Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas – Championship Sunday
A pair of teams from the Big Ten do battle in search of a victory in the Keystone State. The Michigan Wolverines are on the road as they travel to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions Wednesday night. Michigan was beaten 75-70 at home by #1 Purdue in their previous contest, though they pushed against the spread as a five-point underdog. Penn State was drubbed 65-45 by Rutgers on the road in their previous game, failing to cover the line as a seven-point underdog Tuesday night. In the all-time series between the teams, the Wolverines own a 38-14 advantage and have won the last three meetings. That includes a 79-69 home win in the first matchup this season on January 4.
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Michigan hung tough against #1 Purdue but ended up falling short at home in their previous contest. The Wolverines dropped to 11-9 overall and entered Saturday tied for fifth in the Big Ten with a 5-4 conference record this season. Against Purdue, Michigan led by six early and by two with 8:02 to play in the first half before giving up a 15-0 run over the next five minutes to trail 41-28. The Wolverines cut the deficit to six at the half and couldn’t get closer than three in the second half, with that coming in the final minute. That sent them to the loss. Michigan shot 44.1% from the field, including nine of 25 from three-point range, and lost the rebounding battle 34-26 while allowing Purdue to shoot 54% in the game. Hunter Dickinson led the Wolverines with 21 points and seven rebounds in the loss.
The Wolverines are 134th in the nation in scoring offense as they put up an averag e of 74 points per game on the season. Michigan grabs an average of 36.5 rebounds per contest on the season while ranking 239th in assists by dishing out 12.6 dimes a night. The Wolverines are average on the defensive end of the floor, ranking 195th in the nation in scoring defense by allowing 69.8 points per contest. Jett Howard is second on the team with 14.6 points and 2.7 rebounds this season. Hunter Dickinson is one of two other players putting up double figures with 18.2 points and 8.9 rebounds per contest. Kobe Bufkin (12.3 points, 3.5 rebounds), Dug McDaniel, Jaelin Llewelyn, Terrance Williams II, Joey Baker, Tarris Reed Jr. and Will Tschetter have to contribute for coach Juwan Howard. Michigan shoots 44.7% from the field as a team this season. The Wolverines drain an average of 7.7 three-pointers a night while shooting 34.6% from beyond the arc on the year. Michigan is below average at the free throw line this season, hitting 68.5% of their attempts at the line.
Llewelyn was lost for the season with a knee injury sustained December 4 against Kentucky in the Basketball Hall of Fame London Showcase.