Things to watch for when Michigan basketball takes on St. John's in exhibition game

Following a 100-98 loss to Cincinnati, Michigan men's basketball will take the court on Saturday evening in New York for its second -- and last -- exhibition game before the season begins. The Wolverines are set to take on St John's, a team that will test Michigan and give Dusty May an idea what where the Wolverines need to improve.

Here are a few things to watch for when Michigan takes the court.

1. How do Morez Johnson and Aday Mara fit into the equation

New Michigan big man Morez Johnson — Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

After losing Vlad Goldin and Danny Wolf, Dusty May stockpiled bigs from the transfer portal, but Yaxel Lendeborg was the only one to play in Michigan's first exhibition game. But per a recent report, both Morez Johnson and Aday Mara are expected to play against St. John's.

In the first game, May started Will Tschetter, but both Johnson and Mara are potential starters. In the game against the Red Storm, it's going to be intriguing to see who May starts at the '5' and how the rotation looks.

Recently, May talked about wanting to get both players back to see how things are going to work.

"Well, we’d like a couple full weeks of practice with our team," May said. "You know we haven’t had Aday or Morez, and yesterday’s the first day where you’re able to do anything live with those guys. So we haven’t had those players for a couple weeks. When we had our Pro Day, I think we had seven or eight healthy players for Pro Day. So we don’t really have anything in. We don’t have entries to get Yaxel on his spots. We don’t have entries to do this, to do that. So I’d like us to go get a little more organized on both sides of the ball. We really didn’t have our post fires in and our rotations just because it’s difficult to put something in when you have five guys ill or you have four starters out with injuries.

"You don’t want to add something and then have to reteach it, whatever the case. So I’d like to have a lot more in, but I think playing these games just shows how much more intense practice has to be and how much more physical the second unit guys have to be to prepare the main guys for the games."

2. Will the defense improve?

It's hard to gauge too much from an exhibition game, but Michigan did give up 100 points to UC. The Bearcats shot 55% from the field and 39% from deep. Cincinnati also recorded nine offensive rebounds against Michigan -- that number should be lower with getting both Morez Johnson and Aday Mara back.

Dusty May wasn't pleased with Michigan's efforts in the first game, and it's going to be interesting to see how the Wolverines respond. Again, St. John's is a good team, a team that went 31-5 last season. The Red Storm will be productive on the offensive side of the floor, and if Michigan is going to be a top team in the Big Ten, it will need to slow down offensive firepowers.

3. Will the 3-point attempts go down?

Michigan was very inconsistent last season shooting the 3, and that reared its ugly head against UC. The Wolverines shot 28% from deep against the Bearcats, and that could be a concern moving forward if that number doesn't improve.

The Wolverines returned Nimari Burnett and Roddy Gayle, two competent 3-point shooters. Michigan went out and landed Yaxel Lendeborg, who shot over 35% from 3 with UAB as a big man. But the Wolverines also landed high school prospects Trey McKenney and Winters Grady, who are both expected to help the Wolverines in that area.

McKenney went a whopping 0-for-6 from 3 against UC, but that shouldn't last. Grady is a sharpshooter, who could earn more playing time if he can knock down the 3. May touched on Grady's minutes increasing this year.

"When you look at our shooting woes from last year, I would have to say that he has a real opportunity to crack the rotation," May said earlier this week. "Especially the point guard like Elliot, Winters will give Elliot more space, and Elliot will help Winters get good looks. So yeah, I mean obviously the numbers game and specific matchups matter, but yes, we could see a path for Winters to figure out a way to help this team sooner than later."

1. How do Morez Johnson and Aday Mara fit into the equation

2. Will the defense improve?

3. Will the 3-point attempts go down?

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