Game Day Essentials: Game #16 at Michigan - 1/9/2013

Michigan Info

Team Nick Name: Wolverines

Team Mascot: None

School Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan

Last game out: Beat Iowa

Coach: John Beilein

Better football team in 1997: Nebraska

Probable Starters:

Nebraska Cornhuskers (9-5)

3-Benny Parker - 5-9 -Fr.- G

15-Ray Gallegos - 6-2 -Jr.- G

24-Dylan Talley - 6-5 -Sr.- G

13-Brandon Ubel -6-10 -Sr.- F

31-Shavon Shields - 6-6 -Fr.-G/F

Wisconsin Badgers (10-4)

1 Glenn Robinson III F 6-6 210 FR

3 Trey Burke G 6-0 190 SO

10 Tim Hardaway Jr. G 6-6 205 JR

11 Nik Stauskas G 6-6 190 FR

52 Jordan Morgan F 6-8 250 JR

Key Injuries

Nebraska - Mike Peltz - Out

Player to watch; Trey Burke

Sophomore Trey Burke is one of the most dangerous players in all of college basketball as he not only scores over 18 ppg but also finds time to dish out 7.5 assists as well. Burke not only is a great player, he makes the rest of his teammates great as well. Can Benny Parker slow him down? As the only player under 6-6 it makes sense for Parker to guard him. Can Parker slow him down by himself? If the Huskers need to double Burke he's going to have a double-double tonight.

Good News/Bad News

Let's start with the bad news. Michigan is going to win this game. They're not going to score 100 points or anything as the team that Miles has built so far is pretty good at holding teams under their scoring average but they have wayyyyy more fire power than the Huskers. Along with Burke you have Tim Hardaway and Glen Robinson's kids averaging double digits along with freshman sharpshooter Nik Stauskas hitting a ridiculous 53% of his 3s. The Wolverines are #1 in offensive efficiency and #2 in effective FG% nationally. They take care of the ball on offense and clean up the boards on defense.

Miles won't have to worry about playing zone here as this isn't Ohio St. The Wolverines don't draw a lot of contact so the Huskers should be able to stay out of foul trouble. Expect Miles to have the Huskers bailing back on defense after every shot and every offensive rebound will be nothing short of a miracle or desperation. The Huskers have been playing well on defense this year....let's see what they're made of.

Oh yeah, the good news? Michigan is essentially the type of team that Nebraska is hoping to build in the next couple of years....a scoring point guard like Tai Webster or maybe Deverell Biggs surrounded by teammates who can score with a few mobile bigs for protecting the rim. As the Wolverines are beating us tonight, just imagine this could be us in a couple of years.

Other Reading: Behind Enemy Lines with Tim Miles

Prediction: Michigan 78 - Nebraska 56