We often think of John Beilein as a offensive-minded coach, and for good reason--his best West Virginia teams were notable for their scoring efficiency based on low turnovers, lots of threes, and back-cuts leading to high-percentage twos. Beilein never put an elite defense on the floor at West Virginia, and the Mountaineers actually played much better defense after he was replaced by Bob Huggins. It's offense, we often think, that is the key to success for a John Beilein team.

In Beilein's first three seasons at Michigan, his patented offense never really took off, mostly due to poor shooting accuracy. With a young team this season, the offense is still sputtering at times, strongly evidenced by the first half of last night's contest against North Carolina Central. After 20 minutes, the Wolverines had made just 2 of 16 from three (13 percent) and had scored just 0.84 points per possession. Paired with a slow tempo, the result was an ugly 23-19 Michigan lead at the break. But let's say that again--Michigan scored 0.84 PPP and had a lead. This Michigan squad is defending like no major conference Beilein squad has defended before.

The second half brought much better shooting for the Wolverines, and they finished with a 64-44 blowout win. Tim Hardaway Jr. finished with 11 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and no turnovers, while Jon Horford played his second straight productive game off the bench with 9 points (3 shots) and 9 rebounds (7 offensive!) in just 15 minutes.

For the game, Michigan scored 1.14 points per possession, a solid result thanks to their 12 percent turnover rate, but the real impressive stat was the 0.78 defensive efficiency--NC Central's worst output of the season. This Michigan squad is winning with defense, as they've allowed only one opponent (Harvard) to surpass a point per possession this season. That defensive streak will be put to the test in Michigan's next game, as they host highly-efficient Oakland on Saturday. That Oakland team, if you haven't heard, just pulled off an upset at Tennessee and has played Michigan State, Purdue, and Illinois fairly well.

Tonight brings a doubleheader on the Big Ten Network. At 5:30pm CT, Ohio State looks to defeat yet another Sunshine State school as they host Florida Gulf Coast. Then, at 7:30pm CT, Minnesota hosts an Akron squad that can actually match up with the Gophers inside, at least in terms of height.

- Posted by Mike Portscheller