The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1178918
NOVEMBER 2019 THE WOLVERINE 47 2019-20 BASKETBALL PREVIEW TOP FIVE OPPONENTS IN 2019-20 1. Michigan State MSU was ranked No. 1 nationally in not only Lindy's and Street & Smith's preseason magazines, but also in the Oct. 21 preseason Associated Press poll. The Wolverines will square off with the Spartans twice this season, first Jan. 5 in East Lansing and then Feb. 8 in Ann Arbor. 2. Louisville The preseason prognosticators are high on the Cardinals in head coach Chris Mack's second year on the job, with Lindy's picking them No. 2 nationally and the AP poll slotting them No. 5. U-M will head to the KFC Yum! Center Dec. 3 in what will be a good early test to see where this year's squad stands on the national scene. 3. Maryland The only meeting between the Maize and Blue and the Terra- pins will occur in the regular-season finale, when U-M heads to College Park for a March 8 showdown. Street & Smith's appears to be the highest on Maryland of the preseason pundits, plac- ing it at No. 6 in the nation. 4. Purdue The Boilermakers snuck into the preseason AP top 25 at No. 23 overall, while Street & Smith's pegged them at No. 19 on their list. The two clubs will meet twice this season, with Purdue coming to Ann Arbor Jan. 9 before Michigan attempts to grab its first win in West Lafayette since 2014 when it heads there Feb. 22. 5. Oregon The preseason outlets' viewpoints of the Ducks vary significantly, with the AP poll slotting them in at No. 15, while Lindy's pegged them 20 spots lower at No. 35. Oregon will come to Crisler Cen- ter Dec. 14 for a huge non-conference tilt, bringing preseason All-Pac-12 first-team guard Payton Pritchard with it. BY THE NUMBERS 2 Four-star recruits U-M brought in this season: guards Cole Bajema and Franz Wagner. The former was rated as the No. 98 player in the country, while the latter did not have a numerical rating from Rivals.com due to playing outside the U.S. (Germany). 2nd Is where Michigan finished nationally last year in Ken Pomeroy's adjusted defensive efficiency rankings, sitting only behind Texas Tech. The Wolverines finished third in 2018, with the defense be- ing led by former assistant Luke Yaklich (who left for Texas) both years. 8 Of the last nine seasons U-M has made the NCAA Tournament, with the lone miss coming in an in- jury-riddled 2014-15 campaign. 24 Years of head coaching experience assistant Phil Martelli has under his belt, having served as the head coach at Saint Joseph's from 1995-2019. Juwan Howard had revealed that head coaching experience was one of the main elements he was looking for while in search of the assistants he wanted to bring on board. 30 Victories last season for just the fifth time in school history. Three of those five 30-win cam- paigns occurred under former head coach John Beilein (31 triumphs in 2013 and 33 in 2018). 39.8 Points per game U-M will have to replace following the early departures of forward Ignas Brazdeikis (14.8), and guards Charles Matthews (12.2) and Jordan Poole (12.8) to the NBA. The trio served as U-M's three leading scorers last season. TOP FIVE PLAYERS ON U-M'S SCHEDULE 1. Michigan State senior guard Cassius Winston He has been named a preseason first-team All-American by seemingly every news outlet that re- leases such lists, after taking home the Big Ten Player of the Year award and averaging 18.8 points and 7.5 assists (third most in the nation) per game last season. The Wolverines did not have an answer for the 6-1 guard in their three meetings, allowing him to average 21.3 points and 8.6 assists in MSU's three victories. 2. Penn State senior forward Lamar Stevens He was tabbed as a first-team All-Big Ten performer by the coaches in 2019 after pulling down 7.7 boards per contest and checking in second in the conference for scoring with 19.9 points per game. The 6-8 do-it-all forward could have gone pro following last season, but chose to bring his 1,660 career points (fifth on the school's all-time list) and 104 straight starts (longest active streak in the nation) back to college for one more year. 3. Louisville junior forward Jordan Nwora He paced last year's Cardinals in both scoring (17.0 points per outing) and rebounding (7.6), and was tabbed as the ACC Preseason Player of the Year by the conference media. The 6-7, 225-pounder scored 20 or more points 13 different times last year and took home the league's Most Improved Player Award as a result. 4. Maryland senior guard ANTHONY COWAN He was a unanimous selection to this year's preseason All-Big Ten squad after tallying 15.6 points and 4.4 assists per game in 2018-19. The Wolverines did an outstanding job of containing Cowan last season, limiting him to an average of just 10 points and two assists over the clubs' two meetings. 5. Michigan State junior forward Xavier Tillman He shared the frontcourt with forwards Nick Ward and Kenny Goins in 2018-19, but after their departures he should build on his 10.0-point, 7.3-rebound campaign. The 6-8, 245-pounder was tabbed to the preseason All-Big Ten squad. PHOTO COURTESY MARYLAND