Michigan Basketball: 3 predictions for Wolverines against Creighton

Defense will lead the day

If you aren’t used to playing against someone like 7-footer Jon Teske, it can be intimidating and you see him impact teams all the time with his size, athleticism and length.

It will be interesting to see how Juwan Howard employs Teske. Last week, he was more around the basket as a rim protector and you didn’t really see him taking on point guards in the pick-and-roll as he did at times under John Beilein.

While it might seem like a mismatch, Teske has incredible feet and does well, keeping guards in front of him. He’s also hard to shoot over due to his length, so watch how he is utilized.

Simpson is another guy that sets the tone for the defense along with Eli Brooks. Livers will need to play well too, There were signs last week but the defense wasn’t consistent for 40 minutes and had some poor stretches late that allowed App State to make a comeback.

The offense might still be a work in progress and that’s OK, as long as the defense shows up in a big way tonight.