Michigan Wolverines
Big Ten (24-11, 10-8)
From day one, Michigan had a solid 2016-2017 campaign. They picked up some early quality wins over Marquette and SMU and none of their losses turned out to be that bad. In most of their Big Ten losses, the Wolverines were able to hang around and that is very important for a John Beilein coached team. This is not a team that will beat themselves, so it takes a very talented squad to blow them out of the gym.
Big Wins: 11/18 vs SMU (76-54), 2/16 Wisconsin (64-58), 2/25 Purdue (82-70)
Bad Losses: 1/1 at Iowa (83-86), 1/11 at Illinois (69-85), 2/4 Ohio State (66-70)
Coach: John Beilein
Why They Can Surprise:
No team in the country commits fewer turnovers than Michigan. Derrick Walton, Jr. and Zak Irvin have once again done a superb job taking care of the basketball. Those two will also score plenty of points. Walton averages 15.2 points on top on his 4.8 rebounds and 4.7 assists. Irvin adds 12.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists. Those two, along with fellow guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, will always keep the Michigan offense under control. Those three can also shoot the long ball, but so does everybody else on the team. Sophomore Moritz Wagner is extremely efficient shooting the ball, connecting on 40.7 percent of his attempts from three-point territory. That is very impressive for a 6-11 forward. Fellow big men D.J. Wilson and Duncan Robinson are dangerous shooters too.
Why They Can Disappoint:
As usual with a Coach Beilein team, Michigan will lose out on the rebounding battles. On the year they have a -1.6 rebounding margin and that cuts into their extra possessions earned with the impressive turnover margin. The Wolverines are not a team that will allow a lot of points, but they do allow the opposition to shoot very efficiently from the floor. When Michigan plays, there are not too many missed shots and, as always, if Michigan is having a good shooting night and the opposition is not, they will win.
Probable Starters:
Derrick Walton Jr., Senior, Guard, 15.2 ppg, 4.7 apg, 4.8 rpg
Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, Junior, Guard, 9.1 ppg, 1.9 apg
Zak Irvin, Senior, Guard, 12.9 ppg, 3.0 apg, 4.6 rpg
D.J. Wilson, Junior, Forward, 10.5 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.4 bpg
Moritz Wagner, Sophomore, Forward, 12.1 ppg, 4.3 rpg
Key Role Players:
Duncan Robinson, Senior, Forward, 7.8 ppg, 1.8 rpg
Mark Donnal, Senior, Forward, 4.1 ppg, 2.1 rpg
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 74.6 (144th in nation, 5th in conference)
Scoring Defense: 65.7 (40, 3)
Field-Goal Percentage: 48.0 (29, 3)
Field-Goal Defense: 46.5 (295, 14)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 9.5 (24, 1)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 38.6 (37, 2)
Free-Throw Percentage: 77.1 (12, 1)
Rebound Margin: -1.6 (258, 13)
Assists Per Game: 13.8 (150, 9)
Turnovers Per Game: 9.5 (1, 1)
Recent Postseason Appearances:
2016 NCAA Opening Round win over Tulsa
2016 NCAA Round of 64 loss to Notre Dame
2014 NCAA Round of 64 win over Wofford
2014 NCAA Round of 32 win over Texas
2014 NCAA Regional Semifinal win over Tennessee
2014 NCAA Regional Final loss to Kentucky
2013 NCAA Round of 64 win over South Dakota State
2013 NCAA Round of 32 win over VCU
2013 NCAA Regional Semifinal win over Kansas
2013 NCAA Regional Final win over Florida
2013 NCAA National Semifinal win over Syracuse
2013 NCAA National Final loss to Louisville
2012 NCAA Round of 64 loss to Ohio
2011 NCAA Round of 64 win over Tennessee
2011 NCAA Round of 32 loss to Duke
2009 NCAA Round of 64 win over Clemson
2009 NCAA Round of 32 loss to Oklahoma
2007 NIT First Round win over Utah State
2007 NIT Second Round loss to Florida State
2006 NIT First Round win over UTEP
2006 NIT Second Round win over Notre Dame
2006 NIT Quarterfinal win over Miami
2006 NIT Semifinal win over Old Dominion
2006 NIT Final loss to South Carolina
2004 NIT First Round win over Missouri
2004 NIT Second Round win over Oklahoma
2004 NIT Quarterfinal win over Hawaii
2004 NIT Semifinal win over Oregon
2004 NIT Final win over Rutgers
*all team stats through 3/5
