Without their best player due to a stomach bug, with their backs against the wall in the NCAA tournament picture,

and in front of a hostile crowd for the first time in two weeks, the Michigan Wolverines

earned their most important win of the season 7569 to close out the regular season at Ohio State.

And sure, Michigan won this game over a gritty, 40-minute performance in

Columbus. But Michigan also won it by channeling the type of effort they showed in a Hunter

Dickinson-Liss loss at Illinois back in mid-January. That was a turning point for this team.

Many players have said as much in terms of effort. And this game might be a turning

point in terms of effort resulting in wins against anybody they play in any environment they're in.

Michigan won this game by sticking with the freshman Kobe Buffkin as he continues to grow as a young,

slender but uber talented player who had his biggest moment in the

mason blue with that huge three in the waning moments. Michigan won it by allowing Devante Jones

to grow into his role over the course of this season as an up transfer from coastal Carolina

and the Sunbelt, a good mid-major league, but still not quite the

Big Ten.

Devante's growth has been a marvel to watch, and he had some ridiculous plays, and he is a vocal

leader for this team.

30 games are in the books, which is the full regular season sample size for the Wolverines

this year, but it is such a small part

of the total body of work for a team during the course of a year. I mean, after all, that for

Kobe Buffkin was his 35th triple try in a real game, and that happened to be really the dagger

in this Michigan win on Sunday. You know he's averaging way more than 35 attempts a day on average

since arriving in Ann Arbor.

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