Previewing the Michigan basketball game against McNeese

Michigan basketball (11-0) will take on the McNeese Cowboys (10-2) Monday at 7PM. The Wolverines are heavily favored in this matchup, with ESPN's matchup predictor giving Michigan a 93.3% chance of winning this game. Despite Michigan being heavily favored in this game, McNeese is actually a pretty good mid-major team. They've only lost to Santa Clara in their second game of the season and then Incarnate Word on December 1st. They've been playing better basketball as of late, winning their last 4 games.

As a team, McNeese is averaging a very high 88 points per game, and is giving up only 65.6 points per game. So far this year they shoot it at a 51.4% clip from the field as a team. Those numbers point to McNeese being a better team than you might expect. Michigan on the other hand is averaging 95.4 points per game, surrendering only 66.1 points per game, while shooting 53.1% from the field so far this year. Despite what most people might think about this matchup, Michigan might have their hands full taking on this McNeese basketball team.

McNeese Basketball

True Freshman Larry Johnson leads this McNeese team in scoring at 16.4 points per game, while also adding 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. He shoots it well from the field at 56.5% overall, with 33.3% from 3-point range and 89.5% from the free throw line.

McNeese also has two other players averaging double digits in Junior Tyshawn Archie and Senior Javohn Garcia at 13.5 points per game and 12.7 points per game respectively. They are also both guards, so all three of McNeese's top scorers come from the perimeter. Keeping the McNeese guards in check as a whole might be a good challenge for Michigan's backcourt on defense.

Michigan Basketball

As for Michigan, they have 6 players averaging over 10 points per game so far this year. They're led by Yaxel Lendeborg at 15.6, followed by Morez Johnson Jr. at 12.6, Aday Mara at 10.7, Trey Mckenney at 10.6, Roddy Gayle Jr. at 10.4, and Elliot Cadeau at 10.1. Obviously it's a very balanced scoring team which is part of what makes them so dangerous. 1 of 6 different players can lead them in scoring in any given night, making them very tough to stop on offense.

They also have a stifling defense, as they rank second nationally in opponent field goal percentage at a 35.2% rate. Opponents of all kinds so far this year have had a lot of issues scoring on Michigan's defense which has led to so many blowout games for the Wolverines. This Michigan basketball team is truly something special and it'll be interesting to see if they can keep up this level of play for the whole season.

Despite being heavily favored in this game against the McNeese Cowboys, Michigan will need to stay focused and treat this as a final tune up game before starting conference play against the USC Trojans on January 2nd. McNeese is actually a pretty good mid-major squad so it will be a good game for Michigan to use to help them prepare for the rest of their season.

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