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Michigan Basketball: 3 things to watch against Buffalo

By Sean ODonnell

Michigan basketball forward Caleb Houstan is interviewed during media day Friday, Oct. 15, 2021 at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor.Umbballmediaday 101521 2
Michigan basketball forward Caleb Houstan is interviewed during media day Friday, Oct. 15, 2021 at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor.Umbballmediaday 101521 2 /
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Syndication: Detroit Free Press
Syndication: Detroit Free Press /

It’s no secret that Michigan Basketball has a lot of hype heading into the 2021 season. The question that everyone is asking is will that hype persist into 2021 or will the Wolverines underperform?

We’ll get an early glimpse into where the Wolverines stack up against competition early on against the Buffalo Bulls. This is a Buffalo Bulls team that is coming fresh off a short stint in the NIT losing in the first round.

Evidently, there is a lot of unknown variables and factors with the Michigan Basketball team. Here are some highlighted key things to watch against Buffalo Wednesday night.

1. How impactful will Caleb & Moussa be?

Michigan basketball is featuring the 2nd best class in the country built by two 5-Star PF’s Caleb Houstan and Moussa Diabate who are battle-tested and ready to go.

Houstan was a shining star for Team Canada in the U19 Fiba World Cup averaging a monstrous 17 points, five boards, and two assists while leading Team Canada to a Bronze Medal victory against Serbia.

We saw Houstan play 24 minutes against Wayne State putting up 10 points shooting 3/7 from the field while snatching five boards in the process. He had a decent performance and played a big role in getting defensive rebounds which Michigan struggled with getting at times.

He most likely will be starting the game Wednesday against the Buffalo Bulls and it will be important to Michigan’s success for him to step up and make plays if he does indeed start.

Moussa Diabate had an even more impressive performance last week against Wayne State scoring 14 points off the bench in just 17 minutes shooting 6/9 from the field.

Moussa who was ranked the 5th best PF and the 16th best recruit in the class hails from Arcadia, Florida where he was a phenom for the infamous IMG Academy playing alongside incoming Wolverine recruit and Juwan Howard’s son Jett Howard.

With Moussa’s amazing performance off the bench, you can expect Caleb to start the game and Moussa to come off the bench again. It’ll be interesting to see how both the freshman perform on Wednesday.

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