5 Takeaways From Michigan’s Win Over Oregon

After a sluggish first half, Michigan was able to overcome its own detriments in the second half to complete a 2-0 West-Coast road trip.

Even though this matchup heavily favored the Wolverines, they were surprisingly down by one point entering halftime. The game was on the road at Oregon, but the Ducks were without their two best players — forward Nate Bittle and guard Jackson Shelstad —  and were struggling to win games even with them healthy.

Despite the circumstances, Oregon put up a very solid fight, and Michigan was forced to put together a strong second half to escape with a win.

Here are five key takeaways from the contest…

The biggest culprit behind Michigan’s slim first-half deficit was its turnovers. In the first half alone, the Wolverines turned the ball over nine times, allowing Oregon to score twelve points off of them.

The effect of turnovers is two-fold. For one, it takes away a chance at points on offense, and second, it gives the opponent an extra opportunity to convert themselves. Giving away free possessions will always be detrimental, and it certainly was for Michigan in that first half.

The Wolverines cleaned up the act significantly in the second half, only turning the ball over five times, and they were rewarded for it. They consistently got better looks, converted possessions into points at a higher rate, and didn’t allow the Ducks to get free run-outs off of live-ball turnovers.

There have been times this year where graduate guard Nimari Burnett fades into the background on the offensive end. It’s no indictment of Burnett as a player, rather, a consequence of the depth and play-style of this squad — he’s not always asked to be at the forefront of the offensive attack.

Saturday afternoon, however, he found an opportunity to step up, and he took it.

In his 25 minutes of play, Burnett collected 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting, three rebounds, three assists, two steals, and a block. Both offensively and defensively, Burnett was dialed in. Burnett is a player that is incredibly poised within his role, but when the Wolverines need an offensive spark, he’s proven that he’s plenty capable of providing it.

This isn’t the first time Michigan has come out of the gates looking sluggish. In fact, its last three games have followed the same pattern.

In the loss to Wisconsin Jan. 10, the Wolverines shot 39% in the first half followed by 63% in the second. Wednesday against Washington they shot 36% in the first and 60% in the second. Saturday, it was 39% in the first and 60% in the second.

What has made Michigan so dominant for much of this season is the constant, 40-minute pressure that the offense puts on opponents. In recent games, however, it hasn’t been putting together complete games. If the Wolverines want to return to dominant form, the answer lies in these efficiency numbers. 

Allowing offensive rebounds has been a bit of a nagging issue for much of this season. When Michigan was blowing teams out by 40 points every night, it was fairly easy to look past it, but in closer games, those offensive rebounds can be the difference between a win and a loss.

Oregon grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and converted 20 second chance points on the game. With Michigan’s size and physicality, that’s more than it should allow. 

The Wolverines love to run in transition, so schematically, they aren’t sending as many players to crash the defensive glass as other teams would. Trading some extra offensive boards for several open run-outs is a trade they are seemingly willing to make. It’s worked so far, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t strike a better balance. 

Michigan has struggled a little bit from behind the 3-point line recently — with the exception of the loss to Wisconsin — but that wasn’t an issue against Oregon.

The Wolverines shot 9-for-23 from deep, good for 39%. It appeared as though they were being more selective about the 3-pointers they took, which always helps the percentage. They shot less early-shot clock or contested shots and focused on getting in-rhythm looks.

This team has plenty of capable shooters, but its identity revolves around paint dominance. If Michigan can establish a paint presence, the 3-point shooting will follow, and it did a better job of that against the Ducks, particularly in the second half.