Michigan Basketball: 3 things to watch vs Penn State
Michigan basketball will take on the 9-10 Penn State Nittany Lions at 9:00 PM ET on Tuesday. The Wolverines currently sit at 5-5 in conference play after their loss to Purdue.
Unfortunately, the Wolverines fell short against a very good Purdue team. However, Michigan basketball gets a short “break” of sorts against Penn State after going back to the gauntlet that the Big Ten is this year. To emphasize Penn State is a very good team, however, Penn State is a team that should not give Michigan too much of a struggle.
Historically, Penn State has not been a basketball school by any measurable. The Wolverines have had some troubles here and there with the Nittany Lions but never too much difficulty.
However, we know if any team is going to struggle against Penn State it will be this team. Let’s dive deeper into some key things to watch during this Big Ten slugfest.
1. Can Michigan shoot the ball effectively
Michigan seems to have some spell when they play good teams where they are just inept when it comes to shooting threes. We did see a lot of progress against Purdue as they actually had a higher field goal percentage and came up just short.
Michigan basketball has to start consistently shooting the ball well, and that starts with Caleb Houstan and Eli Brooks. The keyword is consistent, these two pop off at random times but never can provide a consistent stretch of efficient shooting. Hopefully, they can start against Penn State
2. Can others besides Hunter Dickinson contribute offensively
It seems the past few weeks almost the whole offense has become the Hunter Dickinson show and for good reason. Hunter’s a complete game changer and such a polarizing player that he draws all the attention and still finds a way to put the ball in the hoop.
Michigan needs some guys to be able to facilitate the ball or at minimum shoot the ball well. DeVante Jones has really stepped up lately becoming a good mesh for his role, however, it’s just simply not enough. They must perform now or else I am afraid they won’t have another chance to do so.
3. Michigan needs to get things together defensively
I don’t know too much about defensive sets and schemes when it comes to Basketball, but what I do know is that Michigan makes small mistakes that turn into big mistakes on the defensive side of the ball. Whether that’s biting on the pick and roll too hard, over pursuing, or pressing too hard down the court, teams seem to easily find a way to score on Michigan.
Next. 3 takeaways from loss to Purdue. dark
The Wolverines need to figure out what’s going on defensively because they’re allowing nearly 70 points per game, and if the offense is not clicking and you can’t rely on the defense, the game gets out of hand which is exactly what we’ve seen in games such as vs MSU and vs UCF.