Michigan Basketball will look to make a run this weekend in the Big Ten Tournament, but it will not be easy. Based on how the season finished, there could be a few matchup nightmares for the Wolverines in store for them:
After having the chance to win a share of the Big Ten title, the Michigan Wolverines dropped the final three games of the regular season to earn the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten Tournament . The Wolverines will not have to play until Friday night in the quarterfinals, but many questions remain pertaining to how the team will look when each game now means even more than the last.
Here are some matchup nightmares for Michigan this weekend in the Big Ten Tournament.
Braden Smith – Purdue Boilermakers
The Wolverines have struggled immensely shooting from beyond the arc the last two months, and they may face one of the nation’s best three-point shooters in their first game of the conference tournament.
The first matchup against Purdue for Michigan was not pretty, and the Boilermakers ran the Wolverines out of the building behind point guard Braden Smith, who put up 24 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds. He is one of the nation’s best shooters and ball-handlers, and he put it all on display in that first matchup.
After getting clobbered by almost 30 points, Michigan hosted Smith and Boilermakers two weeks later, and while the Wolverines got the upset win, Smith did everything he could to ruin the party. Despite scoring 18 fewer points as a team, Smith scored another 24 points against Michigan, to go along with seven assists and six rebounds. He was one buzzer-beater shot away from defeating the Wolverines yet again.
If Purdue and Michigan play a third time this season, you can be sure the Boilermakers will make a concerted effort to get Smith the ball more often than not.
Illinois’ guards
Illinois has defeated Michigan nine straight times since the 2019-20 season, most recently beating the Wolverines by 20 points earlier this month. There are many reasons Michigan lost by so much to a team that was considered the underdog, but the Illini’s guard play was among the main reasons, as they were dominate on both ends of the floor.
The trio of Kylan Boswell, Kasparas Jakučionis and Tre White could not miss from deep, scoring 17, 17 and 19 points, respectively. They combined for seven three-pointers, 26 rebounds, three steals and three blocks.
If Michigan wins on Friday, it will most likely play the winner of the Illini and Maryland, proving to be an uphill climb no matter the matchup.
Jase Richardson – Michigan State Spartans
It is not uncommon that a freshman is the best player on their team in college basketball (probably more common than ever), and Michigan State guard Jase Richardson is the most recent example of that.
He is only averaging 11.6 points and 3.1 rebounds per game this season, but much like Braden Smith, Richardson saved some of his best games this season for the Wolverines.
Richardson scored 21 and 18 points in the two games against Michigan this season, bringing in six and five rebounds, respectively. He also shot nearly 60 percent from the field in each game, and also had four steals.
The Wolverines would not have to face the Spartans for a third time until the Championship Game. However, if they were to make it that far, they would have to keep Richardson in check to have a shot at upsetting Michigan State.