Michigan Basketball: Odds, a prediction and how to watch vs Lipscomb

Michigan basketball is back on the court Saturday after more than a week off against Lipscomb. Here’s a look at the odds, a prediction, and how to watch. 

The Michigan basketball team has been off since last week’s win over Minnesota and hopefully, the Wolverines enjoyed the rest because the schedule is about to ramp up.

Saturday will be the final buy game of the season for Michigan basketball as the Wolverines will host Lipscomb, a team ranked 200 in the Kenpom rankings right now.

Michigan is 44th at 6-3. Lipscomb is 7-4 and ranked 200th. It doesn’t have any super impressive wins but the Wolverines don’t really either. The Bisons did nearly upset Notre Dame on the road and shouldn’t be intimidated by Crisler.

Lipscomb is also an interesting mid-major as they have a couple of solid players down low and are going to attempt a lot of shots in the post. Hunter Dickinson is going to do the same but he’s going to have to play solid one-on-one defense on  Ahsan Asadullah, who is fresh off a 21-point, 15-rebound effort.

The Bisons don’t run a ton of ball screens according to Dylan Burkhardt of UMHoops and are ranked seventh in the country in terms of post-up plays.  Jacob Ognacevic is another name to watch. He’s a 6-foot-8 forward and the best offensive player for Lipscomb.

Ognacevic is scoring 16.9 points per game and shoots 60 percent from the field. He can score in the post and also attack the basket.

It’s a big matchup for Terrance Williams and the Wolverines. Ognacevic is only shooting 20 percent from 3-point range this season but is actually a 44 percent career shooter, so U-M can’t sleep on that part of his game either.

For Michigan basketball, a big focus will be Dug McDaniel. He knocked down three treys in his first career start against Minnesota and if he keeps shooting well, he’ll be just fine. He’s clearly athletic enough and handles the ball well enough to be a really good point guard in the Big Ten.

I predicted before the season that he was going to end the run of transfer (starting) point guards and I’m hopeful he can lock down this position potentially for the next four years.

I’ll be watching him closely and the ball-screen game between McDaniel and Hunter Dickinson. Youssef Khayat got some run and played well against Minnesota. His defensive energy is welcomed and if he can shoot the ball well consistently, he should find minutes.

At any rate, here’s a look at the odds, as well as a prediction and how to watch for Michigan basketball vs Lipscomb.

Michigan basketball vs Lipscomb Odds

The Wolverines are listed as a 13.5-point favorite against Lipscomb according to Fan Duel. The over/under is 148.5. The money line for Michigan basketball is -1250 and plus 740 for the Bisons.

(odds are subject to change)

Michigan basketball vs Lipscomb predictions

I thought the win over Minnesota was the best that Michigan has played so far this season. The Gophers might be the worst team in the Big Ten, but going into that arena and winning with ease hasn’t always happened for the Wolverines, even in down years for the Gophers.

But Michigan basketball needs to build on that. Juwan Howard needs to get his rotation sorted out because the game in Charlotte against North Carolina is a must-win, at least if this team wants to avoid being near the bubble for the entire season as it was in 2021-22.

Lipscomb isn’t a great defensive team and ranks 251st in adjusted defensive efficiency according to Kenpom. They play through the post on offense but that doesn’t mean they can stop Dickinson. I also think McDaniel will shred their defense and find a lot of open shooters.

I’m going to say Michigan shoots the ball well from deep against one of the worst 3-point defenses in the country (316th) and that will lead to an 85-65 win for the Wolverines.

Michigan basketball vs Lipscomb how to watch

Tip-off time is set for 4 p.m. (EST) The only option to watch is the BTN+ streaming service. You can listen to the radio broadcast at mgoblue.com.