Michigan basketball is preparing for a scary second-round matchup against a Saint Louis team that dominated eighth-seeded Georgia, scoring 102 points on Thursday.
That doesn't mean that the game will be close. But the Wolverines, despite winning by 21, only led Howard by four points at the half, so it's not like Michigan is firing on all cylinders.
It's hard to complain about scoring 101 points. Michigan shot 46 percent from 3-point range, assisted on most of its field goals, and shot 68 percent on twos.
The Wolverines would take that kind of performance against Saint Louis on Saturday in Buffalo. Yet, with the five-out offense employed by the Billikens, slowing them down won't be easy either.
Saint Louis is fifth in total field-goal percentage in college basketball (51.2 percent), while leading college basketball in defensive field-goal percentage (37.7).
As I've said, though, the A-10 isn't the Big Ten. Saint Louis will have to make shots over Yaxel Lendeborg, Aday Mara, and Morez Johnson. Saint Louis also has to defend those players.
With that in mind, here are three areas Michigan needs to exploit.
Attack the rim
That's one of the areas where Michigan needs to take advantage. It needs to make some 3-point shots, yes. But Saint Louis is 143rd in college basketball in blocks per game. Robbie Avila is a nice rim protector in the A-10, but can that defense hold up against Michigan? Can the Billikens keep the Wolverines out of the paint? Can anyone guard Elliot Cadeau?
That all remains to be seen, but the Wolverines should be aggressive in getting the paint, and into the post, and attacking. Fans are right to worry about Michigan defending Saint Louis, but the Billikens have to play defense, too.
Own the offensive glass
Michigan has been up-and-down on the offensive glass this season, but there was a stretch before the LJ Cason injury where they had a slew of games with a 40-percent offensive-rebounding rate (or higher).
Saint Louis allows 10.8 offensive rebounds per game. That's outside the top 200. With Michigan's size, it should be able to take advantge, and it needs to, in order to gain an edge.
Force them to die by the three
Saint Louis is going to make some 3-pointers. It might even make 12 or 13. Wisconsin made 16. Howard made 14. Those teams still lost.
Michigan shouldn't play with fire. It can't give out open 3-point looks. The one thing that it has going for it is length. The Wolverines are a bigger team than Saint Louis is used to. They need to force difficult shots, whether that's from the 3-point line or inside of it.
Don't concede 3-point shots. But stay on the ground, shrink the floor, and keep players in front of you. Saint Louis is going to fire up 3-point shots, just challenge them, rebound, and move on to the next round with a win.