Michigan Basketball Can Save Season vs. Michigan State
Michigan basketball took a thorough beating from Indiana earlier this week, but the troubles can be saved with a home win against Michigan State.
I know Michigan is sitting at a respectable 7-3 in the Big Ten, and all but one game has been played without Caris LeVert, but we saw against Indiana on Tuesday night that the Wolverines are out of steam against top opponents.
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Fortunately for Michigan, the Spartans have been known to play down in this game for whatever reason, even if the Wolverines aren’t having the greatest of seasons.
We’ve seen it more than once: Michigan goes into this game with a lot of question marks and disappointment, then leaves with a huge win.
That’s what needs to happen on Saturday.
Michigan benefited largely from playing a very weak conference schedule through the month of January. A good showing during a demanding three-game stretch against Purdue, Maryland and Iowa seemed to point to a team that was going to be OK without LeVert, but unimpressive wins against inferior teams left many wondering if this was for real.
A devastatingly poor performance against the Hoosiers set us back to reality.
We’ll have a more dedicated preview for Saturday’s game, but there a few things Michigan absolutely has to do against Michigan State, and a few things the Wolverines should be a little nervous about.
If the Wolverines are going to get this season back on track, and if LeVert is going to be unavailable again, there’s a lot riding on the shoulders of Zak Irvin. He’ll be drawing tough assignments for most of the game on the defensive end with freshman Deyonta Davis (6-foot-10, 240 pounds) and redshirt freshman Kenny Goins (6-foot-6, 225 pounds). They’ll both being seeing time at the 4 spot, starting with Davis, and LeVert is going to have to stretch them when Michgian has the ball.
If he can do that, the Spartans will be forced to go smaller and forfeit some of their power on the offensive end.
Along those same lines, Michigan is going to have to hope its interior defense is better equipped for this matchup. The Spartans feature good low-post talent with Davis and senior Matt Costello, and West Virginia transfer Erron Harris is great off the dribble.
Michigan’s guards have struggled to keep the ball in front of them, and it was especially obvious against the Hoosiers. I don’t think those struggles will be as apparent against a Michigan State team that’s going to try to feed the ball into the post more often, but the Spartans probably aren’t going to feel very limited on offense.
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There’s obviously more to cover, and we’ll hit on it in our preview, but suffice it to say Michigan cannot afford to drop a second straight game against a quality opponent.