Three takeaways from Michigan's tight 80-76 loss to North Carolina

A scuffle between Michigan and North Carolina with just under seven minutes to play in the first half completely shifted the momentum of the game, and the Wolverines weren't the same. The scuffle resulted in four technical fouls given to Michigan's Dug McDaniel and Hunter Dickinson and North Carolina's Caleb Love and Armando Bacot.

The Tar Heels responded is a more positive way, closing the first half on a 19-7 run to take a seven-point lead going into halftime.

Michigan couldn't make up the lost ground in the second half, and North Carolina was able to escape with a victory. Here are three takeaways from the tight battle.

Not often do basketball teams win when their best player doesn't play to their full potential. And that was proven true once again on Wednesday night when Hunter Dickinson played, perhaps, one of his worst games in a Michigan uniform.

The 7-footer, who is typically a force in the paint, was completely silenced in Charlotte as North Carolina's Armando Bacot stole his lunch money. Bacot looked like the all around better player on Wednesday, and Dickinson couldn't get anything going on either side of the floor.

Dickinson fouled out late in the game with nine points on 3-9 shooting with eight rebounds. Meanwhile, Bacot finished with 26 points on 11-15 shooting.

Going forward, Dickinson will need to be much better, as the Wolverines head into Big Ten play. He's dominated the conference two years in a row, and not every Big Ten team features big men like Bacot, but against players like Zach Edey, Dickinson will need to be at his best.

All offseason, Michigan fans heard rumblings about Kobe Bufkin showing tremendous signs of improvement, as the sophomore reportedly added 20 pounds of muscle. Through the season's first month and a half, Bufkin has absolutely lived up to the hype.

Bufkin finished Wednesday night's loss with 22 points on 7-10 shooting, 2-3 from behind the arc and 6-7 from the charity stripe. It was Bufkin's second consecutive 22-point game, and the 6-foot-4 guard has really come into his own through 11 games this season.

Bufkin proved his ability to stuff the stat sheet against the lesser opponents, but his ability to put together a 22-point night against the preseason number one team in the country is not something to be taken lightly.

Heading into Big Ten play, Bufkin will look to keep this momentum going as he continues to prove his worth to Juwan Howard's team.

Before the season began, Michigan knew it wasn't going to be an easy non conference schedule. The Wolverines hosted top-five Virginia, went to London to take on top-20 Kentucky and just played preseason number one North Carolina.

The Wolverines showed great signs of grit and determination in each of those three games, but they were unable to win any of them. A two-point loss to Virginia, a four-point loss to Kentucky and a four-point loss to North Carolina now all plague Michigan's résumé.

If Michigan wants to make the NCAA Tournament and have a chance at reaching its sixth straight Sweet 16, it will need to start winning some of these marquee games. The Big Ten isn't exactly filled with dominant teams, so chances won't be easy to come by, but an early opportunity awaits.

Michigan hosts current top-ranked Purdue on Jan. 26, which would be a huge résumé builder for a team that could very well need all the help it can get when March rolls around.

---

Discuss this article with our community on our premium message boards

Not a subscriber to Maize & Blue Review? Sign up today to gain access to all the latest Michigan intel M&BR has to offer

Follow our staff on Twitter: @JoshHenschke, @Berry_Seth14, @TrevorMcCue, @DennisFithian, @BrockHeilig, @JimScarcelli, @DavisMoseley, @lucasreimink, @JaredHalus

Subscribe to our podcasts: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify

Check out Maize & Blue Review's video content on YouTube

Follow Maize & Blue Review on social media: Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram