Fresh off a defeat in Maryland on Thursday, the Michigan Men's Basketball team returned home to play the lowly Minnesota Gophers. This was a Golden Gophers squad who they pummeled in Minneapolis back in December. On paper it would be another easy win, but the realities are rarely that easy, especially with a team as up-and-down, as firmly mediocre as Michigan. It wasn't that easy today, but Michigan got the win they needed, a close and ugly game that was completely devoid of offense for a while. 60-56 is not the prettiest score in the world, but 5-3 in conference play is the only number Juwan Howard really cares about today. 

To say the first half was a visually unpleasant twenty minutes of basketball would be an understatement. Michigan was sleepy out of the gate, down 10-2 by the under 16 media timeout, gifting Minnesota easy looks inside and missing tough shots. When Minnesota scored to go up 16-6 with just over seven minutes gone in the first half, few would have known that they would amass a total of seven points the rest of the half. While it was Michigan who was ice cold in the opening third of the half, the script would quickly flip and the Gophers would go dark on offense. Across a stretch lasting over 17 minutes of game time from the mid-first half into the early second half, Minnesota would score ten total points. 

That period gave Michigan a window to get their offense going, which did pick up but not at any sort of clip to create separation. The Wolverines began digging out of their first half hole when Tarris Reed subbed in, getting a couple scores at the rim and a pretty Will Tschetter spin move trimmed the lead to eight. Michigan's scoring was concentrated around the paint in the first half due to cold perimeter shooting, starting 0/6 from beyond the arc and never really finding a rhythm in there. The hosts pieced together an 8-0 run with Dickinson back on the floor, pulling to within one score of the Gophers late in the first half when injury struck: Jett Howard rolled his ankle after he came down on the foot of a Minnesota player inside. He was instantly in severe pain and had to be helped off the floor. He would not return. 

[Marc-Gregor Campredon]

The Jett injury was a tough blow to an already struggling offense, but they managed to finish the "comeback" and tie the game before halftime. A Dickinson hook shot went down to tie it at 23 with 39 seconds remaining in the half. Minnesota's Jamison Battle missed a three but Dug McDaniel's floater was off the mark and the score was even at the break. The box score at halftime was not safe for children to view, with the two teams shooting 36% and 33% from the field. Michigan was 1/8 from three, while Minnesota was 2/10. The teams combined for just 20 made FGs to 12 TOs. The leading scorer for either team was Dickinson with 8. Oof. 

Dawson Garcia of Minnesota opened the second half with a made three, but Michigan stitched together an 8-0 run to take their first real lead of the game. Dickinson's two layups and a score from Joey Baker put the Maize & Blue ahead 31-26 and they seemed poised to stretch the lead further when Baker picked off a pass and had an easy dunk opportunity ahead of him. Instead, Baker went for a layup, missed it, Minnesota snatched it down and fed Battle, who swished a 3. Next time up the floor, the Gophers got it back in Battle's hands and he tied it at 31. That sort of game. 

The teams traded scores for a few minutes, but a 10-2 Michigan run gave the home team a sizable lead back. Dug McDaniel stepped out from a ball screen and knocked down a trey, and then Dickinson cashed in an and-one on the next time on that end of the floor. The combination of McDaniel and Dickinson each got another bucket to finish off the run, but Minnesota wasn't going away. Battle and Garcia each made shots to trim the lead back to three, 45-42 with seven minutes remaining. There was a caveat for Minnesota, though, as Garcia came down awkwardly after a made three in the corner, hobbling off the floor in pain. He'd return to the game, but would not be nearly as effective as before (that three would be his final make of the day). 

[Marc-Gregor Campredon]

After Ta'lon Cooper made a pair of free throws, the score sat 47-44 with five minutes remaining in the game, Michigan having been the better team in the second half but needing to put it away. For that they'd turn to Hunter Dickinson's dominating size inside. HD would get hacked on consecutive possessions and went a perfect 4/4 at the line on the ensuing free throws, bolstering Michigan's lead to seven. Cooper made a pretty two point jumper for the Gophers, but Terrance Williams II answered with a driving layup and after a Battle three was off the mark, Kobe Bufkin took the ball up the floor and scored. Michigan now led 55-46 with 3:02 remaining, forcing Ben Johnson to call timeout. 

Minnesota wasn't done fighting, but they were running out of time. No one scored for a minute after the timeout, due to another Gopher miss and Michigan running a full thirty seconds off the clock. Joshua Ola-Joseph canned a three to end the drought, but Minnesota still trailed by six with 1:49 remaining. Michigan fed Tarris Reed on the baseline, and the Gophers were eager to foul him and put the big man at the line. Reed, currently incapable of making free throws, missed them both. Battle took the ball up the court, slashed inside, flipped it to Pharrel Payne, who laid it in. 55-51 with 1:15 remaining. 

The visitors were content to let Michigan burn another 30 seconds off the clock on a possession that ended with Dug McDaniel missing a shot. Minnesota put the ball in Cooper's hands and he drove inside on Will Tschetter, inserted for Reed, who took the impact. Initially it was ruled a charge but upon review, referees determined that Tschetter's foot was inside the restricted area. Changed to a block, Cooper went to the line with a chance to trim the lead to a one-score game. He succeeded in that, but only went 1/2, so Michigan led 55-52 with 35 seconds left, a 6-0 Gopher run. Michigan went to inbound the ball, but before they could, Battle hip-checked Tschetter, being called for a flagrant intentional foul. Michigan would get two free throws and the ball, a crucial mental mistake. Tschetter swished them both, but Michigan turned it over on their ensuing possession. Minnesota thus had a window, but a Battle three was unsuccessful. 

[Marc-Gregor Campredon]

That proved to be the last gasp for Minnesota, as Williams made a free throw to boost the lead to 58-52 with 20 seconds left. Minnesota wouldn't stop getting their makes, but Michigan passed through the press easily enough and Kobe Bufkin made his free throws, avoiding a truly dicey situation. The horn sounded as a meaningless Cooper layup went down, and Michigan had a 60-56 win. 

This was not a pretty game, but Michigan will take a win. Their defense played solidly, though offense did not have a day to remember. That is, except for Hunter Dickinson. The starting big scored 23 points on 7/14 from the floor and more importantly, a clean 9/9 from the stripe. Perimeter shooting was absent all game except for Dug McDaniel, who was responsible for Michigan's lone two triples (they were 2/14 for the game). Bufkin and McDaniel added double digits each, but no one else scored more than five points. As a team, the Wolverines shot 37% from the floor(!), but holding Minnesota to 40% was enough to get it done thanks to a huge edge in made FTs (14 to 4). 

Michigan is now 12-8 on the season and 5-3 in B1G play, tied for 2nd with Rutgers (well behind 8-1 Purdue). They get a chance for a signature win on Thursday at home against the league-leading Boilermakers. That game is scheduled for 9:00 pm EST and will be broadcast on FS1. 

[Click the JUMP for the box score]