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Michigan Basketball: 3 predictions for Wolverines against Villanova

By Chris Peterson

SAN ANTONIO, TX - APRIL 02: Head coach John Beilein of the Michigan Wolverines reacts against the Villanova Wildcats in the first half during the 2018 NCAA Men's Final Four National Championship game at the Alamodome on April 2, 2018 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
SAN ANTONIO, TX - APRIL 02: Head coach John Beilein of the Michigan Wolverines reacts against the Villanova Wildcats in the first half during the 2018 NCAA Men's Final Four National Championship game at the Alamodome on April 2, 2018 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)
(Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images) /

Michigan basketball will take on Villanova Wednesday night, on the road and here are three predictions for the Wolverines and Wildcats.

It’s hard to believe because football season isn’t over, but the Michigan basketball team has its first significant game of the season Wednesday night and it just so happens to be a rematch of the 2018 National Championship game.

The rematch will take place in Philadelphia, as the Wolverines try to enact some sort of revenge for the loss in the title game last April, while also getting a jump on 2018-19.

So far, things haven’t gone great for the Wolverines. Michigan basketball beat Norfolk State easily enough but didn’t shoot the ball well at all in the win. Then came Holy Cross last Saturday. Michigan scored just 18 points in the first half and had to rally to win 57-38.

Despite getting two wins, Michigan’s offensive stats are not good. The Wolverines are scoring just 59.5 PPG and shooting 36.4 percent from the field. Both of those numbers rank outside the top 300 in Division I college basketball.

Obviously, the loss of 3-point shooters Moritz Wagner, Duncan Robinson and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman has hurt the Wolverines. Charles Matthews and Ignas Brazdeikis have been the top scorers so far, but others like Jordan Poole and Zavier Simpson need to step up.

It’s hard to judge a team based off two games and you can bet that John Beilein will have his team ready to go Wednesday night. But will it be enough? I’ll answer that and more with three predictions.

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