No. 10 Michigan Wolverines basketball improved to 10-0 behind an 82-57 blowout of the No. 16 Minnesota Golden Gophers.
Here are five of our biggest thoughts and takeaways coming out of the Wednesday night showdown.
RELATED: Richard Pitino: Michigan Has ‘As Much Talent as Anyone in the Country’
RELATED: 'We Play TEAM Basketball Here At Michigan' — Isaiah Livers
Player of the game: Hunter Dickinson
Michigan freshman center Hunter Dickinson has been outstanding all year long, but many — including us, at times — have tried to pump the brakes on the early success. The Wolverines didn't play a high-major opponent in the non-conference, giving pause as to whether or not Dickinson's play was sustainable.
But through five league games, Dickinson is actually performing at an even higher level, and seems to be getting better by the game. He finished with a career-high 28 points on 12-of-15 shooting, while adding eight rebounds in 31 minutes of action.
It's gotten to the point where Dickinson's ridiculous numbers and stellar play have become routine. He's going to get his, each and every game — double team or not, zone defense or not.
Dickinson has won four of the six Big Ten Freshman of the Year awards that have been handed out — keep in mind the Wolverines did not have a game one of the weeks — but soon enough he'll be winning the league's Player of the Week award (he's probably overdue).
We agree with CBS college basketball insider Jon Rothstein ... the entire country should be taking notice of what Dickinson is doing. Kenpom has him as the No. 5 player in the country, based on its advanced metrics, and we have no doubt if the season ended today that he'd be an All-American.
More on Dickinson below.
Michigan played a flawless second half
The Wolverines outscored the Gophers 50-31 in the second half, after having just a six-point lead at halftime. It was a nearly flawless stanza for head coach Juwan Howard's crew, which made 18 of its 29 second-half attempts, while allowing the Gophers to only hit 12 of their 38 shots. The offense cruised to 1.515 points per possession in the stanza, while not even shooting many threes (2-of-6).
Michigan had control at halftime, but Howard and his staff continue to impress in that they make the necessary adjustments and have their team ready to fire on all cylinders to close out games. In the first 11:43 after halftime, the Maize and Blue outscored Minnesota, 37-8, going on an unheard of run of dominance.
Minnesota is a likely tournament team at this point, and Michigan was able to win going away.
