Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Tonight, it's the Michigan Wolverines (7-11; 2-5) visiting Mackey Arena to take on the #2-ranked Purdue Boilermakers (17-2; 6-2). Tip is scheduled for approximately 9:00 pm (Eastern time) with television coverage on Peacock.
Projected Starting Line-ups:
Michigan - Tarris Reed Jr., Terrance Williams II, Olivier Nkamhoua, Nimari Burnett, and Jaelin Llewellyn
Purdue - Zach Edey, Trey Kaufman-Renn, Lance Jones, Fletcher Loyer, and Braden Smith
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The Michigan Wolverines find themselves in an unfamiliar spot as the are currently in the bottom of the Big Ten standings with a 2-5 league record, and their season journey has been really rocky lately. Michigan has lost six of their last seven games, with their only win coming over Ohio State at home. In their last game, Michigan was led by forward Tarris Reed Jr. with 20 points in the loss to Illinois.
Dug McDaniel is the team's leading scorer, but he will miss this game as he is serving a suspension for road games. That leaves Olivier Nkamhoua to be Michigan's top scorer. He can play a physical style and averages 17.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per game on the season. He has scored 16 or more in his past three games, including a 20-point game in the win over Ohio State. Terrance Williams II is the top shooter on the team - he has 40 three-point FG's on the season as a 6'7 senior forward while shooting 43.0% from beyond the arc. Williams averages 12.6 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. Nimari Burnett will be the top scorer in the backcourt, and he is averaging 9.6 points per game. The Wolverines will need some additional production from him with McDaniel out of the lineup.
Michigan is currently ranked 79th overall according to Ken Pom. The Wolverines rank 45th in offensive efficiency and 139th in defensive efficiency. They do not play up tempo on offense, as they rank 212th in tempo based on their pace of play.
Even with Michigan struggling as of late and McDaniel out of the line-up, there is still enough talent to cause some problems for Purdue. The Boilers cannot afford to take any opponent lightly, especially one that is capable of making plays if you give them opportunities. Purdue is coming off a successful road trip last week - they need to consolidate that good work and continue the focused effort and intensity as they head into the meat of the conference's grinding schedule. The Boilers haven't had a home game in 10 days.....I'll be interested to see how they come out.
Braden Smith's shooting has been a little off the last couple of games - can he find the range in Mackey Arena? Zach Edey has gone for 30 or more points and double digit rebounds in each of the last three games.....does he continue to produce the firepower in the paint tonight? Trey Kaufman-Renn had an injury scare with his ankle.....how will he handle the load tonight? Fletcher Loyer and Lance Jones have been pretty solid as well lately - can they keep up the support? They will get their opportunities as will the Boilers' bench.....does anyone get extra minutes IF things go really well? These, and other questions should get answered in a little more than a couple of hours.
Boiler Up, my friends....