Michigan Basketball: 3 predictions for Wolverines against Indiana

Wolverines will frustrate Indiana superstar Langford

To put it simply, Romeo Langford is one of the best players in the country and he is likely going to be playing in the NBA next season. However, he’s not the first guy like that Michigan basketball has faced this season and for the most part, the Wolverines have done pretty well.

Maybe the best example for taking on Indiana was North Carolina which always has big-time NBA talent and did again this season with Coby White and Nassir Little. Luke Maye and Cameron Johnson are other very solid players with pro potential and Michigan basketball dominated defensively, holding the Tar Heels to 67 points.

Maye was 4-of-12, White was 6-of-12 and the super athletic Little was 1-of-5, while Johnson was 2-of-6. Michigan also held Villanova’s Eric Paschall to 10 points on 3-of-13 shooting from the field. Purdue’s Carsen Edwards, maybe the top scoring guard in the Big Ten, scored 19 points against Michigan basketball but needed 21 shots to do it and made just seven.

Michigan isn’t going to stop Langford. No one has this season as he hasn’t scored fewer than 12 points all year. He’s also only shot under 50 percent from the field a handful of times, but the Wolverines can keep him in the 40s. I’d expect Charles Matthews to guard him and force him to take outside shots (Langford shoots 21 percent from 3). With Jon Teske inside, if Langford does get to the bucket, he will have to shoot over the 7-footer.

Beyond that, Langford gets to the line a lot and Michigan fouls at a much lower rate than most teams and Teske is especially good at defending the basket without fouling. Langford will probably score 15-20 points, but as long as he doesn’t go off and as long as he takes a lot of shots to get there, it will be a win for the Wolverines.