Michigan and Wake Forest might gain a better understanding of their stock early in the season when they meet in Sunday afternoon’s neutral-court game in Greensboro, N.C.
“What we’re trying to build is a real team environment where we compete at the highest level,” first-year Wolverines coach Dusty May said. “It was nice to see our guys play with joy and spirit.”
This matchup with the Demon Deacons will be Michigan’s only trip outside of Ann Arbor across its first five games. The Wolverines (1-0) whipped visiting Cleveland State 101-53 in Monday night’s opener behind Danny Wolf’s 19-point, 13-rebound outing.
Wake Forest (2-0) has won two home games, including Thursday night’s 80-64 victory over North Carolina A&T.
“Obviously the biggest problem on offense is 19 turnovers,” Demon Deacons coach Steve Forbes said. “That’s not acceptable and there were nine of them by two people. We have to get that fixed by Sunday or it will be tough. We had 15 assists on 27 baskets, so we were moving the ball pretty well, and we could probably move the ball even more and we’ll continue to do that as we grow as a team.”
Michigan’s season-opening outing was highlighted by 68.4-percent shooting from the field.
“We think smart basketball teams take what (the) game gives them,” May said. “Our transition game was on. We scored well off turnovers. We had putbacks.”
May said Wolf’s numbers were impressive, in part, based on the Wolverines’ ability to spread out the production.
“Because we’re so potent offensively, he doesn’t have the same volume of touches,” May said.
Wake Forest will want to be stingy at the defensive end in the lane. That plan went well in the first two games, giving up only 16 points in the paint to North Carolina A&T based on how Forbes’ staff charted those numbers.
“That’s where our defense is being built, so I was very encouraged once again how hard our guys played defensively,” Forbes said.
Wake Forest won the only previous meeting with Michigan by a score of 70-61 in the 2000 ACC/Big Ten Challenge in Ann Arbor. The teams are slated to meet next season in another neutral-court setting in Detroit.
–Field Level Media
