Preview and prediction: Michigan basketball vs. Prairie View A&M

Michigan basketball is in Washington D.C. for a matchup with Prairie View A&M in the Coaches vs. Racism event. The Maize and Blue are 1-0 after beating Buffalo Wednesday night, 88-76, while the Panthers are 0-2 with losses at St. Mary’s (87-68) and at San Francisco (92-76).

Both teams won their respective regular-season conference crowns last season, with Michigan winning the Big Ten and Prairie View A&M taking home the SWAC title.

Below is everything you need to get ready for the game, including bullets on what to watch for, a breakdown of each team’s key players and more.

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Game Information: Michigan vs. Prairie View A&M

Date: Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021

Time: 8:01 p.m. ET

Venue: Entertainment And Sports Arena (Washington D.C.)

Channel: Big Ten Network

On The Call: Lisa Byington (play-by-play) and Len Elmore (analyst)

Radio: Detroit: WWJ-Radio (950 AM) | Ann Arbor: WWWW (102.9 FM)| Grand Rapids: WOOD (106.9 FM) | Stream: MGoBlue.com

On The Call: Brian Boesch (play-by-play) and Terry Mills (color)

Betting Line: Michigan -22.5, o/u 145

Kenpom Prediction: Michigan 84, Prairie View A&M 61

Clayton Sayfie Prediction: Michigan 90, Prairie View A&M 61

Michigan Projected Starters

• #12 – Fifth-year senior guard DeVante’ Jones (6-1, 200) — The Coastal Carolina transfer and reigning Sun Belt Player of the Year was in foul trouble much of the night against Buffalo, playing just 18 minutes … He scored seven points and added a team-high five assists and two rebounds.

• #55 – Fifth-year senior guard Eli Brooks (6-1, 185) — The team captain played a team-high 35 minutes Wednesday, finishing with 11 points on 5-of-8 from the field and 1-of-2 from deep.

• #22 – Freshman guard/forward Caleb Houstan (6-8, 205) — In his collegiate debut, he scored 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting and 2-of-4 from deep, while adding six rebounds and two assists.

• #23 – Junior forward Brandon Johns Jr. (6-8, 240) — Struggled in the opener against Buffalo, playing 23 minutes and posting five points on 1-of-5 shooting, two rebounds and two turnovers.

• #1 – Sophomore center Hunter Dickinson (7-1, 260) — The 2021 second-team All-American led Michigan in scoring with 27 points on 11-of-17 from the field against Buffalo, while adding six rebounds.

Key Bench Contributors

• #14 – Freshman forward Moussa Diabate (6-11, 210) — Recorded seven points, five rebounds, three assists and two blocks in 16 minutes in a solid college debut.

• #5 – Sophomore forward Terrance Williams II (6-7, 230) — Posted career highs in points (15), rebounds (seven) and minutes (29) while helping lift Michigan to victory Wednesday.

• #2 – Freshman guard Kobe Bufkin (6-4, 175) — Played just four minutes in the opener and went 0-of-1 from the field.

Prairie View A&M Projected Starters

• #10 – Junior guard Jeremiah Gambrell Jr. — Recording 3.5 points per conests and has shot 3-of-11 from the field and 1-of-5 from long range.

• #12 – Senior guard Faite Williams (6-2, 175) — Averaging 7.5 points and 1.5 boards per outing, while shooting 40 percent from the field and 1-of-4 from deep.

• #11 – Fifth-year senior guard DeWayne Cox (6-2, 190) — Posting eight points and two rebounds per game, while shooting 66.7percent from the field and not attempting a three-pointer … Has been efficient in transition, scoring 10 points on five possessions when used, and on cuts, notching four points on five plays.

• #22 – Senior guard Jawaun Daniels (6-7, 205) — The SWAC preseason Player of the Year paces the team in scoring with 20 points, while adding three rebounds per contest and shooting 50 percent from the field and 35.7 percent from long range … Most of his offense has come on spot-up opportunities in which he’s cashed in for 1.1 points per possession through two contests … Has seven turnovers.

• #13 – Sophomore forward Jeremiah Kendall (6-6, 205) — Recording two points and 3.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 1-of-6 from the field and 0-of-1 from long range … Despite starting at the five position, he has yet to have a post-up possession this season.

Key Bench Contributors

• #5 – Senior guard D’Rell Roberts (6-7, 190) — Second on the team with 12.5 points per outing, while adding 1.5 rebounds and two assists … Shooting 46.2 percent overall and and is 3-of-6 from deep … He’s produced 13 points as the ball handler on seven pick-and-roll plays.

• #21 – Fifth-year senior guard Will Douglas (6-5, 195) — The SMU transfer is registering eight points, two rebounds and one assist per contest, while shooting 46.7 percent from the field.

• #3 – Fifth-year senior forward Markedric Bell (6-8, 200) — The Arkansas-Pine Bluff transfer is registering four points and 3.5 boards per game, while shooting 60 percent from the field and 2-of-3 from long range … Six of his points have come off cuts and two have come on put-backs … He plays the majority of the minutes at the center spot.

What To Watch For: Michigan vs. Prairie View A&M

• Buffalo double teamed Dickinson on just two of his 10 post-ups and didn’t give a ton of help on the interior. Routinely, and somewhat quietly, the 2021 second-team All-American burned the Bulls for 27 points on 11-of-17 from the field.

Prairie View A&M, which plays man-to-man defense on 94.2 percent of half-court possessions and apply full-court pressure 21.2 percent of the time according to Synergy, hardly posts up its undersized bigs, and has only faced two post-up possessions on defense. They doubled both times.

With the team’s starting center standing 6-foot-6 and backup at 6-foot-8, expect some help down low. However, that will likely leave a lot of space for the Wolverines’ shooters on the perimeter. Opponents are scoring 1.302 points per play on spot-ups (fifth percentile nationally) and 43.6 percent on three-pointers (253rd-best in America).

• The Panthers have been rough defensively as a whole, allowing 1.01 points per possession, but are especially bad on the interior. They’ve yielded 70.4 percent on opponents’ two-point shots to this point.

• Let’s talk tempo. Also similar to Buffalo, Prairie View A&M likes to play fast, ranking 45th in the country on Kenpom. The Panthers’ full-court press can speed up the opponent, and they are forcing turnovers on 26.7 percent of defensive possessions with steals 15 percent of the time. However, they’re still allowing 1.357 points per transition possession, which ranks in the ninth percentile in the nation. Michigan turned it over on just 13.7 percent of its possessions against Buffalo.

• Michigan is still tinkering with some lineups and doesn’t have a ton of depth that head coach Juwan Howard appears to trust … for now. Senior guard Adrien Nunez was the first guard off the bench in both halves, but he will likely fall out of the rotation at some point. Freshman point guard Frankie Collins played seven solid minutes and will have a role, but it’s the two-guard spot that is still in flux. Bufkin saw just four minutes and didn’t get in a rhythm. Expect Howard to continue to mix it up and use this game to experiment once the Wolverines get up big.

• Prairie View A&M is set to play its third game in five days in what is just the beginning of an early-season gauntlet. The Panthers will play at Oklahoma State Sunday, at Texas Tech Monday and at Grand Canyon Wednesday. The team starts with 12-straight road or neutral-site contests before playing its first home game Jan. 1, 2022.