Michigan Basketball: 3 Predictions for Wolverines vs Penn State

Michigan basketball faces its first real challenge of the season Sunday in the Big Ten opener against Penn State. Here are three predictions.

After a five game non-conference schedule, the Michigan basketball team will open Big Ten play Sunday against Penn State and for the first time, the Wolverines will face a high-quality opponent.

The Wolverines faced some decent teams, especially from the MAC during non-conference play but with Michigan basketball’s game against North Carolina State canceled, it left the Wolverines without a game against a top-100 team according to the Kenpom rankings.

While Michigan played four teams ranked between 100-156, Penn State is ranked 51st and is fresh off a 20-point win over 15th-ranked Virginia Tech in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge.

The Nittany Lions also won their last game in the Crisler Center as they defeated Michigan early in conference play last season. However, that team had Lamar Stevens and a different head coach as the Nittany Lions are now led by Jim Ferry.

Penn State ranks 28th in offensive efficiency according to Kenpom and 64th on defense. Myreon Jones and Seth Lundy are two names to know and Jones scored 16 last year in Ann Arbor. He is scoring more than 12 points and dishing out 3.3 assists per game.

Lundy is 6-foot-6 and might as well be Penn State’s Isaiah Livers. He’s scoring 16.8 ppg and making 40.7 percent from 3-point range. He also averages 1.3 blocks but only a few rebounds per game.

Overall, size is going to be an issue for Penn State in this one, especially with the Wolverines new starting center and here are three predictions for Saturday’s Big Ten opener.