Michigan Basketball: 3 keys for the Wolverines against Purdue
By Adam Childs
Hit free throws
The fear last year during Michigan’s run during the tournament was that their poor free throw shooting would cost them a game. Zavier Simpson, who is probably their best defender, couldn’t be on the court at the end of games because he was such a liability from the line. Charles Matthews was not much better and as whole the team just was not very good.
The hope coming into this year was that they would be better. Well, so far that has probably been the one weak spot for Michigan in their dominant 7-0 start. Against North Carolina, they went just 11-23 for the game and they could have had a double-digit lead in the first half if they would have hit most of their free throws.
It has not cost them yet, but as they start conference play when games mean a little more and they will be tightly contested they need to start knocking them down. They have been lucky that it has not come back to bite them this year yet, but there will be a game soon where they will need to hit them to ice a game. They need to start hitting them now before it truly cost them.
Michigan is coming off one of the biggest wins of the year against a very good North Carolina team, while the Boilermakers are licking their wounds after losing a game late at Florida State. Purdue is still very talented and has the ability to beat Michigan. If Edwards and Cline get hot they could easily win this game. The difference all year has been Michigan’s defense. They are shutting down everyone and the offense is starting to come around.
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Look for Michigan to continue to be shut down and frustrate Edwards all game long. Michigan is just playing too well for Purdue right now and again will feed off the energy of their home crowd. The Wolverines take care of business and start 1-0 in the Big Ten