After wrapping up their non-conference schedule on Thursday night with a win over UMBC, Maryland resumes conference play on New Year's Day with a trip to Ann Arbor to face off against Michigan. The Wolverines currently hold a record of 7-5 (1-0), and have lost their last two games to North Carolina and Central Michigan. They began the year ranked #22 in the nation, but have quickly fallen off.
While Michigan's offense has been good so far, their defense has left a lot to be desired. As a team, their defense is the worst in the conference, allowing opponents to score 71 points per game and convert 43% of their attempts from the field. To be a worse defensive unit than Iowa (although only marginally) is an impressive feat, because we all know Fran McCaffery is violently allergic to coaching defense.
The Wolverines are led by junior center Hunter Dickinson once again, who's averaging 18 points and 8 rebounds per game while shooting 55% from the field, including 39% from beyond the arc. They also have a talented backcourt pairing of sophomore Kobe Bufkin and Jett Howard, who both average double-digit scoring. Earlier this month, they lost starting point guard Jaelin Llewellyn to a season-ending knee injury.
We all know that Dickinson will be playing with the self-imposed chip on his shoulder after feeling as if Mark Turgeon didn't recruit him hard enough, and there's a decent chance that Juwan Howard will try to fight someone (could be a ref, could be Kevin Willard, could be his entire team). Plenty of reasons to tune in!
KenPom Rankings
- Maryland: #25 (#28 AdjO, #35 AdjD; #223 AdjT)
- Michigan: #65 (#32 AdjO, #102 AdjD; #138 AdjT)
