Three takeaways from Michigan's win over Buffalo
Michigan raised their Big Ten championship banner to the rafters of the Crisler Center Wednesday night, but there was no championship hangover evident. In the first half, at least. The Wolverines rode an excellent first 20 minutes to a 88-76 victory over Buffalo, a respectable opponent for a season-opener given Buffalo’s second-place MAC finish last season. My three takeaways from Michigan's first win of the season:
Recruiting services are good at what they do, a.k.a the five-stars looked like five-stars
Forward Caleb Houstan, a Rivals five-star and the eighth-ranked player in the 2021 class, played with the kind of silky-smooth athleticism you'd expect from a player with that profile on the offensive end, and with polish a bit beyond his years on the defensive end. Houstan finished with a team-high 112.9 ORtg on 4-of-7 shooting inside the arc and 2-of-4 shooting outside the arc on 14.3% usage. He also appears to have head coach Juwan Howard's trust. When the game grew close in the second half, Howard leaned on Houstan even more; Houstan played 10 minutes in the first half and 17 in the second.
Fellow freshman forward Moussa Diabate also flashed tremendous potential, though his role was opposite that of Houstan; as the game grew closer, Diabate played less (10 first-half minutes vs. 6 second-half minutes). Diabate may have a longer road to travel to earning minutes in a close game, but he's clearly going to be a matchup nightmare for most of the Big Ten. His length and quickness (i.e. closing speed) stood out on the defensive end, as did a 12.4% block rate. Offensively he's going to create space for other players, and those players need to be ready to receive a pass; he finished third on the team with three assists. Diabate also had the second-highest fouls-drawn rate on the team, second only to Dickinson, but again, there's work to be done: he hit just one of four free throws.
Terrance Williams II may not have started, but he was every bit as important as a starter
It's hard to capture what Williams II did in a box score, but we'll try anyway: 15 points, including 2-of-3 from deep, and 7 rebounds in 29 minutes. Everything he did was timely; his three-pointer with 5:18 remaining pushed Michigan's lead to 75-67 and looked like the dagger that ended Buffalo's chances.
Harder to capture was his post positioning and the way that deterred passes to the paint and shot attempts from close to the basket. If Williams II has made the leap it appears he has, Michigan has an embarrassment of riches at forward.
The defense passed the look test in a way the final score doesn’t indicate
Buffalo struggled offensively in the first half, shooting 37.1% on field goals and a dismal 12.5% on 16 attempted 3-pointers. Michigan’s length and athleticism gave them problems; on 39 first-half possessions, Buffalo attempted six layups.
The game started to turn in the second half as Buffalo began to hit floaters and other contested midrange shots. The Bulls went 15-of-28 (54%) on non-layup field goals, many of which were taken with a body on the shooter and a hand in their face.
Forward Jeenathan Williams was the primary culprit--and also the engine that made Buffalo's offense run. Williams finished the night with 32 points on 14-of-22 shooting. He attempted two shots near the rim the entirety of the game, and none after the 12:20 mark of the first half. Instead he was content to throw up seemingly bad shots; the question is whether Michigan's defense will have to adjust how they cover midrange shooters or whether, after watching the film, teams will even attempt those shots.
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