Michigan 84, Maryland 73
I say this happily: I'm having difficulty putting my thoughts into words because I have an adrenaline headache.
Michigan burned up the Xfinity Center nets and my emotional energy with an exhilarating display of skill and talent to take down a solid Maryland squad on the road and move to 8-0 (3-0 Big Ten) on the season. The Wolverines will stay alone atop the conference until at least Sunday, when they face Northwestern at Crisler.
While the Terrapins kept pace through halftime, they did so by shooting a ridiculous 9-for-11 on three-pointers in the first half, leaving Michigan with a 46-44 lead even though the Wolverines shot 58% from the field and made 15 free throws to Maryland's three. Other than some open pick-and-pop hits by center Jairus Hamilton, the shooting didn't look particularly sustainable. Lo and behold, it wasn't: the Terps scored 29 second-half points and made 4 of 11 shots from beyond the arc, two of them after the game was well out of reach.
Hunter Dickinson proved much more reliable, leading all players with a career-high 26 points while missing only one of his 11 field goals, going 6-for-7 from the line, pulling down four offensive rebounds among his total of 11, and adding an assist, a block, and several altered shots. None of Maryland's centers could slow the freshman, so Mark Turgeon mostly played Hamilton, who at least got 15 points back on the other end. Dickinson, meanwhile, trash-talked the bench of his home-state team all game, even picking up a (rather soft) technical foul in the first half when he flexed in their direction.
wishing them a happy new year, surely
While Dickinson's performance had to lead the story, Franz Wagner was nearly as good, scoring 19 points on 14 shooting possessions, hitting jumpers in addition to getting his usual tough runners to fall, and adding four assists—including a gorgeous wraparound feed to Dickinson off a high screen for a dunk—with no turnovers, a block, and three steals. This follows a 20-point outing at Nebraska; it appears the layoff helped get him going.
Mike Smith also had a great game with 16 points on only ten shooting possessions, six rebounds, six assists, and only two turnovers. He showed a particularly strong rapport with Dickinson (surprise!), who was on the receiving end of a couple well-placed lobs from the grad transfer. Brandon Johns hit all three of his shots with an offensive rebound and a block in an energetic ten minutes split between center and power forward. Isaiah Livers and Chaundee Brown had relatively quiet nights on offense, though the latter made his presence felt on defense, as usual.
Michigan looked great the whole way. Maryland looked great when hitting contested threes, then got blown away when those stopped going in. Hunter Dickinson is a problem. Franz Wagner is, too. Deeper analysis can wait until 2021. Happy new year to you, fan of the first-place team in the toughest conference in the country.
[Hit THE JUMP for the box score.]
December 31st, 2020 at 11:27 PM ^
Great game.....Smith was worlds better, might be time to take the cyan off of him in the preview write up.
Dickinson = BEAST
January 1st, 2021 at 1:03 AM ^
Not yet. Pressure on Smith wasn't intense, IMO. He's still loose with the ball. If he keeps tightening it up, making better choices, cleaner passes, this is a championship Monday club. Franz and HD are the type of players that can carry a team with above average guard play, and Livers can too, despite being meh tonight. Get to more above average at PG (don't need elite) and this team will be an extremely tough out.
Great game tonight. Looking forward to see how they handle NW on Sunday.
January 1st, 2021 at 10:36 AM ^
Tougher opponents await, buy if Smith hasn't shown he's a solid P5 floor general to you yet then I don't know what it will take. He just played 38 minutes in a road game where he scored 16 on just 7 shots, grabbed 6 boards (!!), And dished out 6 assists.
He has limits in defense for sure, but he's worked his butt off on that end more than I expected. He is looser with the ball than Simpson ever was, but he's so much better than most people expected.
Meanwhile in East Lansing, they can't even find a starting PG.
January 1st, 2021 at 12:13 AM ^
Ace is a beast
January 1st, 2021 at 12:31 AM ^
Happy New Year! Let's hope for a great 2021 for all of us.
January 1st, 2021 at 12:31 AM ^
LETS GO 2021!!!
January 1st, 2021 at 12:32 AM ^
I can't wait to hear you all discuss Hunter Dickerson staring down the MD coach and getting a tech. He was completely unstoppable. BUT he also added Bill Lambier nastiness. The BENCH added the most energy I've ever seen by a bench. This team looks like it's having SO MUCH FUN and pulling so hard for each other...
and this is the biggest story b/c none of this is an accident or by chance. This is exactly the type of team that Juwan is trying to build. Diverse offense. Energetic defense. Relentless big men. Smart passing. Selflessness. Fun. Family first.
This is such a good sign for things to come. I don't think there is a bigger Beilein fan that me. But I think Juwan is going to do something even Beilein wasn't able to do.
January 1st, 2021 at 2:17 AM ^
I'm not sure I've ever seen somebody get teed up for flexing before.
January 1st, 2021 at 2:48 AM ^
Tbf he did it 2-3 times before he got T'd. Refs aren't going to let players taunt coaches.
January 1st, 2021 at 7:47 AM ^
If he could add Laimbeer's outside shot he'd be looking at a half billion dollar NBA career.
January 1st, 2021 at 11:53 AM ^
Truth -- he needs to COME BACK and work on that....
Please stay another year, Hunter......please?
January 1st, 2021 at 12:29 PM ^
I hope Jalen Duren is watching Dickinson play and absolutely salivating to play for Juwan. Dude would be a beast in this offense
January 1st, 2021 at 1:11 AM ^
Juwan seems to be what we thought we were getting when Jim arrived.
An awesome extension of tradition, and great success.
Unlike many i still have hope for Jim's program, but it is nice to have this team to support in the meantime.
Go blue!
January 1st, 2021 at 1:12 AM ^
Watching the game live, it seemed like Brooks had a rough game. But his +/- was a team-high 16. Shows how much of a layman I am with basketball.
January 1st, 2021 at 8:15 AM ^
+/- is a terrible single game stat exactly for these kinds of reasons. Brooks didn't have a great game, but he's playing with all the starters.
January 1st, 2021 at 9:52 AM ^
What exactly was wrong with his game?
January 1st, 2021 at 12:31 PM ^
Missed open shots, turned the ball over when he tried to do too much handling the ball, got blown by and over powered on defense
January 1st, 2021 at 1:18 AM ^
Friends, that was an impressive win - Maryland played well, we were just better!
Man, Michigan basketball is so much fun - year after year. Great effort, fantastic team play. Passing and movement on offense were fantastic. HD is a f'ing beast!
Really, really good road win - honestly, this team is better than I could have hoped.
Go Blue!
Good f'ing riddance, 2020!
January 1st, 2021 at 2:01 AM ^
Juwan Howard getting so fired up for his guys just makes me smile, the TV shots were great. When the tempers were a bit high, and some jawing was occurring...Juwan was right behind his guys.
With Davis back, added depth, this is going to be a dangerous team to deal with. Especially if they shoot like that.
What a fun game to watch
hail
January 1st, 2021 at 2:42 AM ^
Hail to the Victors. Good to see the team weather the storm and build up a lead in the 2nd half. Good to see HMFD going to work, Franz spielte gut. Bench mob goin' crazy.
Fuck you, 2020, GTFO.
January 1st, 2021 at 4:13 AM ^
Ace has diffciulty with words every day, so take his bias approach with a grain of salt. That said, today was a good day to lay the points and run!
January 1st, 2021 at 9:11 AM ^
Quit drinking and go to bed.
January 1st, 2021 at 12:12 PM ^
*biased
January 1st, 2021 at 7:56 PM ^
Tell me that the spelling used in "diffciulty with words" was deliberate.
January 1st, 2021 at 4:17 AM ^
explain your bias, and paltry approach to the season. but maybe yearlong records means shit, cuz Harbaugh
January 1st, 2021 at 12:25 PM ^
Were you partying with Mongo last night?
January 1st, 2021 at 5:16 AM ^
Enjoy the ride, this team has potential to run with anyone. Remember this little tidbit, this is only Juwan's SECOND year and covid has played havoc since the end of his first. Next year, in his THIRD YEAR, he already has the #1 class in the country. It's really really hard not to be excited about future of this program.
Kind of like a super high recruit where you don't want to expect too much of him, I want to try and pump the breaks on calling him the next Coach K or anything ..... BUT ...... I just did.
January 1st, 2021 at 9:47 AM ^
And this team can make their free throws, too.
January 1st, 2021 at 10:30 AM ^
On that note, a New Year's resolution ought to be getting Livers some manufactured trips to the line. He's shooting 95% over two years (small sample size this year, of course).
January 1st, 2021 at 10:35 AM ^
I think we have enough data now to consider Juwan a master in-game tactician. He consistently makes the necessary and correct adjustments, and last night’s perimeter zone defense to cool off the hot shooters was just the latest in his many strokes of genius. You don’t have to go very far to see what it feels like when your team refuses to (or can’t) make adjustments and is now getting consistently beaten at RPS. So consider this my Juwan Howard Appreciation Thread contribution. Add recruiting into this mix and we will be dominant.
January 1st, 2021 at 11:38 AM ^
Maybe it’s a pointless quibble but I don’t know if I’d go with “genius” so much as very, very practical. It’s actually better in many ways because a lot of geniuses have problems slowing things down for others. Beilein literally revolutionized the game and his offenses were elite, but his schemes were notoriously difficult to learn.
Howard has a very good feel for his players’ capabilities and limitations and gets them consistently well-prepared. It’s one thing to realize something isn’t working, but any halftime adjustments need to be within what the players can execute. You can’t practice new formations during halftime.
I can’t evaluate individual plays for brilliance but if Howard’s a genius I’d say it’s his ability to manage the program at every level. Roster depth, scheme, recruiting, he seems to have everything running as swimmingly as can be reasonably expected. Like, I can’t think of a part of the program that’s in real long-term trouble.
Oh, happy 2021 btw.
January 1st, 2021 at 12:21 PM ^
Excellent point here. Can't say enough about Juwan's impact as coach in all facets. Beilein was great, but now? The sky is the limit with this team, and really with this program. Stay a long, long while Juwan, and become a Michigan coaching legend!!
January 1st, 2021 at 11:13 AM ^
I'd say that Dickinson kid is pretty good.
January 1st, 2021 at 11:38 AM ^
Hunter is great - maybe our best player which now has me concerned about one and done and we will lose our top six (seven with Davis) rotation players for next year. Gulp.
January 1st, 2021 at 12:49 PM ^
I loved how this team responded to Maryland when they switched to zone defense in the second half. They decimated it and made Maryland quickly go back to man.
Hunter Dickinson assist to Eli Brooks was a thing of beauty as was Brooks' finish.
January 1st, 2021 at 12:55 PM ^
The technical on Hunter for flexing was absolutely ridiculous, referee malpractice.
January 1st, 2021 at 2:03 PM ^
Juwan has this team firing on all cylinders. It looked bad at the time, but I think the Oakland game was good for this team.
Scoring 80 points in 7 of the 8 games and how they've done it is impressive. Take care of NW on Sunday and we're looking Top 10ish. What a great bunch of unselfish kids player together as a team.
January 1st, 2021 at 9:54 PM ^
I thought I was set to record the game because I set it where the guide said it would be: ESPN 2. ESPN said it had an unspecified college football game. Imagine my disappointment when I started the recording and saw some garbage year in review program.
January 2nd, 2021 at 2:42 PM ^
Small nitpick, but Maryland is not Hunter's home-state school. HD is from Virginia, he just went to a private high school across the state line in Maryland. Similarly, Terrance Williams is from MD, but went to high school in DC.
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