Pick in Review: UM v NW

Pick: Michigan +2

Result: Michigan 67 - 55 Northwestern (W)

In a game in which Michigan shot 38 three-pointers, most by any Big Ten team this season, the game was determined on the defensive side of the ball. After scoring 31 points at halftime, Northwestern was held to just 18 points in the second half and only 6 points in overtime. The Big Ten's leading scorer, John Shurna, was held to only 4 points on 2 for 11 shooting in the second half and overtime.

Where I thought Michigan would take advantage of dribble penetration they did the absolute, complete opposite. 68% of their shot attempts were three pointers. In my previous post, I stressed how successful Michigan's offense could be if they focused on getting into the lane to create shots. Here are some stats that I kept track of during the game that show just that:

Note: These stats don't just represent shots that Burke / Hardaway took, but also shots taken by their teammates that were a direct result of their dribble penetration

The above statistics show two things:

1. Just how little Michigan's back court tried to penetrate and / or how hard Northwestern made it for them to do so; and
2. Just how successful Michigan can be when their guards commit to breaking down their defender's and forcing the opposing defense to collapse.

Michigan lives and dies from the three. Tonight they clawed and scratched there way to a victory on the road against a Northwestern team that desperately needed this game to boost their tournament chances. We know what the Wolverines identity is at this point, and we'll see just how far the three pointer can take them as we head into March.

Blogger's Note: I have decided to go ahead and keep a record of my picks which can be located on the right side of the blog. I know in my introductory post I said I wouldn't, but let's face it, I have an ego. In all seriousness though, I only plan on actually analyzing one to two games a week so, why not? If there's ever a game you'd want me to write about just leave a comment on any of the posts or shoot me a tweet @HoosierSully16.