Takeaways from Michigan’s win over Washington

After beating Washington, the Michigan Wolverines have won five games in a row and look like a legit threat to win the Big Ten. Here are takeaways from today’s victory:

Dusty May and the Michigan Wolverines have now won five games in a row, trouncing Washington at home, 91-75. Michigan is now 13-3 overall and 5-0 in Big Ten play.

Washington entered this game with a 10-6 overall record, but just a 1-4 conference record following a blowout loss to Michigan State where Washington only scored one point midway through the first half. As of Sunday, Washington ranked 93rd in KenPom , making it by far the worst Big Ten team Michigan has played.

It’s important for conference title contenders like Michigan to take care of business at home in games like this. While the Huskies hung tight with the Wolverines in the first half, excellent ball movement, solid three-point shooting and pristine zone navigation help Michigan pull away for a 16-point victory.

Here are some takeaways from Sunday’s game.

Nimari Burnett stays efficient

Entering this game, Nimari Burnett was the fourth-leading three-point shooter in the Big Ten, making an impressive 47.7 percent of his attempts. He improved on that percentage against Washington. He shot an impressive 4-of-4 from deep and 6-of-6 overall on his way to an efficient 16 points.

Burnett has seemingly reached his full potential as a scorer in an offense that emphasizes three-pointers and a quick pace, not to mention it helps he plays alongside so many shot-creators. His shot selection is also exceptional, so if he’s knocking down shots, it probably means Michigan is getting great looks like in this game.

Vlad Goldin continues to dominate

Coming off a 36-point career-high at UCLA, Goldin had another great showing in this one. He led the team with 19 points on 6-of-7 shooting to go along with seven rebounds. In addition to playing well in the paint in the half-court, he also knocked down his fifth-career three-pointer and ran the break for an easy bucket in transition.

We’ll have more on Goldin’s dominance later this week, but his improved play over the last few weeks has drastically raised the ceiling of this Michigan team.

Osobor was a problem

Transferring with head coach Danny Sprinkle from Utah State, Great Osobor was likely at the top of Michigan’s scouting report. After all, the forward leads Washington in scoring and was a preseason All-American.

Osobor balled out against the Wolverines, scoring 16 first-half points and drawing fouls to put Michigan’s bigs in foul trouble. He made all the hustle plays, rebounded the hell out of the ball, and gave Michigan fits in the first half especially.

At 6-foot-8 and 250 pounds, Osobor is the exact type of quick, physical player that can give Michigan fits when both 7-footers are on the court. Michigan was thankfully able to slow him down in the second half, with the big man only scoring 21 points off 17 shots and appearing to run out of gas.

Taking care of the ball better and capitalizing off turnovers

Turnovers have been Michigan’s biggest problem all season long, dating back to the start of the season and persisting throughout non-conference play . The Wolverines have gradually improved in that area and were able to convert off Washington turnovers, turning a usual area of weakness into a strength.

Michigan scored 12 points off 10 Washington turnovers, pushing the pace and getting easy buckets off those takeaways. It’s great to see Michigan improve when it comes to taking care of the ball while also tightening up their own defense.

Don’t play zone against Michigan

Late in the first half, Washington started to play a 1-3-1 zone against Michigan. Knocking down threes off great ball movement has been Michigan’s calling card, with Burnett knocking down open shots in the soft spots of that zone.

But the play of the game came from Tre Donaldson, who found Vlad Goldin behind the zone for an alley-oop from nearly half court.

After Washington held tight for most of the first half, Michigan was able to balloon the lead up to double-digits in this stretch thanks to knocking down threes after a cold start.

Consider this a public service announcement: don’t play zone against the Wolverines. This squad is too smart and shoots the ball too well to make it worth it.

A cool honor for Danny Wolf

Danny Wolf finished this game with 11 points, including a free throw that gave him 700 points in his collegiate career.

Wolf’s playing time was a little limited with him being in foul trouble, but he played well when he was on the floor, continuing to find Goldin for buckets and jamming down a solid dunk in the first half. He also had some filthy assists in the second half to help Michigan pull away.

Up Next

Michigan’s next two opponents are bottom-four teams in the conference. The Wolverines travel to face the last-place Minnesota Golden Gophers (112th in KenPom) on Thursday, Jan. 16 at 7 p.m. EST on FS1. They return home to play Northwestern (55th) three days later on Sunday, Jan. 19 at 2 p.m. on Big Ten Network.