In clutch moments, Terrance Williams’ growth comes into focus

But in the game’s clutchest moments, it was Dickinson’s childhood friend — sophomore forward Terrance Williams II — who made a pair of game-winning plays. The duo played AAU basketball together for Team Takeover in Washington, D.C. starting at a young age.

With five minutes left, Williams followed up a missed shot with a game-tying putback layup. A minute later, he did the exact same thing, gracially gliding to the basket and timing his tip-in above the Volunteers’ defense.

Williams’ effort jolted the Wolverines down the stretch, propelling Michigan to its 76-68 win and fifth consecutive Sweet Sixteen appearance.

“In the huddle we talk about him being a dog, being the toughest, nastiest out there,” fifth-year senior guard Eli Brooks said. “And those two rebounds and putbacks were big to keep the momentum going. We know he can do it, and I’m just happy for him.”

Williams’ mundane statline of nine points and three rebounds doesn’t stand out in the box score, but the timeliness of his impact swung the pendulum in Michigan’s favor on Saturday. On a day when Caleb Houstan failed to score a single point in 32 minutes and Brandon Johns Jr. posted a team-worst minus-9 rating, Williams delivered a spark for the Wolverines’ power forward spot.

Williams finished with a team-best plus-14 point differential across 14 minutes. His two putbacks gave Michigan all the momentum, but his steady play throughout the entire game made the biggest difference amid the struggles of Houstan and Johns.

“This has been my guy since, you know, day one, since I started playing (basketball),” Dickinson said, smiling proudly behind a microphone. “He’s a prime-time player. But I don’t care how (many) minutes he plays, or what, my man is going to make winning plays when he’s out there, and he did that today. We don’t win without Terrance Williams II today.”

In the past, Williams has described himself as a “junkyard dog.” His effort is always at a maximum and his motor doesn’t stop running, but his path to consistent minutes has been blocked by some other talented wings over his first two seasons. Houstan, Moussa Diabate, and Isaiah Livers have all helped mold Williams’ jumbo wing game, though, allowing Williams to answer the challenge when called upon.

Over the summer, Williams put in the work to ensure he’d be ready for the moment. He returned to Ann Arbor a month early, paying his own way by making rent outside his scholarship. Juwan Howard told reporters in November that Williams spent the extra time working on his body and jump shot. The former is now a burly Big Ten frame, while the latter is at a 58% clip from beyond the arc this March.

On Saturday, the results of Williams’ extra work spoke for themselves. And as the Wolverines brace for a Sweet Sixteen matchup against No. 2 seed Villanova, his contributions will only become more important.

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