3 Keys and a prediction for Michigan Basketball vs Rutgers

Michigan basketball will face Rutgers on Wednesday night without head coach Juwan Howard. Here are three keys for the Wolverines and a prediction. 

The Michigan basketball team opens a critical four-game homestand tonight against Rutgers and as challenging as the stretch run was always going to be, it’s more difficult now that Juwan Howard has been suspended for the last five games.

Phil Martelli is taking over as head coach and both Saddi Washington and Howard Eisley are going to play key roles in essentially calling the defense and offense respectively.

Rutgers beat Michigan basketball earlier this season and is quietly 10-6 in the Big Ten, compared to the Wolverines who are 8-7. Michigan basketball has to win three of its last five games to feel good about making the NCAA tournament and that starts tonight with a must-win game.

Here are three keys and a prediction for Michigan basketball vs Rutgers.

1. Hunter Dickinson has to dominate

This is pretty simple but Michigan basketball needs Hunter Dickinson to have a big game tonight. He needs a performance like what we saw against Indiana or Purdue. Heck, in the first game against Rutgers, Dickinson went off for 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting.

However, the Wolverines were 3-of-15 from beyond the arc and Rutgers made 10 3-pointers. It wasn’t Michigan’s night.

This time around, Dickinson needs to set the tone immediately and help get Michigan the lead. If he can score down low, it will create open looks and while it hurts to not have Moussa Diabate and Terrance Williams, there are enough guys capable of hitting shots.

They just need to do it. First things first, Dickinson needs an All-American type of performance in Michigan’s most important game of the season up to this point.