I'm sure you've heard the saying before you have to crawl before you can walk. You have to walk

before you can run. Now, Michigan men's basketball has not necessarily been crawling through 15

games, but certainly this program is not sprinting at the way that many anticipated at the start

of the season when the Wolverines were ranked in the top 10. But Tuesday's comprehensive victory over Maryland, 83-64,

and a game that the Wolverines never trailed, and they led by as many as 25,

Michigan showed some areas where there is that growth.

There is that steady acceleration that will be needed.

Michigan's energy, its effort level on Friday at

Illinois was one area that we've seen in recent games. In my opinion, I thought it started in the

second half at Rutgers before the COVID-related pause, where we saw that gusto, that oomph,

that wounded dog type of mentality of scrapping and clawing for everything

that you can get. Now, Friday did not result in a victory, and we talked about that throughout

that post-game episode that, yes, it's one thing to be energetic, to be aggressive, but that is a

prerequisite. That is not a deciding factor.

That effort, that energy carried over on Tuesday night, and the execution followed suit.

Michigan shot 58%. They were able to force 13 turnovers, something the Wolverines haven't

done very well this season. They were coming into play

on Tuesday, second of last in the Big Ten at forcing turnovers around 10 a game. And it's one thing

to force turnovers. It's another to actually take advantage of that. And Michigan did. They

were able to score 17 points off those 13 turnovers. The balance that you saw from Michigan with Hunter Dickinson leading the way.

There's no doubt Michigan really missed him in Champaign on Friday.

Dickinson 21.6 rebounds and six assists.

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