Three takeaways from Michigan's win vs. UNLV
UNLV’s campus is located just two miles from T-Mobile arena, but it was Michigan that got the loudest ovation of the night as Moussa Diabate was fouled and proceeded to make both free throws with four seconds remaining in the game. Michigan fans are known for travelling well but Michigan’s men’s basketball team did the same, staving off a tough UNLV squad that seemed to run out of gas with about four minutes left in the second half.
Eli Brooks had an outstanding night, finishing with 22 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including 4-of-7 from deep and 6-of-6 from the free throw line. He helped space the floor and pace the offense, but there were a few other things that stood out tonight:
Moussa Diabate can impact every area of the game
What Diabate does goes beyond his stat line, and that says a lot for someone who can stuff the sheet with relative ease. A good example came with 11:00 remaining in the second half. UNLV inbounded the ball baseline to the corner, and from the corner lobbed a pass for a wide-open look from behind the arc on the opposite wing. Diabate closed on the open 3-point shooter but slid too far, and seeing that Diabate had slid past him the UNLV player drove to the basket. Diabate recovered, closing on the shooter and blocking his layup from behind.
It’s a nice summation of the potential and what’s already showing through in practice. As Diabate continues to refine how he throws his body around--he picked up an offensive foul trying to get post position--he will become an even more important piece of what this basketball team becomes. For now, just imagine what he could do once he gets better at setting screens when used on the shot roll similarly to how Michigan uses Dickinson.
Even Diabate’s stat line shows some of the up-and-down of his game: 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting (excellent), 2-of-6 free throws (could use work), four offensive rebounds and three defensive rebounds (excellent), three personal fouls (could use work), two blocks and a steal (excellent) all in 21 minutes.
Confidence stock check: Brandon Johns, arrow up; Caleb Houstan, holding steady
Johns had his best short stretch in recent memory to open the second half. Associate head coach Phil Martelli noted that Johns was working on reestablishing his confidence when he met with the media this week, and it looked like Johns had done that in the first six minutes of the second half. He made his mark near the hoop, a good way to build overall confidence while working to regain it in his jump shot. Johns was fouled on a second-chance dunk and hit the free throw. He then blocked a shot 20 seconds later, then had about one notable event each minute before being subbed out: first there was a missed hook shot, then a made layup on the fastbreak, then an offensive rebound. Overall, an efficient seven-point, two-block evening.
Houstan was told by Martelli to keep shooting and that’s exactly what he did, but the results were similar to his subpar night against Seton Hall. Houstan finished with five points on 1-of-8 shooting. The bad news is that he’s getting open looks and his shot just isn’t falling. The good news is that, with Brooks and Dickinson and Diabate, he should continue to get open looks. It’s clear that the coaching staff thinks his best chance at turning the corner is to keep shooting, and he didn’t blink when given opportunities. He should be fine as long as he doesn’t start passing up good looks.
Michigan was better positioned to contain offensive rebounds
Offensive rebounds have been a point of emphasis in practice and an issue of concern on the whole this season. Michigan had allowed double-digit offensive boards to every team they had faced until tonight; UNLV was close but finished with nine. As far as the eye test, it looked to me like Michigan’s players did a better job of making contact tonight, and as the game slowed and UNLV played more out of the half court Michigan did an even better job on the glass. Michigan allowed just three offensive rebounds in the second half and four second-chance points; as to the pace of the half, UNLV scored zero fastbreak points in the final 20 minutes. It seems Michigan gets position well when they aren’t hurried, but this is still an area to keep an eye on.
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