This was supposed to start Michigan’s easy stretch.
Hosting Minnesota tonight, the first of four games against Big Ten bottom-division teams, the Wolverines made the task far tougher than necessary.
U-M built a 15-point first-half lead but couldn’t pull away.
That made it dicey in the second half as U-M had to hang on for a 74-69 win over the Golden Gophers at Crisler Center.
In their worst home shooting performance of the season at 37%, well below even the 40% against Xavier, the Wolverines limped to the finish line, shooting 2-for-11 shots as they tried to ice the game.