After back-to-back disappointing defeats, Michigan basketball needs a win on Sunday against Purdue Fort Wayne to get back on track:
The Michigan Wolverines took on a non-conference slate filled with six Power Five contests, but unfortunately walk away just 3-3. All three of those losses could have (and should have?) been wins, but instead Dusty May’s group now must turn the page and focus on stacking as many other victories as it can to fill out the resume in other ways.
Two contests remain before Big Ten play continues in January. Both are buy games, but both are against top-150 teams, meaning now is not the time to wallow. Up first are the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons, Kenpom’s No. 137 squad. It might not be the most marquee matchup, but the Wolverines cannot allow two losses to turn into three.
Purdue Fort Wayne (9-4) vs. No. 24 Michigan Wolverines (8-3)
Date & Time: Sunday, Dec. 22, 1 p.m. ET
Location: Crisler Center, Ann Arbor, MI
TV/Streaming: B1G+
PFW tied with Milwaukee at the top of Horizon League preseason poll, which is a big jump up from its seventh-place finish last year. That team did finish strong and returned much of its core, including the team’s top three scorers: Jalen Jackson, Rasheed Bello, and Corey Hadnot. Most of the Mastodon’s schedule has been against lower competition, though they did lose a high-scoring affair to Penn State last month.
This is actually the second meeting between these schools in three years. Michigan opened up the 2022-23 season against PFW, with Hunter Dickinson and Jett Howard each topping 20 points. Though just two years ago, much of the rosters on both sides have turned over — Will Tschetter and Jace Howard did make the box score for the Wolverines though.
One Big Question: Can Michigan lock in?
This is not a cupcake buy game, which maybe is a good thing for Michigan. The Mastodons have a top-100 offense, with a 56.7-percent eFG rate and lights-out shooting from behind the arc. With the Wolverines slipping on the defensive end (and getting bombed to death by Oklahoma from three), here is a chance for May to get the defense back on track.
Meanwhile, PFW has been pretty bad defensively and will surely struggle against Michigan’s size. No one in this lineup is going to be able to match up well with Vlad Goldin and Danny Wolf, and this combo is clearly the Wolverines’ best feature. The Mastodons are in the 300s in two-point defense which seemingly sets up perfectly for the bigs. No need to get cute in this one.
One Thing to Watch: The mentality
Stat profiles aside, the most interesting part of this game is the intangibles. Michigan keeps letting big leads fall, but also keeps getting back into games — can it play a full 40 minutes? Against an offense that wants to launch threes and play quickly, will the defense communicate well, fight through screens, and get back to its early-season lockdowns that now feel like a distant memory?
May does not seem like the type of coach that will let his team overlook anyone, especially coming off a pair of tough neutral-site losses. Big Ten play is right around the corner and Michigan could really use a couple convincing wins to get back in a good headspace. PFW is a solid team, but any struggles on Sunday are not going to be well received.