There were high expectations for Hunter Dickinson coming into this season.

It's going to happen when you're a consensus top 50 recruit and one of the best centers in America,

committing to someone who's had his fair share of success in the front court during his playing days in Joanne Howard.

We saw plenty of positives from Hunter and the team as a whole on Wednesday night in the convincing win over Bowling Green,

but that was part of a comprehensive victory with

plenty of help from others and not a whole lot of debate about the result for much of the

contest. This on Sunday was different. Michigan was teetering, Oakland was gaining confidence.

Michigan was turning over the basketball. Oakland was taking advantage. And then Hunter

Dickinson took over, scoring or assisting

on 26 of Michigan's final 35 points. He wasn't just part of a dominant win. He was the reason,

the primary reason Michigan rallied to win in overtime. And Dickinson did it in so many ways.

Great passes, timely

rebounding, key free throws, and of course, plenty of great offensive moves in the paint.

When Hunter committed to this program, no one would have blamed you if you thought about

performances like this, even expected performances like this at some point in his career.

But to get it in game number two, that's pretty darn impressive.

The sky is the limit for this young man, and he showed off his immense potential when the

Wolverines desperately needed it.

We'll hear from Hunter Dickinson and his head coach here on our post-game edition of Defend the Block.

We're talking Michigan basketball. Welcome to Defend the Block, where we'll take you inside

the basketball programs with interviews, analysis, and so much more. Now is your host, Brian Bush.

My three other takeaways from this one, an 81-71 overtime victory for the Maze and Blue

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