Jett Howard discusses freshmen taking the next step, growing up for Michigan

Michigan outlasted Northwestern at home Sunday defeating the Wildcats in a back-and-forth ball game 85-78. The Wolverines got a big boost from some of their freshman players on Sunday, including freshman guard Jett Howard who ended the night day with 16 points. Following the game, Howard spoke about the growth of Michigan’s freshman class and how they’ve evolved throughout the season.

“Yeah from what I can see I feel like everybody’s on that page. I communicated with T Reed (Tarris Reed) down the stretch like man we gotta go, we just can’t be passive, we have to be aggressive,” Howard said. “We don’t want to come in here with our heads down again, it’s not a good feeling. I feel like we’re all growing up each game and we’re getting better adjusted to the Big Ten.”

Michigan’s win on Sunday snapped a streak of two straight conference losses for the Wolverines, but it did not come easy. Sunday’s game versus Northwestern had eight lead changes and seven ties, but 48 point scoring barrage in the second half helped propel them to victory.

The Wolverines’ second and third leading scorers on the night were freshmen, with Dug McDaniel scoring a career-high 17 points and Howard scoring 16 points of his own. Howard was fresh off of a career game prior to their matchup with Northwestern, scoring 34 points in their overtime loss to Iowa.

Howard has scored in double figures in all but two games this season for the Wolverines and feels like the game is starting to slow down more and more for him as he continues to embark on his stellar freshman season.

“I feel like part of it is experience because I see some of the other guys on the other team that are more experienced at the guard position. They’re a little bit more calm and smarter down the stretch than we are, and I feel like we had to flip that for us to be successful,” Howard said.

Howard ranks second on the team in points per game averaging 15.5, which also ranks ninth in the big Ten conference and second amongst Big Ten freshmen only behind Ohio State‘s Brice Sensabaugh.

Howard, McDaniel, and Reed have played big minutes for the Wolverines so far this season, and seem to be adjusted to the pace and play of the college level. And hopefully for Michigan, they can continue to grow and contribute to the teams success this season.