Michigan Basketball: 3 Predictions for Wolverines against Indiana

The defense will keep building

Over the last four games, the Wolverines have allowed every opponent to score at least one point per possession. However, the number has been dropping.

Michigan allowed 1.28 to UCF and then 1.11 to Rutgers, followed by 1.09 to Illinois and 1.0 to Maryland. The Maryland number would be more impressive but Michigan basketball was terrible in the second half and nearly allowed the Terps to make a game of a blowout.

But Maryland scored about half a point per possession in the first half which allowed U-M to build such a big advantage. Can that be duplicated Sunday?

One thing about Indiana is that it appears to be a solid matchup on paper. The Hoosiers only make six 3-pointers a game and while they have shooters in Parker Stewart, Xavier Johnson, and Miller Kopp, those shots won’t be there if Michigan can defend the paint.

And if there is one thing this team should be able to do with Dickinson and Moussa Diabate it is defend the paint. Diabate will have his hands full with Race Thompson but he’s not much of a shooting threat, at least from beyond the arc and neither is Jackson-Davis.

Combined Indiana’s starting big men are 3-for-28 from 3-point range. So the Hoosiers have to score inside to win this game. There isn’t a wing or a guard who is going to create constant havoc with individual playmaking or attacking the basket. Xavier Johnson is good but the Wolverines should be able to keep him in check.

Their intensity has been much better defensively and led by Dickinson down low, the Wolverines will hold Indiana under a point per possession on Sunday.