Jett Howard raves about Dug McDaniel following performance vs. Nebraska
Jett Howard admitted Michigan didn’t have its best day on offense against Nebraska, notably because of 13 turnovers. But there’s one person who doesn’t deserve much blame.
In fact, he needs an apology.
“I’ve got to apologize to my point guard today,” Howard told Big Ten Network’s Robbie Hummel. “I made him look pretty bad out there.”
That point guard is Dug McDaniel, who had 14 points and four assists to help propel Michigan to the 93-72 victory over Nebraska. McDaniel, like Howard, is in the midst of an impressive freshman season, leading the Wolverines in assists while ranking second in steals and fifth in scoring.
Howard pointed to the progress McDaniel has made throughout the year and how it’s impacting the Wolverines for the better.
“He’s progressing every single game,” Howard said. “He’s a leader on and off the floor, he’s starting to tell guys what spots to be in. It’s crazy. He’s growing up right in front of my eyes. We came in together, but he’s basically a grown man now, the way he’s conducting the whole team.”
Wednesday night’s game against Nebraska was truly filled with runs — none bigger than a 17-5 Cornhuskers run to end the first half. Howard said the Wolverines’ defense was the problem in that instance, but all in all, he said Michigan handled itself well.
“I think we played good,” Howard said. “I think we came out really strong. We weren’t as sharp on the defensive end. That’s what caused the comeback. But overall, I think we did good.”
Juwan Howard reveals how Michigan responded to Nebraska run before halftime
Michigan took a commanding lead over Nebraska early in the first half and appeared to be in good position to go to the locker room. But the Cornhuskers responded with a 17-5 run to end the half and cut the Wolverines’ lead to 12 points — and Juwan Howard noted the mistakes his team made.
Howard said after the game some turnovers helped get Nebraska back into it after Michigan took a 41-17 lead. However, he addressed it in the locker room and he was happy with how his team responded en route to the resounding 93-72 win.
“Overall, I was disappointed with the run at the end of the [first] half because I felt that we started to play the scoreboard,” Howard said. “Those were some uncharacteristic turnovers. I look at it like, ‘Hey, when you make turnovers like that, simple plays with guys not locked in, they’re looking away from the ball, they’re not moving to the ball,’ doing the basics. Sometimes, those teams that you got up early on, those are the types of plays that can really hurt you at the end.
“We addressed that at halftime. The guys took ownership of it, which was the best thing. Then, we came out in the second half, we just wanted to focus [on] trying to keep them out of the paint.”