Tonight at 5:15 ET on CBS the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines' journey back to the NCAA championship game continues against the No. 7 Texas Longhorns. Live stream the Midwest region madness for free by clicking this link. Michigan fans can find the radio broadcast on WOMC-FM, while Longhorns fans may do the same on WSPC-AM 1010.
Michigan's high-powered offense can throw a scare into any team in their way this March, but Wolverines head coach John Beilein is just as worried about Texas' oversized frontcourt.
"Concerned about it because the ball needs to bounce our way," Beilein said Friday. "We got to box out and really do a good job."
Forwards Jonathan Holmes and Cameron Ridley averaged a hair under 15 offensive rebounds a game on their own, and the Longhorns out-rebounded opponents by seven boards this season. "Definitely a point of emphasis going into the game. Just getting the ball inside and attacking off the glass, trying to take advantage of that," said Holmes. "We know they're going to try to take advantage of our size, make that a negative thing on them when they go on offense."
Michigan will be the quicker team, and one way to negate that rebounding edge is to make shots. Luckily for the Wolverines, they have Nik Stauskas on their side. Stauskas is the team's leading scorer, averaging more than 17 points a game while shooting 47.8 percent from the field and 45 percent from 3-point range on 5.6 attempts.
Overall, Beilein's crew has five players who get meaningful minutes shooting 39 percent or better from downtown. If the shooters come to play, they might be able to withstand the Longhorns bruisers down low. Texas coach Rick Barnes seems to recognize that.
"Everyone is talking about that we could have a size advantage inside," Barnes said. "John Beilein has coached a long time. He's played in a league where there's a lot of big people as well."
© Copyright 2024 Sports World News, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
