Michigan Basketball: Keys, prediction and how to watch vs Pittsburgh

Michigan basketball faces its first high-major opponent tonight in New York as the Wolverines battle Pittsburgh. Here are keys, predictions, and how to watch. 

The Wolverines will be back in New York tonight, although not at Madison Square Garden, as Michigan basketball will take on Pittsburgh in the Barclay Center.

Michigan is playing in the Legends Classic. It also features Arizona State and VCU. The two winners will play tomorrow night, while the losers will play a consolation game.

As far as Pittsburgh is concerned, the Panthers are 1-1 but are fresh off a 25-point loss to West Virginia. Their best player who wasn’t on the floor for that game is John Hugley IV who is a top-100 prospect that hasn’t played yet this season.

Nelly Cummings, the point guard, fouled out early against West Virginia and the Panthers really struggled without him. However, if Cummings is able to stick on the floor and if Hugley can be effective, this could be an interesting game.

Michigan basketball is a 9.5-point favorite according to Fan Duel and here’s our breakdown with three keys and a prediction.

(Odds are subject to change)

Michigan basketball keys vs Pittsburgh

Feed Hunter Dickinson

This should be a key in every game for the Wolverines. Pittsburgh has more size than Michigan’s first two opponents but the Panthers have struggled to defend the rim and Hugley coming back shouldn’t change that much, at least as far as Dickison is concerned.

Hunter is scoring 26.5 points and is making 78 percent of his field goals. Dickinson hasn’t attempted a 3-pointer yet but is shooting 90 percent of his free throws. I think he’ll make a trey tonight but for Michigan to win, they need to feed him the ball in the post early and often.

Shoot the 3-ball better

So far, the Wolverines have struggled to shoot the 3-ball. They made nine triples against Purdue Fort Wayne and just five against Eastern Michigan. Jaelin Llewellyn and Kobe Bufkin haven’t made any perimeter shots yet and neither has Dickinson. However, Jett Howard, Terrance Williams, and Joey Baker have shot the ball well but that’s not going to be enough.

Bufkin is looking better and is averaging 9.5 points per game but it would be great to see him hit some treys too. We also haven’t seen Llewellyn hit any 3-pointers. They are both 0-for-6 and through two games 28 percent from beyond the arc isn’t good enough, especially with Hunter Dickinson.

Play better defense 

The first game was a positive for the Wolverines but Emoni Bates tore up the Michigan basketball defense and Eastern Michigan scored well over a point-per-possession when defending ball screens according to UMHoops.

Michigan struggled in those situations last season and it will be interesting to see how the Wolverines defend tonight. Perimeter defense was a major issue last season and this roster just doesn’t have a defensive stopper. In fact, you could argue that Michigan has a defensive liability at almost every single position.

Hunter Dickinson is getting better but he’s never going to be great at defending ball screens. He’s never going to be Jon Teske. Juwan Howard is going to have his work cut out for him but the key is getting guys like Jett Howard, Williams, and Bufkin to at least be average defenders. We’ll see how it goes tonight. There is potential though.

Michigan basketball vs Pittsburgh prediction

Pittsburgh is ranked 100th overall in the Kenpom rankings. Michigan basketball is ranked 29th. It’s hard to feel confident in the Wolverines after struggling against Eastern Michigan.

I’d expect Michigan basketball to play better, especially on defense on Wednesday night. The Wolverines love the bright lights of New York City and after seeing the results of not playing well in the first half last week, I expect a solid performance and for U-M to cover the spread.

How to watch Michigan basketball vs Pittsburgh

Michigan basketball will play Pittsburgh Wednesday night on ESPNU at 6 PM EST. It can also be streamed on Fubo TV.