3 Predictions for Michigan Basketball against Northwestern

Big night for the bench

In Michigan’s six Big Ten games, the Wolverines rank 12th in 3-point attempts but are now up to fifth in the conference in terms of 3-point percentage.

Houstan and Dickinson have been a big part of that. Caleb is shooting 42 percent from deep in league play and Dickinson is at 38 percent.

We know that Northwestern is going to give Michigan some catch-and-look 3’s tonight and I’m counting on Terrance Williams to hit a couple. I also think Brandon Johns is going to have another solid effort off the bench and maybe even a trey for good measure.

I swear every time Johns hits a first-half three ball, you know Michigan is going to win. It’s probably not statistically valid but I felt good after his corner shot in Indiana.

In addition to Johns and Williams, I think we’ll see about 8-10 points from Kobe Bufkin and Frankie Collins as the bench scores 20-25 points total.

Northwestern won’t be an easy win. Moussa Diabate will need to do a stellar job on Nance who is a versatile offensive threat and can do it all, including shoot. The pick and roll defense will also be essential and the professor will need to be on his game defending  Boo Buie.

Even if Brooks doens’t break out of his “slump” tonight, as long as he does his job defensively, the offense should be just fine.

Prediction: Michigan 80, Northwestern 67