The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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NOVEMBER 2018 THE WOLVERINE 51 2018-19 BASKETBALL PREVIEW 1. Michigan State (Feb. 24 and March 9) The Spartans and Wolverines appear to be the top two teams in the conference, so this matchup tops the list. The ri- vals will play twice in a two-week span late in the year — Feb. 24 in Ann Arbor and March 9 in East Lansing — with heavy Big Ten title implications likely at stake. 2. Maryland (Feb. 16 and March 3) The Terrapins will be one of Michigan's top competitors for the conference crown, so there should be plenty to play for in both late-season meetings between the two. U-M will end the regular season with consecutive road games at Maryland and MSU, and how well it performs in those two contests could either make or break its Big Ten championship hopes. 3. Indiana (Jan. 6 and Jan. 25) The Jan. 25 contest in Bloomington will be unique in that it will be played on a Friday night. The Jan. 6 visit from the Hoosiers, meanwhile, will be just the fourth league game of the season, and should be a good litmus test to see where both teams stand. 4. Ohio State (Jan. 29) Although the Buckeyes don't expect to challenge for the league crown in 2018-19, this is too impactful of a matchup to leave off the list. The only negative aspect is that the two foes will only meet once this year, making the Jan. 29 showdown in Ann Arbor all the more meaningful. 5. North Carolina (Nov. 28) No, there won't be any Big Ten title implications or anything of that nature on the line, but it will still be an electric atmo- sphere when the Tar Heels, a top-10 squad in nearly every preseason poll, come to town for the Big Ten/ACC Challenge Nov. 28. Both programs figure to be either at or near the top of their respective conferences, which should give us a very early feel of where each of them stands in the national scene. Last year, UNC came out on top 86-71 in Chapel Hill. — Austin Fox BY THE NUMBERS 3 Was Michigan's final national rank in KenPom. com's adjusted defensive efficiency margin (adjusted for opponent). That was the best fin- ish in John Beilein's 11 seasons at Michigan, topping 2012-13, when U-M boasted the 37th-ranked defense per KenPom. 4 Four- or five-star recruits Michigan signed in the class of 2018. That was the first time in the Rivals.com era (since 2002) that U-M added more than three such recruits in a single group. The most recent class tops the vaunted 2012 class that included a pair of four-stars in Mitch McGary and Nik Stauskas and a five-star in Glenn Robinson III (plus three- stars Caris LeVert and Spike Albrecht). 14 Percent was Michigan's turnover per- centage last season. That stood as the fourth-best mark in the country. Since Michi- gan had the best turnover percentage in the nation in 2013-14, the lowest ranking the Wol- verines had posted was No. 17 (2017-18). 15 Victories in a row for U-M before falling to Villanova 79-62 in the national championship game. From Feb. 7 to April 1, the Wolverines did not lose a single game. Nine of those wins were by 10 points or more. 16.6 Points per game scored in Michigan's five NCAA Tournament victories by redshirt junior CHARLES MATTHEWS. Matthews is U-M's leading returning scorer (13.0 points per game) and played the second-most minutes (30.1 per contest) of anyone on last year's team. According to Street & Smith's, who picked him as one of college basket- ball's established stars: "Matthews has shown the athletic ability necessary to play strong defense and get to the hoop. If he improves his shot, he'll be a big-time scorer." 49.9 Percent of Michigan's scoring last year came from Mortiz Wagner (14.6 points per game), Muhammad-Ali Abdur- Rahkman (12.9) and Duncan Robinson (9.2), all of whom are not on the roster this season. One of the biggest questions this season is how the Wolverines are going to replace nearly half of their scoring pro- duction. 1,011 Three-pointers were attempted by U-M last season, the sixth most in the country. While the Wolverines only shot 35.7 percent from behind the arc in 2017-18, which ranked 136th nationally, they shot more threes than nearly every other team. However, they must replace their top three in terms of three-point percentage, makes and attempts, and departed players accounted for more than 60 percent of last year's makes (64.0 percent, 231) and attempts (60.2 percent, 609) from deep. — Andrew Hussey 2018-19 MICHIGAN ROSTER No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Class 0 David DeJulius G 6-0 190 Fr. 1 Charles Matthews G 6-6 205 R-Jr. 2 Jordan Poole G 6-5 195 So. 3 Zavier Simpson G 6-0 190 Jr. 4 Isaiah Livers F 6-7 235 So. 5 Adrien Nuñez G 6-6 205 Fr. 11 Colin Castleton F 6-11 210 Fr. 13 Ignas Brazdeikis F 6-7 215 Fr. 15 Jon Teske C 7-1 260 Jr. 23 Brandon Johns Jr. F 6-8 225 Fr. 24 C.J. Baird F 6-5 220 So. 32 Luke Wilson G 6-0 170 So. 44 Jaron Faulds F 6-10 225 So. 51 Austin Davis F 6-10 245 R-So. 55 Eli Brooks G 6-1 185 So. TOP FIVE OPPONENTS IN 2018-19 PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL