Fab Five Takeaways: Michigan Flashes Firepower In Blowout Of Wildcats

No. 16 Michigan Wolverines basketball improved to 9-0 with an 85-66 win over No. 19 Northwestern Sunday night at Crisler Center.

Here are five thoughts and takeaways from the blowout win.

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RELATED: Michigan Destroys Northwestern, 85-66, To Improve to 9-0 On The Year

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Freshman center Hunter Dickinson has won six of these awards so far this season. But don't look now: Sophomore wing Franz Wagner is emerging after a slow start to the season and has taken home our Player of the Game honors two of the last three outings.

Yes, Dickinson played a very good game (more on that later), but Wagner is becoming who many thought he would be coming into the season, which is the best player on Michigan's roster and the most talented guy on the floor in most games the Wolverines play. He was both of those things Sunday night, scoring 14 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, while adding career-highs in assists (five) and blocks (five).

He played great defense, having to guard on the inside and the perimeter while going up against Northwestern junior forward Pete Nance. This wasn't Wagner's best game in a Michigan uniform — the game at Purdue last season comes to mind, among a few others — but he was fantastic, and he's now strung together three-straight outstanding performances.

Just before Christmas and coming off a 12-day break in action for Michigan, Wagner told the media that, while he was not disappointed with his play through six games, he wanted to be more aggressive offensively. He has done that now in the last three outings, taking 12.7 shots per game after averaging just 6.7 attempts per contests while easing himself into the year and struggling at times with his shot.

Wagner is just one of many weapons the Wolverines can throw at their opponents.

Northwestern, a solid defensive team that ranked No. 51 nationally in defensive efficiency coming into the game, really had no answer or any magic formula that would've allowed it to slow down Michigan's offense. When the Maize and Blue are hitting their shots, they're almost an unstoppable force, with the team's offense now ranking seventh in the country in efficiency. They connected on 50 percent of their looks overall and 44 percent of their three-pointers (which hadn't even been a strength coming into the game).

The three-point offense was especially impressive, with Northwestern only allowing opponents to shoot 29.5 percent from long range entering the contest. Michigan's offense was swinging the ball furiously and unselfishly, always making the extra pass and passing up shots they can make for shots they can't miss. The Wolverines' offense has been very good throughout the entirety of the season so far, but this was its best performance by far, scoring 1.269 points per possession on the night.

What makes Michigan so hard to guard?

There's guys all over the floor that are a threat to score and most of them can at every level of the defense (long ball, mid-range and in the paint) — which is reminiscent of the 2016-17 club that featured Derrick Walton, Moe Wagner, etc. — while also being able to dish it to the open guy when needed.

Early on, Northwestern came hard with double-teams on Dickinson — and rightfully so, with the freshman routinely eating opposing defense alive. But Michigan just made adjustments — and got extremely hot from deep — making it irrelevant that the Wildcats tried to take him away.

Five different Michigan players scored in double figures, and six hit three-pointers. As Big Ten Network analyst Robbie Hummel said during the game when it was apparent Northwestern would be taking a loss, head coach Chris Collins might as well throw the game tape out, as they'll likely not play a team that hot the rest of the season.