Michigan sneaked by Oakland Sunday in a much too close for comfort overtime win, riding big man Hunter Dickinson to victory. The freshman center sat the first nine minutes of the second half before the coaches decided to put him in the middle of the zone, where he carved up the Golden Grizzlies with his passing and shooting.

To that point, U-M looked like a bumbling, lower-tier Big Ten team, turning it over 20 times. Sophomore Franz Wagner struggled on offense for the second straight game, senior guard Mike Smith got in trouble and none of the point guards could guard anyone off the dribble.

“[We learned from] adversity and how to deal with some situations when you are down in the game and you've had a game before where you played well and aren't down before,” head coach Juwan Howard said. “Playing 1-3-1 zone and how to withstand those situations on resiliency and keeping composure. I think that was a big key of how we are able to figure out how our team looks when pushed to the corner.

"It was great to see where our guys were from the standpoint of keeping composure and fighting through tough stretches.”

He liked that his team held Oakland to 32.8 percent shooting in the 81-71 win, and how they protected the paint. He thought his team was scrapping for loose balls and liked that the Grizzlies had only six, second-chance points

.“Everything will come back to turnovers, turnovers, turnovers (20 of them), but it was great to see and I loved the defensive edge we played with,” Howard said.

But they’ll need to be better to beat the good teams on the schedule. Even Wednesday night’s opponent, the MAC’s Ball State, is capable.

So U-M will have to be better from the get-go, and that means getting off to a good start with the best lineup on the floor. That should include Dickinson, whose 19 points Sunday only told part of the story. His passing from the post and his defense were also critical.

“Hunter is still growing. There are still a lot of areas he and his teammates can improve on,” Howard said. “But the beauty of coaching him is he embraces the opportunity of being coached and wants to get better. Early on, he’s just scratching the surface.”

He’s putting more pressure on him to reach the next level of his game quickly, he added, noting his frosh has the potential to be one of college basketball’s best big men.

"That’s the goal he’s developed, to become one of best,” Howard said. “He knows he has a lot of work to do. He’s not there yet, but it’s great to see game by game he's improving.

“I love everything about him, but like any player, there’s always room and areas to grow. I love that fact that he's a competitor, has a high IQ, plays well with his back to the basket. He’s a great passing big man from the high or low post.”

And it’s his time to shine. Fifth-year senior Austin Davis is a worker and can provide some minutes to spell Dickinson, while junior forward Brandon Johns is the small-ball five.

Dickinson is the future, however, and he’s proving he’s ready now.

NOTES

• Wagner has yet to make a three-pointer in two games and is shooting only 40 percent from the floor overall, but he’s defending well and averaging 9.5 rebounds per game.

“We played two games this year and hopefully, God willing, one game at a time … but if the season continues as planned, we’ll have a lot more games to be played,” Howard said. “With two games, I’ve been very impressed with how he's competed on the floor.

“Yes, every player wants offense, but what we've seen from Franz, what he's done, how he's approached the game … it’s been very special how he's given to the team and found ways to affect the game and help us win.”

• Frosh Terrance Williams provided a spark last game with seven points and four rebounds in 14 minutes. He always seems to be in the right place and has high basketball IQ.

“Terrance Williams is a competitor … that's why I recruited him hard and wanted him to be part of our Michigan family because of how he competes, his knowledge of the game and being a high IQ player.”

Williams made only one of his five free throw attempts. After the game, he was spotted on the floor practicing them before the lights went out.

“That was not scripted, not coach driven where I asked him to shoot them after the game. He did that himself because he’s a very prideful person ... knowing how he’s wired, he probably felt he let his teammates down by missing free throws,” Howard said. “He and all teammates are all wired that way.”

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