We could potentially be looking at this year's national champions. Dusty May's Michigan Wolverines are an otherworldly 25-1 overall and a mind-blowing 15-1 in Big Ten play. Outside of a three-point home loss weeks ago to Wisconsin, this team would be perfect. However, now is not the time for Michigan to take its foot off the gas. They have a huge non-conference game vs. Duke on Saturday.
It will be a clash of top-three teams in the country, as No. 1 Michigan will take on No. 3 Duke at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. in on Saturday evening. The winner of this game may very well end up with the top seed in the entire NCAA Tournament. While Michigan is still riding high after a thoroughly convincing road victory over Purdue, it should be noted that work worked vs. them may not vs. Duke...
In Michigan's 91-80 win over the Boilermakers in West Lafayette, the Wolverines essentially played bully ball with Matt Painter's team ... in the paint. While Purdue did cut into the rebounding deficit in the second half, Michigan had its way on the offensive glass in the first half. Michigan out-rebounded Purdue 39-31 in their most recent matchup. Unfortunately for Michigan, Duke is elite around the rim.
Since Duke cleans up along the defensive glass, Michigan has to make every shot attempt count.
Michigan must be prepared to get rather physical with Duke in the paint
This is one of those matchups where yes, you want to do everything in your power to defeat your opponent, but you also do not want to reveal too much. After all, this could be a potential Final Four or national championship game matchup. Every little thing you leave on tape will be studied millions of times over. That being said, it does seem that this year's national champion shall win with brute force.
In a day and age where everybody and their brother feels comfortable enough to take a shot from well beyond the arc, are you willing to get dirty in the paint? Michigan and Duke are two teams that are cut from the same cloth. What is important to know is other teams in the Big Ten like Purdue and especially Nebraska, do not seem to be about that. Michigan can do it all, but not everything at once.
As long as the Wolverines hold their own on the glass, take quality shots from the floor, and do not get into foul trouble, they should be able to beat Duke on a neutral floor. According to FanDuel Sportsbook, Michigan will enter play a 2.5-point favorite over Duke. The associated moneylines are Michigan -176 and Duke +146. The projected point total for this ballgame is 148.5 combined points.
Michigan can definitely improve to 26-1 on the season past Duke, but it has to play them differently.