The Kansas Jayhawks men’s basketball team will return to Allen Fieldhouse on December 19th to take on the Michigan Wolverines. The Jayhawks enter the game after a week off for finals and looking to integrate two players into their rotation that became eligible. Michigan enters the game looking to regain some of the preseason hype, that had many experts projecting them as a surefire NCAA tournament team. Saturday’s game will be televised on ESPN at 11:00AM and will be featured as a green game, which ESPN has been on campus filming the University of Kansas and the city of Lawrence sustainability efforts. These efforts will be featured throughout the telecast..
The Jayhawks are looking to continue their dominance this year, with LaSalle being the latest sacrificial victim. The Jayhawks are looking to improve to 10-0 and build upon a relatively easy neutral court win over the Explorers. Freshman shooting guard Xavier Henry had a career high 31 points to lead the Jayhawks, and improved his team leading scoring average to 18 points per game. Sophomore Markieff Morris also had an outstanding afternoon against his hometown team, as he recorded the first double-double of his career with 12 points and 12 rebounds on the afternoon. Morris made 5-of-6 shots from the floor while also recording a personal-best four blocks. Aldrich finished with 19 points off of 8-of-10 shooting from the field. He also added six boards and five rejections. Taylor was the fourth Jayhawk in double-figures as he poured in 10 points, while also dishing six assists. Collins also finished with six assists. KU shot 52.5 percent from the field as a team, including making 8-of-17 from beyond the arc. The Kansas defense held LaSalle to just 36.1 percent from the floor. Despite trailing on the backboards by five at the half, KU crashed the boards in the second half, taking a 44-34 edge in rebounding for the game.
Located in Ann Arbor, Mich., and coached by John Beilein, Michigan has won two of its last three games and is 5-4 on the season following its 75-64 win against Detroit on Dec. 13 in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines average 71.1 points per game and give up 63.9 per game for a +7.2 scoring margin. Junior guard Manny Harris leads the team with 22.2 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. Harris also has a team-high 18 steals and 45 assists. He is tied for the team lead with 13 three pointers along with sophomore guard Laval Lucas-Perry, who is scoring 7.4 points per game. Senior forward DeShawn Sims is second on the team in scoring at 15.6 points per contest and he is just behind Harris in rebounds per game with a 7.4 average. Sophomore guard Zack Novak and freshman guard Darius Morris round out the starters. Novak scores 6.3 points per game, while Morris averages 4.8 ppg.
Key Losses for Michigan
Marquette 79-65
Alabama 68-66
Boston College 62-58
Utah 68-52
Key Wins for Michigan
Creighton 83-76 OT
Arkansas Pine Bluff 67-53
Key Stats
Michigan is averaging 71.1 points per game this season and is shooting 29.7% from three point range.
John Beilein is in his 3rd season as the head coach of the Wolverines, and has a 34-37 record.
Michigan has a -3.4 rebound deficit on the season and is averaging only 10.0 turnovers per game.
Michigan averages 8.2 steals per game and forces 15.6 turnovers per contest.
The Series
Michigan has won all five meetings with Kansas in men’s basketball. This is a rarity for Kansas – the third-winningest program in NCAA Division I – because of teams with multiple games played against Kansas, Bradley (2-0) and UTEP (3-0) are the only teams that have undefeated records versus KU. The Kansas-Michigan series dates back to 1949 and runs through 1992. Two of the matchups have been on neutral floors with a 49-47 Michigan win in 1949 in Kansas City and the last meeting, an 86-74 Michigan victory on Dec. 30, 1992, at the Rainbow Classic in Honolulu. This will be the second meeting between the schools in Allen Fieldhouse as Michigan defeated Kansas 64-52 during the 1980-81 season.
Prediction
Michigan is not going to win this game in Allen Fieldhouse, but they should give Kansas a much better test than the Jayhawks have received from the likes of Alcorn State and Central Arkansas. Michigan has an experienced starting frontline, with DeShawn Sims being the key to thier attack. He has pretty solid post moves and gives the Wolverines a legitimate threat in the post. The other Wolverine front line players all are over 6′10″, but leave alot to be desired in the experience and production departments. The Wolverine’s are a steady and sound ball handling team, but they will not beat a team on athleticism. Manny Harris is the only player that could cause some matchup problems for the Jayhawks, because he will more than likely have Xavier Henry guarding him. If Henry is able to stay in front of Harris and keep and hand in his face on jumpers, the Jayhawks should cruise to another easy home victory.
Outcome
Kansas 88 Michigan 72
