Just two games into the young season, the Michigan basketball team found itself on the ropes on Friday night at Little Caesars Arena against the Eastern Michigan Eagles. The Wolverines were down at halftime, but a 19-point second half from Hunter Dickinson lifted Michigan over its opponent.

Free throw shooting proved to be a struggle early on, as the Wolverines were just 6-14 from the charity stripe in the first half, and that played a big role in a three-point first-half deficit. Emoni Bates and Noah Farrakhan led the way for the Eagles, and Michigan was firmly on upset alert.

Dickinson dominated in the second half, though, and he brought the Wolverines back into the game and held off the Eagles from making a late comeback. The 7-footer finished with 31 points on an efficient 13-17 shooting in the win.

Michigan won the game, but Juwan Howard was quick to assure that there are many lessons to be learned, even in the wins.

"You can learn a lot just from a win, instead of just a loss," Howard said in the postgame press conference. "We knew coming in, with an atmosphere like that, that it was going to be a game of runs."

Howard went on to give credit to Bates and Farrakhan, who combined for 49 points in the loss.

"With a special talent that they have, not just one player, but two players, I mean, Noah Farrakhan, he's another special guy who can make tough shots," said Howard

"Our guys did an amazing job of just having the mental stability," Howard said. "When the runs were in Eastern Michigan's favor, we were down, we could have easily just faulted, and we didn't."

Michigan may not have anticipated such adversity this early in the season, but Hunter Dickinson credited the unity of his team which helped the Wolverines pull out the win.

"The biggest thing was us just sticking together," Dickinson said. "Staying solid. Playing as a team. Obviously they have two really good players, but it wasn't just a two-on-two game. It was a matter of all of us helping out and playing as a team."

The big man also gave credit where credit was due to Bates and Farrakhan, who, Dickinson admitted, made some really tough shots, but the team's unity is what he believes helped them to the win.

"Obviously you don't want to give up 83 points in the game, but when they're making tough shots like that, you just got to... stay the course."

Despite the adversity which resulted in a near loss, Dickinson said it's great for the team to have a tough battle on a neutral floor early on in the season.

"It's great for us to have this test early on," Dickinson said. "Especially when we come out with the victory. You don't always have to learn with losses, you can learn with wins, too. So, I think it's great for us to go out there and have that test early on because every game is not going to be easy."

Terrance Williams said after the game that he and Dickinson, as leaders, wanted to step up in the second half to lead the team to victory.

"Me and Hunter, we definitely took that to the heart," Williams said. "We're the senior leader veterans and coach looks to us when times are rough, which it was, I mean, we were down at half, so we just had to come out and bring energy as leaders and I feel like we did that."

Michigan (2-0) will head out of state for the first time of the season next week for the Legends Classic in Brooklyn, New York. It will take on Pittsburgh on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

Pending various results, the Wolverines will take on either VCU or Arizona State in the second game of the classic. That game would tip off at either 7 p.m. or 9 p.m. on Thursday night.

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