Notre Dame 70, Michigan 63: End of the road

You can't say this hasn't been an exciting ride.

From the back-to-back nonconference thumpings against Xavier and UConn forever ago to the upset home wins against Maryland and Purdue to the Big Ten Tournament thriller against Indiana, this season rolled up and down like the contours of the North Campus wave field.

And tonight, despite leading 41-29 at the half, the Wolverines' ride came to an end, with a 70-63 loss against sixth-seeded Notre Dame in Brooklyn.

As you already know (and heard several times tonight), these two teams won't meet on the gridiron anytime soon, but this game had all of the makings of a classic football contest in Ann Arbor or South Bend, in a Barclays Center packed with alumni of both schools. Runs, punches and counter-punches, raucous roars, and coaches' calculations. Errors, triumphs and a result, yielding elation and deflation.

Unfortunately for Michigan, the song was much the same, following the same tune that has been a through line buzzing at the season's musical heart.

Zak Irvin and Derrick Walton shot a combined 8-for-29 from the field, with Irvin starting 1-for-10 from the field, his shot looking as discombobulated as ever. Given his past success, you'd think the fix would be akin to restarting your computer and hoping whatever ailed it went away, but it hasn't been so simple for the junior from Fishers, Ind.

But for the first 20 minutes, Michigan looked as good as it's looked all season. The defense was swarming, and the Wolverines held a +8 turnover margin (ND-10, UM-2) going into the break.

ND's Zach Auguste turned the ball over, a steal by Irvin, who dished to Aubrey Dawkins for a layup, giving Michigan a 26-13 lead just before the 8-minute media timeout. That would prove to be the apex of Michigan's lead.

The collapse, however, didn't happen until the second half. Notre Dame cut the Michigan lead to five, but Michigan closed the half with a 7-0 run, capped by a Moritz Wagner layup that took a round-trip flight to Berlin around before coming back to JFK and falling in as time expired.

But, this is tournament basketball. After 20: reset.

Unfortunately for John Beilein and Co., Michigan didn't and Notre Dame did. The Fighting Irish bested the Wolverines in the second half, 41-22.

One storyline I've already seen on Twitter tonight is Beilein's decision to keep Wagner out for too long late (he picked up his third foul 4:15 into the second half and his fourth with 5:38 remaining), playing Ricky Doyle late in a key portion of the game. As one who is loath to criticize Beilein, I can't argue with that point.

After another season of Michigan basketball, the referendum is in: Mark Donnal, Ricky Doyle and DJ Wilson (who did not play at all tonight) are not the answer to Michigan's frontcourt woes.

Wagner is.

He was a spark in the Indiana win, scoring nine points and grabbing two offensive rebounds in 16 minutes. He was a spark tonight, too, with six points on 3-for-3 shooting from the field. Of course, he's not perfect, and he's certainly not Mitch McGary -- but he is clearly Michigan's best option in the frontcourt.

In retrospect, Wagner's nearly complete disappearance during conference play will go down as one of the most puzzling parts of this season. At the very least, it was a missed opportunity to prepare Wagner for what will assuredly be a central role in the rotation next season.

In the end, Michigan didn't make the plays that teams need to make come tournament time. I don't know how many finishes Donnal et al didn't convert at the rim, but it was too many (and I hate to criticize guys like that, but it is what it is). A missed attempt at the rim by Donnal with just over two minutes to go and Michigan down 64-61 stands out among the rest.

The game was still in reach late, with Michigan down 66-63 and possessing the ball after a Wagner rebound with 44 seconds left.

The possession ended with a familiar shot: an inadvisable three by Irvin, launched from Uniondale.

I get it, though. Late in the game, players like Irvin want that shot, no matter how many they've missed before that particular shot. But it wasn't even about the player taking the shot, but the circumstances of it. Michigan could have taken a two and forced ND to make its free throws. It could have even called a timeout and figured something out (although a player on the floor would have had to call it) -- and, as we know, there aren't too many people better than Beilein at drawing something up in the sand out of a timeout.

But neither of those things happened, and Irvin's long-range attempt fell off the mark.

Really, there was no other way for this to end.

Michigan's offense, predicated almost entirely on the success of its three-point shot, took this rusty bucket of bolts just about as far it could. Losing is never fun, but when looking back at this season, and factoring in the injuries to Caris LeVert and Spike Albrecht, it seems to me that the Wolverines squeezed out just about as many wins as they had a right to.

It's easy to think "what if." What if Michigan wins tonight and then gets a matchup against Stephen F. Austin, who looked fearsome tonight but perhaps plays into Michigan's hands (see 2013 VCU game)?

What if?

Well, the tournament isn't about what-ifs. Results are all there is. The cold bracket cares not for injuries, team history, feel-good stories, justice.

A Friday night in Brooklyn is the only thing that matters, in a building hosting more fans than the average game for the NBA team that happens to play there.

---
There are thoughts to add and little observations to wrap up in a bow, but now's not the time for that.

But, Michigan basketball is at a crossroads. Beilein has taken Michigan to the next level, but the success of recent years has set a bar that is not consistently attainable for most college basketball programs, let alone Michigan's, which has had its successes over the decades but is otherwise not among the elites.

So where do we go from here?

Michigan brings in point guard Xavier Simpson, two bigs standing at 6-10 and 6-11, and 6-4 SG Ibi Watson. Everyone from this team returns, save LeVert, of course, and most likely Albrecht, despite occasional rumblings that he could come back for another go.

I won't pretend to know how I think the aforementioned current high schoolers will perform as freshmen, but expecting anything of note is not a good idea.

For the most part, this team will, at its core, be what it was this season. The only difference will be whether or not certain players can: a) take a jump (e.g. Wagner) or b) get back to previous levels of play (e.g. Irvin).

For now, there's not much use speculating. Beilein will be back, and Michigan will, for once, have a fairly experienced college basketball team, led by juniors and seniors. Every rotation player of note currently on the team will be a junior or senior (Wilson will be a redshirt sophomore).

As topsy-turvy as this season was, it wasn't without joy. Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman gradually proved himself -- he might not ever be an elite player, but he plays fearlessly. And unlike the prototypical Beilein player, his offensive game is more playground than Princeton -- take the ball to the hole and make a play. That's something every basketball fan can respect, even in a day dominated by the three-point shot.

Michigan has work to do, that much is clear. The program is in a strange place -- two down years following two transcendent ones, led by a coach who has exceeded inherent expectations everywhere he's been and is widely considered one of the best tacticians in the game.

But what happens when success breeds augmented expectations? What happens when making the tournament is seen as a given rather than a luxury? What happens when fans start wondering why the program doesn't reel in the most talented players rather than lauding the coach for identifying and developing the diamond in the rough?

We'll find out next season, I suppose.

For now, we say goodbye to a 2015-16 season that was simultaneously disappointing yet seemingly perfectly fit to reasonable expectations.

One team moves on. Another doesn't, beginning its offseason: the season of questions.

Michigan 57, Wisconsin 68: Good 20, not quite 40

Unlike Wednesday night against Northwestern, Michigan came out firing in Madison.

Zak Irvin, in particular, led the charge with seven early points as Michigan jumped out to a 9-2 lead and the offense organically generated open looks.

Also unlike the last game, Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman didn't get on the board until four minutes had elapsed in the second half.

The most obvious point of divergence from the last game: the final score. Michigan played a strong first 20, but couldn't follow up on that first-half effort, as the Wolverines (20-10, 10-7) fell 68-57 in Madison.

Irvin led the way with 14 points. Abdur-Rahkman, Duncan Robinson and Ricky Doyle each added 10 apiece.

Bronson Koenig led UW with 19, while Nigel Hayes (16), Ethan Happ (12), and Vitto Brown (14) also made big contributions.

Michigan attempted just 13 3-pointers in the game (making 5 of them), while the Badgers shot 21 -- I'm not sure how many times Michigan has been out-attempted from beyond the arc this season, but it played a role in the result tonight, as Michigan just doesn't have enough juice inside the paint to win against solid competition (which UW most definitely has been since we flipped over to 2016).

With the win, the Badgers have now won 10 of 11 and move into the top four in the conference standings, an improbable sentence given their early-season struggles.

The Wolverines and Badgers raced to the half after a competitive 20 minutes, with the former up just one -- Michigan was 20 minutes away from just about locking up an NCAA Tournament berth.

But nothing comes that easy with this team.

Mark Donnal picked up his third foul in the first minute of the second half. Michigan played a relatively solid first half of defense -- Wisconsin was saved on a few scrambled possessions with fortuitous openings and late shot-clock shots -- but the Wolverines would need to get it going, as they were fortunate the Badgers missed good looks in the first.

It was all a matter of when the inevitable Badgers run would come. And with Michigan leading 40-39, the home team turned it on, going on an 8-0 run and energizing the Kohl Center crowd.

But as the half went on, Michigan began to miss open looks of its own, killing its comeback effort. Derrick Walton missed an uncontested layup in transition and a possession later Irvin missed a somewhat contested layup after a Walton steal.

That's about all there was to say about this one. Michigan missed its opportunities to inch closer down the stretch -- and with Irvin pressing to make plays, turnovers followed -- while the Badgers made key shots to keep the Wolverines at bay.

The silver linings? Irvin had a strong first half, hunting his shots and making them, before fading in the second. In addition, Doyle made an impact on the game with 10 points (5-for-5), including a thunderous alley-oop dunk and a strong finish at the rim through contact, not to mention a nice catch and finish on a tricky arcing feed from Abdur-Rahkman. It isn't much, but Doyle's performance is a nice little footnote on what was otherwise not a great night for the visiting Wolverines.

Now, Michigan turns to its regular-season finale against an ailing Iowa team, which lost tonight against Ohio State in Columbus. The loss, Iowa's fourth in their last five games, pushes the Hawkeyes out of the top four, for the moment, due to a tiebreaker with the Badgers.

Fortunately for Michigan, a win against Iowa would be a win against a ranked team, ailing one or not.

A loss at home and Michigan will head to the conference tournament with a far greater mental weight than it would otherwise have.

Michigan 72, Northwestern 63: The bucketmaker

Zak Irvin drove to the basket for Michigan's first bucket, almost six minutes into the game -- fitting on a cold night across the country, as snow sprinkled softly across the land.

By then, visiting Northwestern already built a 10-0 lead before Irvin's two in front of a far-from-capacity Crisler Center crowd. Atmosphere and execution formed one homogeneous arena-shaped blob of listless discontent.

Despite its cold start, Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman's 19 points, 16 points from Derrick Walton and a big second half from Aubrey Dawkins led Michigan (20-9, 10-6) to a much-needed 72-63 win against the Wildcats on Wednesday night in Ann Arbor.

Michigan overcame a brutal night from beyond the arc (4-for-15) to score its sixth in a row against Northwestern in Ann Arbor.

Coming into tonight, Michigan's tournament ticket balanced precariously in the air -- a gust of wind, good fortune, would send the ticket flying nearly into its grasp. Or, gravity would do its work, sending said ticket hurtling just inches above a metaphorical paper shredder below.

Jerry Palm placed Michigan in the "last four in" category heading into tonight. A loss would necessitate the tall task of a win at Wisconsin or at home against Iowa, not to mention likely at least one win in the Big Ten tournament.

It wasn't pretty, but conference play often isn't. Northwestern big man Alex Olah once again had his way with the Wolverines, scoring 14 first-half points, while the home team started 0-for-8 from beyond the arc -- a familiar story, to be sure.

Slowly but surely, however, Michigan clawed back into it, led by Abdur-Rahkman's nine first-half points. And just in time, Duncan Robinson buried Michigan's first triple of the game as time expired on the first half, sending Michigan into the break down by just one.

In the second, however, Michigan would have to find a way to check Olah, who made hay in the paint and flashed the ability to stretch the defense with mid-range jumpers (and even one three).

But just like the first, Michigan creaked out of the gates.

Multiple Michigan turnovers paired with an 8-0 NU run once again put the Wolverines in catch-up mode. Early in the half, the Wolverines had already tallied nine turnovers, and continued their cold first-half shooting from three, missing their first two attempts of the second half.

While Irvin and Robinson's shots were off, Abdur-Rahkman continued to make it happen, including a nifty spin into a left-handed layup. A couple minutes later, he maneuvered around the elbow to drop a slick bounce pass to Ricky Doyle on the right block for two.

After a strong effort at Maryland (16 points, 9 assists) and two weeks ago at Minnesota (16 points), the sophomore Abdur-Rahkman has increasingly flashed his value to the team, as an individual playmaker and as a sometimes capable distributor (the latter of which was notoriously not in his arsenal, even earlier this season and certainly not as a freshman).

For a guy who was seemingly lost in the shuffle of preseason ruminations on the minutes hierarchy, he's done quite well to take advantage of his opportunities of late.

A Dawkins triple tied it at 44 with just over 11 minutes to play. A Northwestern turnover on the next possession gave the Crisler crowd new life.

And, speaking of guys lost in the shuffle, Kam Chatman gave Michigan its first lead of the game with a pair of free throws after tough work on the offensive glass.

NU briefly retook the lead, but yet another strong drive for two by Abdur-Rahkman and Dawkins's third triple of the game gave Michigan a 57-54 advantage with 4:15 to play. With the shot clock winding down on a later possession, Abdur-Rahkman rebounded his own miss and added two more points at the rim, padding Michigan's points-in-the-paint advantage (frame that clause for posterity).

Then, on a loose ball situation with a minute and change left, Dawkins took it coast-to-coast, expertly shielding a trailing Olah to score at the rim and open up a seven-point lead from which NU could not return.

Olah led the Wildcats with 19 points (8-for-16). NU's second-leading scorer, Bryant McIntosh, scored just four points on 2-for-7 shooting from the field.

The Wolverines head to Madison on Sunday, where they'll face a Badgers team that has bounced back from a brutal 2015 portion of the season and is also fighting for a tournament spot.

As it always is at the Kohl Center, a win will be tough to come by.

With that said, if the Wolverines can carry over tonight's effort from inside the arc, a win isn't out of the question. More importantly, it can't be looked at as a luxury -- Michigan should be somewhat safely in the tournament field, but you just never know. The margin for error is still too thin to take anything for granted.

Now, though, let's celebrate the bucketmaker, a player who shoots the three well (38%), just like a Beilein player should, but isn't defined by it.

And if the idea of bucking an established convention -- in this case, in the form of explosive drives to the hoop, crossovers and spin moves -- isn't the most quixotic idea in all of sports, I don't know what is.

Michigan 66, Ohio State 76: Oh no

What is a basketball, but an orange orb, darting through the heavens, like a dimpled comet, on its way to cutting the cord

As ESPN embarked on the avant-garde cinematographic journey dubbed "Floor Seats," a basketball game was played. 

Supposedly. 

That game featured the Michigan Wolverines and Ohio State Buckeyes, second-tier Big Ten squads sitting at 9-4 and 8-5, respectively, in league play -- both, to some degree, fighting for an NCAA tournament spot. 

Unfortunately, watching this game on TV was like sitting behind a stanchion at Wrigley Field. But perhaps it was fortunate, as save for a brief spurt early when Michigan led 12-10, the rest of the game essentially filled the mold of the standard 2015-16 Michigan basketball loss. 

The Buckeyes shot 54 percent from the field (59 percent in the second half) while Michigan shot just 20.8 percent from three. Michigan showed transient glimmers of life late in the second, cutting the deficit down to as few as seven points as late as just under the five-minute mark. 

But they didn't have enough to make it any closer, falling 76-66 in Columbus and moving to 19-8 (9-5) on the season. 

Mark Donnal led Michigan with 17 points. Meanwhile, five Buckeyes scored in the double digits, including Marc Loving and Jae'Sean Tate, who led the home team with 13 apiece. Duncan Robinson was held to three points on 1-for-6 shooting. Derrick Walton and Zak Irvin combined for a 10-for-28 night from the field. 

Save for a few very isolated mini-bursts, Michigan's offense struggled from start to finish. 

Michigan started slow, picked it up, then was handled by OSU's bench players A.J. Harris and Kam Williams in the first half. 

Meanwhile, Michigan, back to a Caris LeVert-less state, started 5-for-16 (2-for-7 from three), with nothing coming easy, as is usually the case when the shots don't immediately start falling on the road. 

Tate and JaQuan Lyle complemented the bench squad with a combined 15 first-half points of their own, and the Buckeyes took a 36-28 lead into the break. 

Michigan kicked off the second, surprisingly, with activity in the paint, including a bucket by Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, a finish by Mark Donnal and a drawn foul by Donnal at the rim (which, like Dakich said, should have been an and-1, but resulted in a split pair of free throws). 

But, just like that, Ohio State had its way with the Michigan defense, extending the lead to 10 with a thunderous dunk by Trevor Thompson off of a lob pass. 

Michigan proceeded to pick up its sixth foul of the second half -- just over five minutes in. When it's not your day, it's not your day. 

A Zak Irvin three cut it to seven late, but Michigan didn't have the juice to get any closer, with a lifeless offense and an interior defense that might as well have not been there. 

With the loss, Michigan still needs at least one more win to feel somewhat comfortable about a tournament berth. Lose out, and it's dire straits. 

At Maryland, Northwestern, at Wisconsin and Iowa: that's how the Wolverines close the regular season. 

If tonight didn't inspire confidence vis-a-vis the prospect of pulling off an upset, you wouldn't be alone, particularly with how the Wolverines have played on the road. Even Northwestern, which had tournament hopes at the beginning of the season that have since fizzled out, won't be an easy out by any means. 

Michigan fans will simply have to hold on -- it's going to be a bumpy ride.

And if you're feeling more confident than that, you'll probably still need to hold on, to something, after tonight's dizzying exercise in how to not broadcast a live sporting event. 

Michigan 82, Minnesota 74: Deja vu in the old barn

Williams Arena has been kind to John Beilein -- and with the Wolverines looking for a palate cleanser after back-to-back home blowouts, what could be better than a trip to the friendly confines of The Barn?

Looking to move to 6-1 in Minneapolis as Michigan's head coach, Beilein's squad, simply for the sake of hope, optimism and confidence, needed a decisive performance tonight.

Behind a flurry of first-half threes and Minnesota's typical cold shooting, the Wolverines reprised their performance in the first meeting against the Gophers, building a large lead only to see it disintegrate like a snowball made out of the wrong kind of snow. But, behind Derrick Walton's career-high 26 points, Michigan (18-8, 8-4) defeated the Gophers (6-18, 0-12), 82-74, Wednesday night in Minneapolis.

Walton concluded a firecracker of a first half by schooling Joey King off the dribble and burying a buzzer-beating trey, his fifth of the half on six attempts, to take Michigan into the break up 42-28.

Walton finished the opening half with 19 points on 7-for-9 shooting, plus 3 rebounds and 3 assists. Needless to say, it was the best half of basketball he's played this season.

Another positive sign for Michigan? Aubrey Dawkins, who has seemingly struggled to expand his arsenal of basketball attributes, had a nice half, too (8 points, 3-for-5 shooting). Speaking of Dawkins, he was the beneficiary of a nifty no-look pass from Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman in transition, setting him up for a two on the block. For Abdur-Rahkman, who has been known to have the ball stick to his hands, the playmaking touch there is a nice, albeit small, thing to see.

Unlike the first meeting between these two teams, when Michigan struggled from the field, they went 9-for-16 from beyond the arc in the first half (56.3%). Meanwhile, Michigan held the Gophers to a sub-1.0 points per possession mark in the first half -- unfortunately for Michigan, that says more about Minnesota than it does Michigan's defense.

To start the second half, two buckets at the rim by Mark Donnal, a Walton steal and score, and an Abdur-Rahkman corner three extended the lead to 19.

Looking back to that first game, Michigan built a big lead then, too, only to see that margin deteriorate, making for a closer-than-necessary finish.

And once again, Minnesota didn't crack.

Michigan's once-sizable lead shrank to just seven with five minutes remaining after a 11-0 Gophers run. The stretch was bleaker than a Minnesota winter for Michigan:

Then, putting a stop to Minnesota's then 13-1 run, Duncan Robinson work around a screen to bury his fourth three of the game. But, as is often the case, when Michigan didn't make threes, it often didn't do much of anything. And defensively, Michigan continued to allow free rides to the basket.

The Gophers cut it to two with 90 seconds remaining. Luckily, Abdur-Rahkman had an answer, putting his shoulder down like De'Veon Smith on a safety to convert an and-1.

Abdur-Rahkman didn't stop there. After a Walton turnover, he recovered with startling speed to disrupt the Minnesota transition and give the ball back to Michigan.

And that was essentially all she wrote.

Once again, Michigan saw its big lead against a poor Gophers team evaporate. In both situations, Michigan did what it needed to do late in the game to eek out the win. Still, the slides are concerning, due to the level of the opponent and the fatal flaws that are only further exposed.

Michigan is what it is: a team reliant on the three and unable to consistently defend dribble penetration, challenge shooters at the rim or check bigs of any consequence.

Flawed, vulnerable, dynamic, simultaneously captivating and frustrating: this is Michigan basketball.

And on paper, Michigan is fine, at 18-7 and 8-4 in the league. Just a couple more wins and Michigan should be comfortably in the tournament picture (or somewhat comfortably).

Michigan welcomes Purdue to Ann Arbor this Saturday -- at this point, asking for an upset might be setting the bar high. After the Indiana and Michigan State games, simply keeping their collective head above water has to be the starting point.

Complementing Walton's career night, Abdur-Rahkman scored 16 on a perfect night from the field (5-for-5) and Robinson added 14 on 5-for-9 shooting.

As for Minnesota, the struggling Gophers fell to 0-12 in the conference. Minnesota is scheduled to face Rutgers (currently 0-11 in the Big Ten) on Feb. 23. Assuming the Gophers and Scarlet Knights lose their games before then, it'll set up a matchup between teams that are a combined 0-28 in league play.

Hello, must-not-see TV.

Michigan 74, Minnesota 69: Just enough

Looking to bounce back once again from a loss against top-notch competition, the Wolverines welcomed a struggling Minnesota squad to Ann Arbor tonight.

For most of the first half, Michigan appeared ready to deliver its third conference win by double digits. Then Carlos Morris went on one-man run, Nate Mason turned it on in the second half, and Michigan's offense struggled when Zak Irvin went quiet after an impressive first half.

Despite it all, the Wolverines did what they needed to do against a, quite frankly, very bad Minnesota team, notching a 74-69 win -- and eighth straight win at home -- to move to 14-5 (4-2) on the season.

Say what you will about the opponent -- a quality win this was not. Richard Pitino's Gophers were 6-12 heading into tonight's contest and No. 203 in the KenPom rankings.

Still, once again without the injured Caris LeVert, the Wolverines would have to take care of business. Given the string of upsets dotting the college basketball landscape of late -- particularly when you look just down the way in East Lansing -- no game is a sure thing.

The Wolverines raced out to a 22-9 lead about halfway though the first half, aided by a strong start downtown from Duncan Robinson and Irvin. The biggest surprise of the half, perhaps, was Robinson going on to miss five straight from beyond the arc after a 2-for-2 start. Yes, he is in fact not a three-point shooting automaton.

Without checking, I'd imagine that's probably that's the first time that's happened this season for Robinson. Even so, he's still shooting 53.5 percent for the season.

As Michigan started to cool down, the Gophers cut it to eight late in the half, but an Irvin triple summarily ended the brief gust of confidence that followed a Bakary Konate putback slam.

But Minnesota surged again, paced by eight straight points from Morris and a strong finish through a trio of Wolverines by big man Jordan Murphy.

Just like that, U-M carried just a 37-30 lead into the break, despite Minnesota shooting just 37 percent from the field.

Luckily for Michigan, Irvin was on like a toaster at 7 a.m. Irvin tallied 15 first-half points, the only U-M player to reach double-digits in the opening 20 minutes. Irvin splashed shots from outside and beat defenders to the rim for easy twos on several occasions, flashing the do-it-all ability we saw late last season. On top of the scoring, he led the Wolverines on the boards and in the assist department.

However, Mason picked up where Morris left off, with nine points early in the second half to keep the visitors hanging around.

Unfortunately for Michigan, its inability to stop penetration from Minnesota's guards -- stop me if you've heard that before this season -- and an inability to do much of anything offensively against a bad defense made this somewhat of a nail-biter when it shouldn't have been. Sans Irvin, Michigan's offense wasn't doing much of anything in the second half. Irvin scored two early second half buckets, then proceeded to disappear from the attack over the next six minutes or so.

And at the halfway mark of the second, Michigan led just 50-47, the wind in Minnesota's sails like a viking ship en route to plunder -- or, more conservatively, a shot at a Big Ten road win, which has to be worth a trinket or two.

Down the stretch, Minnesota proved unable to make the plays it needed, and Michigan got key triples from Aubrey Dawkins and Derrick Walton to give U-M the breathing room to coast to a win concluded by a free-throw shooting contest.

After scoring a combined 15 points on 5-for-16 shooting against Illinois and Penn State, Walton has now scored 10-plus points in four straight games, with a team-high 22 tonight. He wasn't particularly efficient tonight (5-for-13 from the field, 1-for-6 from three), but he hit big shots in the final 10 minutes when Michigan couldn't seem to buy a bucket.

So, this wasn't a particularly aesthetically pleasing 40 minutes of basketball (saying nothing of the foul-fest at the end) but a dynamic first half from Irvin and an ability to win despite a rough night from beyond the arc (29%, 9-for-31) should be enough for even the nitpickiest of fans. (Sadly, Minnesota was even worse from beyond the arc, shooting just 27 percent.)

And I think I speak for everyone when I say that the day we don't have to see shots of sad Caris LeVert on the bench will be a good one, as encouraging as Michigan's play without him has been.

Next up, Michigan heads to Lincoln to face a Nebraska squad that just upset Michigan State. Needless to say, another listless effort and the Wolverines won't be as lucky to pull out a win against Shavon Shields and Co.

Nebraska is just 12-8 on the season, but they'll carry a four-game winning streak into Saturday's contest against the Wolverines in Pinnacle Bank Arena.

That gym promises to be loud. Michigan will have to hope its play is louder.

Michigan 70, Maryland 67: Going downtown

Going downtown can be a good thing. One could be going downtown for a fun time, to see the sights.

Or, going downtown, in hokey police-speak, could mean you're in trouble, set for a night of heavy interrogation in a sterile, fluorescently lit room.

That was much of the story tonight against the visiting No. 3 Maryland Terrapins. In the first half, Michigan shot the lights out from downtown. In the second, not so much, to the point that it squandered a 13-point lead.

But when it came down to it, Derrick Walton (12 points, 10 rebounds), who hasn't had a great season to date, made big shots. And in the final minute, Mark Donnal pulled down a key offensive rebound and knocked down a free throw to help the Wolverines pull out their first win against a top-5 team since January 2014.

We all knew the story: in four games against top-notch competition, Michigan took four losses by double-digit margins.

And once again without Caris LeVert, the Wolverines tried to score their first statement win of the season. Just like the last game, a double-digit loss at Purdue, Michigan would have to overcome yet another major size mismatch in the paint against a Maryland team carrying a 12-game conference winning streak heading into the game (dating back to last season).

Fifth time's the charm, they say.

Michigan jumped out to an 11-6 lead early with triples from Walton, Zak Irvin and Duncan Robinson (checked by the 6-9 Jake Layman).

Predictably, Michigan struggled to contain Maryland's frontcourters. Layman and Robert Carter combined for 20 first-half points on 8-of-10 shooting.

Meanwhile, Michigan was paced, of course, by lights-out shooting from beyond the arc, with Duncan Robinson prompting Dick Vitale to start rattling off a list of all-time great three-point shooters.

(This sandwich I made is great. Zingerman's. Maize and Blue Deli. Dimo's. I want to see this sandwich one-on-one in a sandwich contest against these guys.-Dick Vitale)

Michigan finished the half 8-of-15 from three with an eFG% of 64 percent (to Maryland's 52%), and a buzzer-beating tip-in by Donnal off of an Irvin miss sent the Wolverines riding high into the half up 37-29.

Robinson kept the good vibes going with a triple in the first minute of the second-frame, and a gust of chilly Ann Arbor wind pushed Michigan to a 13-point lead a little more than three minutes into the second half.

That evaporated quickly.

Diamond Stone ground the Wolverines down in the paint, scoring eight straight points and cutting the Maryland deficit to four. Meanwhile, Robinson went quiet for Michigan -- actually, the entire Michigan offense went dead silent for a span of about eight minutes.

The threes were splashing in the first half, but the Wolverines would need to find an answer when they inevitably stopped falling (or, rather, stopped getting the looks) -- because just like that, a Layman two just before the under-eight timeout tied it, 54-all.

With 7:23 to play, Michigan needed to find itself, fast, especially with Stone continuing to bully Michigan inside like a Monstar in isolation on Tweety Bird.

A nifty two at the rim from Robinson and a Burke-esque step-back triple from Walton gave Michigan some breathing room, a 64-59 lead with 3:33 to play. Walton has struggled this season on both ends of the floor, but hit the aforementioned triple and another jumper to keep Michigan afloat after the long scoring shortage.

But two Rasheed Sulaimon triples and two Stone free throws made it a two-point game with 40 seconds to play.

Not over yet.

With Maryland getting an opportunity to get the ball back after a stop, Walton drove left but missed off the glass. Luckily for Michigan, Donnal was there to grab the rebound.

Out of the Michigan timeout, Donnal buried 1-of-2 free throws to make it a three-point game. Michigan opted not to foul on Maryland's final possession, with a game-ending attempt by Sulaimon.

This time, Sulaimon missed, and Michigan scored its first resume-building win of the season, even without its leading scorer.

Perhaps lost in Stone's dominance (22 points, 11 rebounds) was Trimble's rough night (1-of-7, 2 points). Michigan clamped down on the standout guard, and shooting guard Sulaimon finished just 3-of-10, even with the two late triples.

Unsurprisingly, Michigan was handled in the frontcourt. Carter, Layman and Stone combined for 50 points on 21-of-34 shooting (62%).

Michigan counteracted that with a blazing first-half from beyond the arc, and a final six minutes in which they made just enough plays to squeak by with the win. Irvin led the Wolverines with 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting. Robinson finished with 17 (6-of-10, 5-of-9 from three).

Donnal pitched in eight points, nine rebounds and two steals.

With the win, Michigan moved to 13-4 (3-1) on the season. The Wolverines' brutal three-game stretch comes to an end Sunday when they pay a visit to No. 16 Iowa.

But for now, on a night of upsets in college basketball, it's okay to celebrate and worry about the rest later.

Michigan 70, Purdue 87: Too Tall

NB: Missed about the first 17 minutes of this one (6 p.m. CT starts, I'm not a fan of you). 

Riding high off of two Big Ten wins by double-digit margins, the Wolverines headed to West Lafayette, where two towers stood.

Despite a career night from Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman (25 points, 10-of-16), the Wolverines couldn't find that extra gear to make it a one-bucket game in the second half, falling to 12-4 (2-1) on the season.

In addition to facing a tough Purdue team on the road, the Boilermakers roster is one that one that strikes against Michigan's biggest weakness: the interior. Mark Donnal's success in the Illinois and Penn State games was not likely to repeated against Purdue's A.J. Hammons and Isaac Haas.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it wasn't, as Donnal scored three points on two attempts in the first half (he finished with 7), and picked up his second foul with just under eight minutes to play in the first half.

And after a somewhat quiet first half, Hammons did Michigan in in the second, finishing with 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting and a quartet of no-sir blocks (4 blocks).

Even so, the Wolverines (once again without Caris LeVert) led 23-19 with 5:32 left in the half.

That is, until Purdue put the pedal to the metal and scored 12 straight, eventually heading into the half up 35-28.

Michigan did an okay job containing Hammons on paper in the first half (6 points, 4 rebounds), and the Boilermakers rebounded "just" 26 percent of their misses (which isn't bad for Michigan given the personnel mismatch).

Purdue's defense, however, was stifling, as it often is. Michigan shot just 32.3 percent from the field in the first half, while Derrick Walton and Zak Irvin went a combined 2-of-9 from the floor.

Given the mismatch inside, this was another classic "can Michigan outshoot its opponent from downtown" game. The Wolverines shot 35.7 percent from three in the first 20 minutes (5-of-14) -- they'd have to be even better in the second to have a chance.

In fact, they were, finishing 40.7 percent for the game, which is pretty good. But it wasn't enough, as Hammons and Co. locked Michigan down when they needed to. Rapheal Davis negated everyone he checked and Hammons blocked or altered a number of forays to the basket.

In the first chunk of the second half, Hammons exploited single coverage on the rare occasion he got it, then deftly found the open man on the outside when Michigan double- or triple-teamed him.

The Boilers extended the lead to 11, at which point it seemed things could get out of hand. But with the aid of Abdur-Rahkman's confident playmaking and an array of tough shots tossed off of the glass with geometrical expertise, the Wolverines stayed in it.

About halfway through the second half, the announcers kept remarking how it didn't feel like a 5-point game ... and really, it didn't.

A key moment late -- Donnal bobbles a pass/gets stripped by Davis going toward the basket, Purdue heads the other way with speed, rotates the ball and Davis splashes a corner triple to up the lead to nine with eight minutes left.

That, however, was just one of several similar sequences in the final 10 minutes. Michigan gets an opening, doesn't take advantage and Purdue makes them pay.

Michigan did begin to trouble the Boilermakers with pressure in the final 10 minutes, pressure which flummoxed Purdue against Iowa, too. It worked, as the Wolverines were able to turn some Purdue turnovers into points.

Every time Michigan got it down to six or seven, however, the Boilers had an answer. And when Hammons hit a triple with about three minutes left to up Purdue's lead to 16 -- making another 12-0 run for Purdue -- that was all she wrote.

Michigan was never able to crack through that 5-point deficit marker, in a game that was simultaneously, paradoxically, not as close it looks on paper, yet closer than it looks on paper.

With LeVert out and this being a road game against a pretty good team, I don't think anyone expected a win tonight. But Michigan can't use that as an excuse, particularly with upcoming matchups against Maryland and at Iowa. Michigan needs to rack up some quality wins (especially on the road) -- the next two games will provide that opportunity.

Michigan will hope that LeVert gets better soon, but, more importantly, it'll need players not named Abdur-Rahkman to bring it, too.

Fortunately for John Beilein and Co., they won't have to face that Purdue frontcourt again until Feb. 13.

Michigan 79, Penn State 56: Donnal doing work

The Michigan basketball team saw what Jim Harbaugh's squad did in Orlando yesterday and took its best shot to top it.

And shoot away they did, burying the visiting Penn State Nittany Lions in a flurry of threes en route to the Wolverines' second-straight double-digit win to kick off Big Ten play.

Michigan finished 14-of-25 from beyond the arc (56%) with sharpshooter Duncan Robinson finishing "just" 3-of-8 from downtown.

The defensively tough Nittany Lions had no answer for Michigan, leaving shooters open throughout the first half, which concluded with Michigan carrying a 49-28 lead.

Of course, the story of the young conference season is Mark Donnal, who has struggled mightily on both ends of the floor in his career to date.

But after a holiday season spent meditating in Dagobah, Donnal has emerged a different player.

Against Illinois on Wednesday in Champaign, Donnal filled it up, scoring 28 points on 11-of-15 shooting, plus 9 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals. Naturally, against an Illinois team without a strong frontcourt presence, one could have reasonably considered his career performance a fluke.

Today provided additional data to the contrary -- Michigan might have something in Donnal, a something John Beilein must have seen when he recruited him to Ann Arbor.

The redshirt sophomore pitched in 16 points on 7-of-10 from the field (his first miss coming with about three minutes left in the game).

Against PSU, however, he did his work exclusively at the rim, converting deftly at the hoop when dished to on the roll. For Michigan bigs, even simply catching the pass is a step in the right direction, as others, namely Ricky Doyle, have struggled in that department. Even Donnal, when catching near the rim in the past, often seemed overwhelmed, sometimes even unwilling to go up with the shot.

Whatever happened between the end of nonconference play and the Dec. 30 trip to Champaign, it worked for Donnal, and it'll work well for Michigan if he keeps it going.

Penn State is not going dancing this year, but to blow a team out that gave No. 4 Maryland a tough time just a few days ago makes for an encouraging result.

Oh, and the Wolverines did all this without Caris LeVert, who sat out after getting his ankle stepped on late in the Illinois game.

Zak Irvin made up for LeVert's absence by providing the assist-making ability he flashed in the later stages of last season. In addition to 16 points, Irvin tallied a team-high 7 assists. While Beilein said Irvin likely won't be 100 percent this season, he's looking far closer to it than he did previously.

That said, that statement is made true largely by the fact that his outside shot, his bread and butter with which he's struggled early in the season, has started to fall of late. Break out the bread and the Land O'Lakes butter, because Irvin is cooking again. In two Big Ten games, Irvin is 6-of-11 from three (he's 22% for the season). Expect that season figure to rise.

The only Wolverine with a down afternoon was point guard Derrick Walton, who went 2-of-6 from the field and turned it over six times. Hey, it happens.

Elsewhere, Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman pitched in 14 points, while Robinson added 6 assists to his 9 points. Aubrey Dawkins scored 13 on 5-of-5 shooting (3-of-3 from beyond the arc).

Aside from Walton's off day and Michigan's brief trouble with Penn State's 2-3 zone in the second half, this was just about as close to perfect of a performance as one could ask for to start the calendar year.

With the win, Michigan moved to 12-3 (2-0) on the season. Next up? Michigan heads to West Lafayette on Thursday to take on a Purdue team featuring a pair of imposing twin towers in Isaac Haas and A.J. Hammons.

If Michigan is to avoid the fate it met against Xavier, UConn and SMU, it'll need another team-wide effort to have a shot at a victory.

And I never thought I'd write this, but that effort might start, and end, with one Mark Donnal.

Michigan 58, SMU 82: If you're gonna play in Texas, you gotta have defenders in the band

Michigan struggled against top-notch competition in Xavier and UConn, looking generally over-matched and like a team still trying to find its way, as individuals and a cohesive unit.

The same held true tonight in Dallas, as SMU's Jordan Tolbert dunked his way to 23 points (11-of-12 from the field) and Michigan (6-3) did very little right, falling 82-58 and never leading in the game's final 33 minutes.

The Wolverines not only had a chance to avenge last season's home loss against the Mustangs, they had an opportunity to tally a quality win (on the road, no less), which could have come in handy come tournament selection time -- but, first things first.

Unfortunately, Michigan was without the services of Derrick Walton (Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman got the start in his place). MAAR contributed to a solid early effort, with a 3-of-3 start from the field, mitigating a slow start from Caris LeVert.

Michigan gained an 11-7 lead, but that was about as good as things would get. The U-M offense was out of sync, and aside from a 1-of-8 start from beyond the arc, the Wolverines committed a pair of shot clock violations, in addition to other bad shots to end possessions.

Michigan fell behind, fast, as the Mustangs found open shooters on the secondary break and Michigan continued to stumble on the offensive end. Speaking of, Michigan didn't get its first big-man points until a wide open Ricky Doyle dunk with three minutes remaining in the first half.

From the outside, Michigan finished the first half shooting just 33 percent (14% from beyond the arc) -- not surprisingly, Michigan trailed 36-22, with SMU closing on a 15-4 run.

Michigan's inability to prevent penetration by opposing guards continues to kill it on a consistent basis -- that's hard enough to withstand even if you have an elite shot blocker (which Michigan does not have).

Without one? You get what you saw tonight: alley-oop slams, transition rim-rattlers, thunderous tomahawks, powerful putbacks.

Michigan heated up early in the second half, including a pair of Duncan Robinson triples and a Zak Irvin three off the glass from the top of the key. Even so, Michigan still couldn't shadow Tolbert, who dunked his way to one of the easiest 23-point nights I've ever seen.

Despite Michigan's early second-half signs of life, LeVert remained scoreless 26 minutes into the game -- until some Keith Frazier trash talking netted LeVert a pair of technical foul free throws. (LeVert's first field goal came with under five minutes to play, when the game was already well out of reach.)

Robinson buried another triple, and Michigan was down 12. To the 1-3-1 they went, and to the slam dunk store SMU went, on that possession and the next. Every time Michigan made a bucket, SMU responded, often emphatically.

There's not much to say and no use in over-analyzing. LeVert struggled mightily for the second year in a row against SMU and the Wolverines had no answers defensively. Part of it is experience, part of it is a lack of physicality, and part of it is simply not doing the basketball things that need to be done. There are some things a Beilein team will never be or never do -- but, for example, being able to stay in front of guards has to be one of those things.

Walton would have greatly helped, to be sure, although not enough to get Michigan a win tonight. His ability to lead and drive the team is obvious when he's on the floor, and especially so when he's not.

One would think the Wolverines will improve somewhat between now and February. As it stands, though, Michigan will exit the nonconference schedule without a win to hang its hat on. The Big Ten schedule is far more forgiving than it has been in recent years, but even a tournament berth can't be taken for granted.

SMU is a strong team, and there is certainly no shame in losing to a team like that, on the road. But, if Michigan is to avoid missing out on the Big Dance for the second year in a row, it has to fix some very basic deficiencies in its play to date, and fast.

In-season improvement is almost a guarantee, but who knows if it'll be enough come tournament time. After Michigan reached the national title one year and the Elite 8 the next, last season and the start to this one are a little tougher to watch than they otherwise might be.

That's college basketball for you, talent pools ebbing and flowing like the tides, with them taking and returning fortune.

Michigan still has plenty of talent, and this is a team that can make a little noise in the tournament if it gets there.

But there's a long, long way to go.

Michigan 66, N.C. State 59: The good, the bad and the wunderbar

Michigan led by as many as 10 points in the first half on the road in Raleigh, led by Caris LeVert's nine points and five rebounds. Heading into the break, the Wolverines led 34-26.

This all sounds good: but there was one catch.

Despite all of the above, the story of the first 20 minutes was Derrick Walton, who limped off the floor late in the half with an ankle injury.

Beilein on Walton: It doesn't look like a long-term thing, we hope.

— Brendan F. Quinn (@BFQuinn) December 2, 2015

Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, somewhat of an odd-man-out thus far, picked up many of those minutes, finishing with four points, four rebounds and a steal.

Of course, a Walton-less Michigan team is not a new thing for John Beilein and Co., so the second half was not quite the shock to the system it otherwise could have been.

And Michigan played the second frame like it had been in that situation before.

Michigan upped its lead to 15 in the second half after a LeVert dunk. The Wolfpack, however, surged back, cutting the lead down to four after slowly chipping away at the deficit for six minutes.

In what sounded like a tough road environment (on TV, at least), Michigan could have wilted under the pressure. Instead, they responded, and from the exact spots on the floor you'd expect them to do so.

Duncan Robinson shimmied and rose up for a right-wing triple, which he buried and then stared at the Michigan bench, a moment eerily reminiscent of one Nik Stauskas.

On the next possession, LeVert drove right and swung a baseline pass to an open Zak Irvin in the corner. Irvin is still recalibrating his shot, but on this one he was true, extending Michigan's lead to 10.

The home team never cut the deficit to less than seven after that critical one-two.

Without Walton, ball-handling duties fell on LeVert for much of the second half, in which he attempted only four shots. On a number of occasions, he did that thing where he penetrates deep into the lane, and instead of going up for his own shot, attempts a pass to a Michigan big, which seems to result in a turnover or some other negative outcome more often than not.

Nonetheless, LeVert's free-throw shooting late helped seal the deal, and he finished with 18 to lead the Wolverines. Robinson was close behind, with 17 points on 6-for-8 shooting (5-for-7 from three).

On the boards, Michigan out-rebounded N.C. State, 30-23, but once again had trouble on the defensive glass. The Wolfpack rebounded 34 percent of their misses -- the last game I recapped (Elon), Michigan allowed its opponent to grab 33 percent of its misses. Regardless, struggles on the defensive glass are nothing new for this program. It is what it is.

Otherwise, the most important storyline will continue to be what Michigan can get out of its frontcourters. Ricky Doyle continues to suffer from a bit of fumbleitis around the basket, but that's to be expected from a great majority of big guys. Doyle had a team-high three turnovers, but did pitch in six points and four rebounds, and took a charge late.

The freshman from Berlin, however, is the frontcourter likely to inspire the most buzz.

Moritz Wagner scored two points on 1-for-5 shooting in a combined nine minutes against Xavier and UConn, both brutal losses for the Wolverines.

Since then? He's logged 16, 18 and 23 minutes in Michigan's current three-game winning streak, scoring a combined 34 points on 15-for-19 shooting. Tonight, he tallied eight points on 4-for-7 shooting. Fouls could be an issue going forward (he tallied four tonight and four against Texas), but otherwise the nimble big man is doing some good things out there, including a solid finish through contact on a feed from LeVert with just over four minutes left and an emphatic first-half dunk.

Who knows if this will fall in the quality win ledger. N.C. State opened its season with a blowout loss against William & Mary of the Colonial Athletic Association and dropped a close one to Arizona State in New York.

Regardless, a road win against a major conference team is nothing to scoff at, particularly without the team's floor general for the second half.

The Wolfpack shot just 32.8 percent from the field and 23.5 percent from beyond the arc. Anthony Barber and Caleb Martin got their points (a combined 35), but the remainder of the starting five went a horrid 1-for-20 from the field. It's difficult to say how much of this had to do with Michigan and how much could be attributed to N.C. State simply taking bad shots, but the numbers are the numbers.

---
In any case, Michigan has rebounded nicely after a pair of tough losses against strong competition. The team is a work in progress, as Beilein continues to try to find the right lineups, Irvin continues to regain his feel for the game and the young bigs make incremental improvements.

But, all in all, after those two losses, things have gone just about as well as you could hope for.

The Wolverines take on Houston Baptist on Saturday before another quality opponent appears on the schedule next Tuesday, when Michigan heads to currently No. 22 SMU. After last year's home loss against the Mustangs, the Wolverines will surely be looking for a different result this time around.

Michigan follows that up with a series of lesser foes -- but after last year's NJIT game, no contest can be considered a slam dunk -- before Big Ten play opens for Michigan at Illinois Dec. 30.

Michigan 88, Elon 68: Sharpshootin'

Michigan moved to 2-0 with a relatively breezy 88-68 win against visiting Elon tonight in Ann Arbor.

Derrick Walton led the Wolverines with 24 points on 8-for-10 from the field (6-for-7 from three, plus seven assists and six rebounds).

Funny enough, though, the point guard wasn't even Michigan's most accurate shooter.

Transfer Duncan Robinson went a perfect 6-for-6 from the field, and 5-for-5 from downtown. If you aren't used to it already, get used to the phrase "he just doesn't miss."

I didn't have a chance to watch this past Friday's Northern Michigan game, so I finally got to see him in action for the first time tonight. I read some of the offseason practice reports with skepticism -- after all, we've heard flowery praise like that before about so many players, some of whom turned out to be pretty good but maybe not quite as good as such praise indicated.

But, so far, Robinson's outside stroke is as good as advertised. Obviously, we'll need to see it against real competition before he gets thrust into the Nik Stauskas Honorary Ring of Sharpshooters, but early returns are promising, to say the least.

In any case, there's not much use overanalyzing this game too much. Elon offered more size than NMU, but not so much to overwhelm. (Elon grabbed 33.3 percent of its misses in this one, which seems a little high, but it is what it is.)

Defensively, it wasn't a strong performance, but it's still early, obviously, and guys like D.J. Wilson are still getting their sea legs, not to mention Zak Irvin, who is still working his way back from injury and didn't start.

Elon shot 39.1 percent from beyond the arc, but Michigan made up for that by turning the Phoenix over 17 times. On that front, Caris LeVert (3-for-8, 11 points), flashed his length and general disruptiveness in the passing lanes and on the ball. He might not be a defensive stopper, per se, but he's good for at least one scoop and score a game.

In this one, he notched four steals, with at least a couple resulting in scores going the other way.

And not to sound like a meathead, but Michigan is going to need that sort of perimeter defensive intensity, because interior physicality is once again likely to not be their forte. On one play late in the first half, Elon's Brian Dawkins backed down Mark Donnal with startling ease, putting up an easy layup.

Ricky Doyle is the best option Michigan has on the physicality front. He picked up a ticky-tack foul outside of the three-point line on a hard hedge in the first half. That is something to watch out for going forward; if that continues to be called tightly, Michigan could be looking at some quick two-foul outings for the sophomore big man.

Overall, though, nothing has really been too surprising so far. Defense is a work in progress, the Wolverines can shoot the lights out and the frontcourters have a long way to go, even Doyle (who actually had a nice game, going 3-for-4 for eight points).

As for the others, Kam Chatman still seems to be searching for his outside shot, and he did get some good looks tonight (0-for-3 from downtown, 3-for-5 overall). At some point, some of those have to start falling for him.

Aubrey Dawkins had a relatively quiet night (3-for-5, 7 points) and Spike Albrecht wasn't much of a factor -- not that he needed to be -- although he did take a nice charge in the second half.

Moritz Wagner has a long way to go, obviously, physically and otherwise, but did have a nice strip that led to a transition opportunity. Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, the subject of much "guy who is going to possibly be lost in the shuffle" talk, didn't do much, but had a nice strong take to the basket for two, just the sort of explosive slashery we saw from him in his Michigan debut season.

Michigan won again, and comfortably. The defense wasn't great, and several possessions ended in long jumpers at the buzzer (some ended with makes, but still), but expecting a well-oiled machine in November is far from reasonable.

The competition will pick up, and eventually we'll be able to make meaningful observations about these performances.

For now, though, the most encouraging things are clear. Walton, who has already been excellent in his career to date, looks ready to round into elite college point guard form. It's a long way off, but the matchup against Indiana's Yogi Ferrell on Feb. 2 is going to be one of the best position-to-position matchups of the conference season, in my opinion.

Walton's ability to get the transition game going is paramount: on one sequence in the first half, he threaded a beautiful bounce pass from the back court to hit Robinson in stride for two going the other way. Every assist only counts as one, but that's a super-assist right there.

Otherwise, Robinson's shot appears to be as ridiculous as advertised, and LeVert continues to do LeVert things when he's not having a particularly exceptional night from the field.

With these first two preseason-esque games out of the way, Michigan gets set to face Xavier, UConn and NC State in its next three. The competition picks up -- so does the chance to see some of these guys in meaningful game situations, in which mistakes matter and deficiencies can't be covered up by talent mismatches or a barrage of wide-open threes.