Juwan Howard credited Colorado State for making the first-round game in the NCAA Tournament difficult on the Michigan Wolverines, especially early.

“You talk about stagnant, because they had a great defense,” Howard told CBS Sports’ Jamie Erdahl after the game. “They’re a very competitive team, they’re also a very skilled team, well-coached.”

Howard was then asked what he told his team at halftime to cause the Wolverines to have such a dramatic improvement in the second half.

“Get back to our habits,” he said. “Defensively, we had to do a better job against that 3-point line, Also, offensively had to take our time, we gave them too many possessions, 9 turnovers, as well as overall they sped us up, and what’s been our meat and potatoes has been our insider play. Our guys really rallied together led by Hunter Dickinson.”

It was Dickinson, who had 21 points, 6 rebounds and 4 blocked shots for Michigan (18-14), which outscored Colorado State 46-27 in the second half and shot 60 percent from the field after halftime (15-for-25).

Early in the game, Michigan looked like a team without its point guard, as DeVante’ Jones was out with a concussion. The Wolverines scored 13 points and made 8 turnovers in the opening 13 minutes.