Bloomington, Ind. -- Maybe Maryland was a fluke. But the two directly dominating performance? This is a trend.
The Michigan men's basketball team defeated Indiana in Bloomington, 80-62, on Sunday, showing the potential that excited many at the preseason.
The Wolverines were active defensively, raining 11 3-pointers, and leaning on their star Big Man.
“I think it’s starting to be Michigan that everyone ranked in the top 10 and picked us to win the Big Ten in the preseason,” said that star big man, Hunter Dickinson.
“I think this is the team that everyone expected when the season started. We are young and we made youth mistakes early in the season. We had a couple of hiccups. Now we're finally starting to play Michigan basketball that Coach (Juwan) Howard is instilling in us every day at practice. Players are performing to the best of their ability."
The Wolverines are now 9-7 on aggregate and 3-3 in the competitive Big Ten. They have a winning streak for the first time since the beginning of December.
Howard deserves a lot of credit. He preached patience with a young, inexperienced rooster. More importantly, he filled his players with confidence in the first half of the season.
Consider Caleb Houston. The freshman, billed as a sharpshooter out of high school and a top-10 national recruit, was going through a 2-for-21 fall from 3-point range. Howard didn't sell him. Heck, he told Houston to "let it fly."
Houston scored three 3s against Maryland on Tuesday, then went 5-for-7 from deep en route on Sunday to a season-best 19 points.
"I think I'm in a pretty good place right now," Houston said.
Terrence Williams II is another great example. Entering Sunday, Sophistication scored a total of seven points in Michigan's last six games (a game he missed due to COVID-19). Against Indiana, he came off the bench and scored 10 points in nine first-half minutes, including two 3's and a tough baseline jumper.
"I wanted to provide something off the bench with my energy and effort," Williams said. "And today the scoring just happened."
Howard said Williams reminds him of fifth-year senior Eli Brooks because of his smart, sensible game.
Michigan led eight at halftime, despite some fouls for Dickinson and starting point guard DeVante Jones, narrowing the margin to 16 within four minutes, preventing any Indiana charge along the way for the rest.
Never caught the ball aggressively, Michigan's guard attacked the paint and passed for an open shot or layup. Dickinson (9-of-12 off the field) looked like an All-American, but he got a lot of help.
"We're executing our plays, executing the system that Coach Howard has set up," Dickinson said. "Guys are hitting shots at the end, shots that weren't going at the start of the season, shots we were hitting last year that led to our success, and it's going to win for us this year."
Howard said it all starts with defense. Michigan challenged most of the shots, holding Indiana 39 percent off the field. Michigan used zone defense for a stretch against the struggling Indiana team. Howard said, "Throwing everything out." "And the kitchen sink."
Howard would not say whether this was the team he envisioned at the start of the season. He wants continuous improvement.
Michigan has shown it in the last two games. Maryland is at the bottom of the Big Ten standings, but the Hoosiers are not. They are right inside it and were 12-0 in the assembly hall this season. They were coming off their fourth win in five games, the No. 4 win over Purdue.
Michigan didn't care about that outcome. According to Howard, it took two great days of practice, and executing a smart game plan.
"We knew this stretch was very important to us," Dickinson said. "We're playing for our season what Coach Howard was saying. This win was right here for our season — I mean, not for our season, we didn't win the Big Ten Championship — but the momentum we have right now, She may go ahead in the upcoming games.