UNC vs. Michigan: 2022-23 college basketball game preview, TV schedule
The North Carolina Tar Heels and Michigan Wolverines both have an opportunity to build momentum towards conference play on Wednesday.
TV Schedule: Wednesday, December 21, 7:00 PM ET, ESPN
Location: Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC
Both the North Carolina Tar Heels and Michigan Wolverines probably expected to be ranked at this point of the season, even ranked highly; UNC was the No. 1 team in the country not so long ago. But that’s not how things have unfolded for either program.
They both enter Wednesday’s contest on winning streaks, though. Michigan has won two straight, albeit against a mid-major and the Big Ten’s weakest program. North Carolina has won three in a row, including an overtime thriller against Ohio State at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.
The two teams collide in Charlotte in the Jumpman Invitational, played at the arena where the Jumpman owns an NBA squad. While this game isn’t being played in Chapel Hill, the Tar Heels should have a fairly clear home court advantage cooking anyways.
One of the biggest issues for the Tar Heels this season has been their three-point shooting. They’ve had a handful of games where the team could barely scratch the rim. That was the case on Saturday, when they hit only 6 of 28 attempts. So how did they find a way to win?
They unleashed Armando Bacot. The big man was unstoppable, scoring 28 points, grabbing eight defensive rebounds, and seven offensive rebounds. He dunked four times and did a good job staying out of foul trouble. When he’s able to stay on the court, he’s able to take over a game.
Michigan has a prominent big man of their own in Hunter Dickinson. He’s easily the Wolverines’ best player, though the coach’s son is making some inroads of his own in Michigan’s pecking order.
The win over Lipscomb was more difficult than it should’ve been, but Juwan Howard’s squad saw an important development in the tight victory nonetheless. Guard Kobe Bufkin had one of the best games of his career, scoring 22 points on 4-of-5 shooting from three-point range.
Even if Bufkin is ascending, the Wolverines are missing something. They are quite literally missing Jaelin Llewellyn, who is out for the year with a torn ACL. They are missing meaningful contributions from another transfer, Joey Baker. And the bench is simply not up to snuff.
While UNC has failed to meet expectations this year, there can still be little doubt about how talented the Tar Heels are. Bacot appears to be on the upswing. The rest of last year’s title runner-up team is largely intact. North Carolina is ready to build momentum as they close out the non-conference portion of their season.
Last year, these teams went head-to-head in the disappearing ACC-Big Ten Challenge. The Tar Heels won in a 72-51 blowout, showing a capability that would rear its head again in the NCAA Tournament.
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It shouldn’t get that out of hand this time, but North Carolina should be able to defeat Michigan for the second year in a row.
Prediction: North Carolina 80, Michigan 70