After IU got off to a rough, 1-3 start in Big Ten conference play, the Hoosiers have rebounded by winning three consecutive games and four of five.
Now IU embarks on a two-game road trip with the first game coming at 9 p.m. Thursday against Michigan.
The Wolverines are 13-7 this season and 3-4 in conference play. Michigan has won two out of its last three games, and the only loss came by four points at No. 15 Wisconsin.
“They’re a great basketball team,” sophomore forward Thomas Bryant said of the Wolverines. “They’re coached really well. They have great shooters, and they know how to play the game of basketball pretty good, but I feel like we’re prepared for whatever they have in store.”
Michigan has been strong at home this season with an 11-2 record so far at the Crisler Center. The Wolverines shoot 48.5 percent from the field at home, which is higher than their overall field goal percentage of 47.3 percent.
“They have tremendous shooting,” IU Coach Tom Crean said in his radio show on WHCC 105.1 FM. “Everyone they put on the floor can shoot it with range. They run a very systematic offense in that they are going to read their cuts. Everybody can shoot. They play through the high post and through their big men.”
Bryant said Michigan’s sharpshooters aren’t afraid to shoot from a few feet beyond the three-point line, so the Hoosiers will have to be prepared to play defense above the arc.
Indiana native and senior guard Zak Irvin is Michigan’s leading scorer at 14.5 points per game. He has been on a hot streak lately and has averaged 16.2 points per game in Michigan’s last five contests. However, he has struggled from 3-point range this season. He has shot 25 percent from deep in conference games.
Michigan is also led by senior guard Derrick Walton Jr., who is averaging 12.6 points per game, and sophomore forward Moritz Wagner, who is averaging 11.9 points per game. Wagner is Michigan’s best 3-point shooter. He has shot 44.6-percent from beyond the arc. Walton is nearly as prolific from behind the arc with a 42-percent mark from deep.
Junior forward D.J. Wilson is Michigan’s leading rebounder at 6.4 rebounds per game, but that number has dropped to 4.6 rebounds per game in the Wolverines’ last five contests.
“D.J. Wilson is coming off his best game from what I have seen. He may have had a game with better numbers, but I thought he was absolutely obsessed with getting to the glass and how he attacked the other day and the way they played against Illinois,” IU Coach Tom Crean said. “They are the bona fide real deal, and they have a deep team. They have the shooting at every position, and they have a smart, cerebral team with how they want to defend.”
Sophomore forward Juwan Morgan’s status for playing against Michigan remains a question mark. Morgan has a foot injury, but assistant coach Tim Buckley said a decision has not been made if he’s going to play.
Last week, IU notched its first road win of the season at Penn State, so the Hoosiers are looking to build on that win with improved confidence.
“I feel like we learned just play through adversity out there on the road because every game on the road, especially in conference is a dog fight,” Bryant said. “You’ve got to come up there with your hard hat and bring your best punch. You can’t let up at all.”
