5 takeaways: Michigan basketball's stunning comeback at Northwestern

After going up 5-0 at Northwestern, it looked like it was going to be Michigan basketball's night. Then it appeared as if it would be anything but.

The Wildcats went on a 12-0 run early in the game, and every time the Wolverines made some kind of run, the defense got stagnant, while the offense got nothing going. All the way to the 14:22 mark in the second half, Northwestern had a 16-point lead, and it appeared as if the game was all but over.

But the defense tightened, and the maize and blue went on a 12-2 run to get the game back into striking distance, and then, they eventually took the lead and cruised from there -- stunning the Michigan-heavy crowd in Evanston.

The Wolverines won 87-75. Here are our five takeaways.

Northwestern's foul trouble started Michigan's resurgence

Michigan found itself in the bonus relatively early in the second half and eventually in the double bonus. That meant that the Wildcats couldn't play nearly as aggressively as they had in the first half.

While the Wolverines struggled at times from the free-throw line, when the Northwestern offense struggled, it allowed the maize and blue to keep adding points and eventually get back into it.

Second-half shooting eventually got back on track

The Wolverines shot just 35% from the floor in the first half, and while the first five-plus minutes of the second weren't much better, Michigan eventually figured out the Wildcat defense and rolled. Michigan went on a run of 11-of-12 from the floor, while Northwestern went on a bit of a lull.

Sparked by backup point guard LJ Cason, who had 13 points in the second half, leading all Wolverines, Michigan was able to climb back into the game and ultimately win it.

Cason led all Michigan scorers with 18 points.

Missed layups were a major problem

Michigan is usually very good down low, but this game got out of hand early because the maize and blue couldn't hit anything around the rim. The Wolverines were 10-for-23 in layups in the game, but due to some major aggression on the boards (47 rebounds to Northwestern's 30), the maize and blue were able to get that many extra chances.

Considering the woes from 3 not making up the slack (Northwestern started hot but ultimately cooled way down), the Wolverines needed to start figuring out how to score down low. And in the second half, they did.

Unselfishness saved the day

When Michigan went on the 11-for-12 field goal run, the Wolverines were scoring pretty much everywhere. And that was due to being unselfish with the basketball.

The maize and blue finished Wednesday with 21 assists compared to Northwestern, which had 14. It wasn't like they weren't consistent throughout the game -- the Wolverines had 10 assists in the first half -- but it just took that long for the shots to start falling. And when the going was tough, they weren't sharing the basketball like they were when they were firing on all cylinders.

Another great example of Michigan persevering

As noted on the broadcast, the Wolverines didn't just have their biggest deficit at 16 points with 14:22 remaining, the 12 points down in the first half, and the nine-point deficit at halftime were also Michigan's biggest drought at any point this season.

But, unlike the win over Nebraska, where the maize and blue only led in the first couple of minutes, and with a minute remaining, they came back with seven minutes remaining. The Wolverines are learning how to deal with adversity in a way during the regular season that will pay dividends come tournament time.

This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Michigan basketball takeaways: Wolverines erase deficit to beat Wildcats