Michigan Basketball: 3 keys for the Wolverines against Villanova
By Adam Childs
Offensive efficiency
Michigan has been known for going through stretches of games when they do not score. They can be a streaky shooting team, as are most that rely on the three. What Beilein has been so good at, is that he has got his team progressively better as the season goes on.
The first half against Holy Cross was a demonstration of Michigan going through a stretch without scoring much. They scored just 18 points on 5-24 shooting in that first half. The Wolverines do not have any great shooters from the outside on this team, at least not yet, but they still need to be able to find ways to score. If they have another half as they did against the Crusaders, then Villanova is going to blow them out of the gym.
Michigan does not need to be a great three-point shooting team because they have a lot of guys that can get to the rim. They can win games doing just that and getting to the foul line, but they still need to hit some outside shots to stretch the defense and open up the lanes.
Villanova is going to be better defensively and Michigan will more than likely not be able to hold them to 13 points in a half either. In order for the Wolverines to win, they must start hitting their shots.
Next. Top 25 rankings for the week. dark
These teams look a lot different from last year, but they both have high hopes for this year. This is a great early season test to see where they stack up. Michigan will make life difficult for Villanova on the offensive side of the ball, but they are not shooting the ball well enough yet to pull off the upset. Villanova will use their home court to their advantage and pull away from Michigan in the second half for the win.