Michigan Basketball: 3 bold predictions for Wolverines vs Maryland
Maryland won’t shoot like last time
A big key for the Wolverines tonight is going to be their defensive effort. We still don’t know if Eli Brooks is going to play, although Phil Martelli said on Monday he wasn’t in a boot, but he also didn’t say that Brooks was going to play.
Phil Martelli calls Eli Brooks' status "hour by hour" and he "had sneakers on today. I don't know that he's ruled out for tomorrow night but he's not ruled in."
— Dylan Burkhardt (@umhoops) January 18, 2021
Not only is Brooks the best perimeter defender on the Michigan basketball team, he’s one of the best in the conference and he was desperately missed against Minnesota. His 3-point shooting and offensive impact are also greatly underrated.
Even without Brooks, I wouldn’t expect Maryland to knock down 13 shots from 3-point range as it did in the first matchup, although Donta Scott could give Dickinson problems again.
The Terps are just 13th in the Big Ten in scoring and they are 8th in 2-point field goal percentage, as well as 13th in 2-point makes and 14th in 2-point attempts.
Just as Maryland will defend the Wolverines differently, I’m sure Michigan will make some adjustments and force Maryland into tough 2’s. The Terps will hit some 3-balls, but I expect the number of makes to be about half as many as game one.