Michigan (10-7 SU, 9-8 ATS, 4-2 B10) hopes to sweep Maryland (11-6 SU, 10-7 ATS, 2-4 B10) when they meet them in College Park on Thursday night at 7pmET from Xfinity Center.
These teams last met on Jan. 1 with the Wolverines winning 81-46 as a 1-point favorite.
After Michigan beat Maryland on Jan. 1, they beat up on a pretty good Penn State team 79-69. They followed that with a 59-53 loss at Michigan State and a tough overtime defeat at Iowa. In their last game on Sunday, they beat Northwestern 85-78 and while that leaves them at 4-2 in the Big 10, they have a weak NCAA Net Ranking of 73. Compare that with rival Michigan State (43) and the Wolverines have some work to do. Going 0-6 against Quad 1 teams and 1-2 on the road doesn't help. Maybe scheduling a true road game in non-conference play might have helped.
Did you miss the action at Crisler? We got you covered. Check out the ?? highlights from the win over Northwestern! Hit ??
???? #ForCompetitorsOnly#GoBlue pic.twitter.com/y9sumklNBa
— Michigan Men's Basketball (@umichbball) January 15, 2023
Either way, the Wolverines have their work cut out for them. In their last game. they shot 52% from the field against Michigan as Kobe Bufkin shot 9 for 11 and scored 20 points to lead four players in double figures. Michigan held Northwestern to just 42.2% from the field, but the Wildcats hung in the game as Michigan struggled with turnovers. They came into the game ranked second in Division I in the least turnovers committed but recorded nine in the first half and 18 overall.
Michigan will look to curb their turnovers in this game and get the ball to 7-1 Hunter Dickinson, who averages 17.8 points and 8.9 rebounds. The Maryland native had 32 points and 12 rebounds on 13-of-16 shooting in just 28 minutes against the Terps in the first game. The Wolverines have another potential NBA player in Jett Howard, coach Juwan Howard's son, who averages 15.5 points and shoots 40.2% from three-point range. Overall, they average 76.1 points per game o n 45.3% shooting (35.7% 3pt). They allow 70.6 points per game on 42% shooting (32% 3pt).