NCAA Basketball: Michigan, Stanford, Texas Tech and Northern Iowa takeaways from Battle 4 Atlantis

6th place – Michigan Wolverines

Positive takeaway: Olivier Nkamhoua a reliable offensive option

When Nkamhoua transferred from Tennessee to Michigan, the big question would be whether he could become a consistent double-digit scorer for them to help replace the lost production of Hunter Dickinson. That’s been answered, as he’s second on the team with 17.6 ppg through seven games, scoring 17 ppg in the three Battle 4 Atlantis games.

While guys like Terrance Williams and Will Tshetter have had flashes of scoring potential, they haven’t been as consistent, partly why the team went 1-2 in this event. Michigan can at least rely on its new star duo of Nkamhoua and Dug McDaniel to be effective scoring options to keep them in it, because the defense isn’t helping.

Negative takeaway: Defensive not good enough against power conference opponents

On paper, Michigan looked like a team that could be good on defense. Instead, it’s been the opposite. Giving up 94 points in a loss to Long Beach State proved not to be a fluke, as Texas Tech ran them off the floor in the first half and had it not been for an even worse defense in the field (Stanford), the Wolverines probably wouldn’t have won a game at all.

The early win over St. John’s brought this program some hype and head coach Juwan Howard isn’t technically back as the leader. So there’s definitely some room to grow. But the current rotation needs to find some defensive stoppers or any team that can create can be a major problem for the Wolverines the rest of the season.