Three takeaways: Michigan storms back from 16-point second-half deficit, beats Northwestern by 12 to earn ninth straight victory

For about 30 minutes of game time on Wednesday night, it looked like Michigan would drop its second game of the season in completely inexcusable fashion. The Wolverines spent nearly half an hour of game time trailing the Big Ten basement-dwelling Northwestern Wildcats, but an explosive ~12 minutes helped U-M to an 87-75 victory.

Five Wolverines scored in double figures, including young bench guards L.J. Cason and Trey McKenney. Below are three takeaways from the second half surge of the Wolverines.

Michigan’s depth wears out Northwestern

For the entire first half and much of the second half, Michigan was being outclassed by Northwestern’s Nick Martinelli, Jayden Reid and Arrinten Page. The Wildcats led by as many as 16 points in the second half, and Michigan was in serious danger.

But as the game went on, the incredible depth of the Wolverines wore Northwestern down. Michigan went nine deep—as it always does—and it got huge contributions from Cason and McKenney off the bench.

The two young guards played a combined 50 minutes and scored 30 points on 8-of-18 shooting, while veterans Roddy Gayle Jr. and Nimari Burnett played just 26 combined minutes, scoring nine points on 3-of-10 shooting.

On a night when Michigan’s vets didn’t quite have it, the young bucks stepped up, and Michigan’s depth prevailed.

L.J. Cason steps up when it matters most

While McKenney was solid, Cason was the story of the night. The sophomore guard from Lakeland, Florida, led U-M in scoring with 18 points, out-performing his average of 7.3 by nearly 11 points. Cason shot 5-of-8 from the floor, 1-of-3 from distance, and 7-of-9 from the free throw line.

Earlier in the season, it was clear Michigan needed more out of Cason and McKenney if it was going to get to where it wanted to go. Burnett and Gayle Jr. have been solid guard pieces alongside Elliot Cadeau, but the emergence of Cason and McKenney has propelled Michigan to its historic 23-1 start.

Perhaps Gayle Jr. continues to see his minutes diminish, or maybe even McKenney or Cason overtakes Burnett for the starting role at some point in the season, but the Wolverines have to be ecstatic with their guard play at this point in the season.

U-M holds a two-game lead over the rest of the conference

If Michigan ends up winning the Big Ten championship outright, remember Wednesday night, Feb. 11. The Wolverines were on the ropes against one of the worst teams in the league. A loss, and U-M would hold just a one-game lead over the rest of the conference—namely, Illinois, which the Wolverines will play later this month.

But Michigan held on to win, meaning at 13-1, it now holds a two-game lead over every other team in the league, with only six games left to play.

Of course, U-M must still go on the road to face second-place Illinois and third-place Purdue, but that’s why the two-game cushion is so important. Dusty May’s squad now has room for error when it comes to the Big Ten title race.

Michigan will host Mick Cronin and UCLA on Saturday afternoon at 12:45 p.m. ET at Crisler Center. The game will air live on CBS.