too, as it made a lot of tough shots.

Michigan was able to get stops when needed late in this game, but that’s back-to-back games now where Michigan failed to get consistent stops. Those defensive miscues are definitely something worth following as conference play continues.

Great minutes from Rubin Jones

Rubin Jones didn’t exactly light up the box score (six points, two rebounds and two assists in 24 minutes) but this is one of the best games he’s played in a Michigan uniform. The North Texas transfer earned more minutes than normal by playing excellent defense while moving the ball well and providing Michigan with a steady presence.

You’d like to see more out of Jones offensively, but his solid defense and excellent basketball IQ will keep him on the floor late in these Big Ten games.

Michigan’s guards have to step up

In an ugly Big Ten games where baskets were hard to come by, Michigan’s guard play was not up to snuff.

Roddy Gayle Jr. made that big bucket late and was consistent in overtime, but he and Tre Donaldson disappeared offensively for stretches while struggling on defense. While Burnett did knock down a few big shots and had 13 points, he wasn’t his usual efficient self (4-for-10). Jones gave Michigan good minutes, but L.J. Cason didn’t leave the bench and Justin Pippen didn’t do much in limited minutes.

The Wolverines are way too reliant on Goldin and Wolf offensively, especially late in games. They can’t be asked to do everything, as talented as they are. Area 50-1 has been an incredible duo, and two 7-footers in the starting lineup is always going to be at the start of the scouting report. But in order for Michigan to go far in March, the guards have to contribute more.

Is Michigan too reliant on three-point makes?

It’s no secret the Wolverines are great at shooting threes. They entered this game first in effective field goal percentage — which puts more of an emphasis on three-point makes since they are worth 1.5x as much as twos — and 20th in three-point percentage.

Every offense in college basketball gets worse when threes don’t go down, but three-point shots are often the safety blanket for the Wolverines when they struggle offensively. Like Minnesota on Thursday, Northwestern played physical defense and did a great job crowding passing lanes, stopping Michigan from easy buckets around the rim and forcing the Wolverines into some tough three-point attempts.

Michigan didn’t make those threes in the first half, only knocking down five of its 19 attempts (26.3 percent). Things didn’t get better in the second half, with the Wolverines making just 25.9 percent of its threes. The offense got real stagnant for uncomfortable stretches.

Michigan has been a quality offensive team all year long, but I’m starting to wonder if law of averages is applying here. Michigan made threes at an efficient clip to start the year, and we’re starting to see that percentage average out. I thought U-M forced a lot of threes in this game, and I’m starting to wonder if this offense lives and dies by the three.

Up Next

The Big Ten schedule doesn’t get easier for the Wolverines, who travel to No. 17 Purdue (Friday, Jan. 25 at 8 p.m. on FOX) before heading back home to face Penn State three days later (Monday, Jan. 27, 6:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network).