The tough non-conference schedule continues for the Michigan Wolverines on Tuesday as they welcome the Villanova Wildcats to Crisler Center in another “March Madness” type game early in the season.
Michigan
has won four straight games by at least 30 points, including three by at least 40 points. It is playing like the best basketball team in the country, and head coach Dusty May has no plans of slowing down. However, the Wolverines will take on another tough opponent this week and a very familiar coach in former Maryland frontman Kevin Willard.
The Wildcats are currently 7-1, and carry a seven-game winning streak into Ann Arbor. Villanova blew out Pennsylvania, 90-63, to win the Big Five Classic on Saturday in Philadelphia, finishing the game with four players in double-digits. Since dropping their opener to BYU by five points, the Wildcats are playing very strong basketball, and May had some strong praise for them in his press conference on Monday.
“They’re good at what they do,” May said. “I mean, (Kevin Willard) has had an instant impact. They have a good team. They’re going to win a lot of games. I think they’re an NCAA tournament team that could advance. And so that’s who you want to be playing this time of year.”
One of the first things that makes Villanova a scary opponent is the number of shooters it has – many of whom May is very familiar with.
Starting at the guard position, the backcourt is a sneaky dark horse led by former Sun Belt Freshman of the Year and the league’s Sixth Man of the Year, Bryce Lindsay, who is averaging 18.1 points per game.
He is paired with one of the nation’s top freshman guards, Acaden Lewis, who has been having a sensational freshman campaign, averaging 12.8 points, 5.8 assists and 3 rebounds per contest, and has been converting over 52 percent from the field. While the Wolverines have some talented guards of their own, these two are nothing to play with.
“Well, Acaden (Lewis), for a freshman guard, he’s got to be one of the best freshman guards in the country,” May said. “His ability to manipulate the defense, his finishing package is all the things we knew when we recruited him. He visited officially in the fall last year and ended up signing with Kentucky. But all the things we knew back then, I mean, he’s an elite finisher with either hand. He does a nice job of getting the shooter shots and feeding the roll man. He’s capable of shooting from deep and really getting in a rhythm, but he just has a lot of game, especially for a freshman playing on this stage.”
Part of what the guards do best is get the ball inside and on the perimeter to the bread and butter of the Villanova squad – its bigs. The Wildcats tout two strong big men in Duke Brennan and Matt Hodge, who can both shoot threes and get down low, creating a ton of mismatches for defenders depending on the spacing. The mix of size, strength and shooting could create problems, and May is aware of the challenge.
“First and foremost, (Duke) Brennan goes with force and he does a really good job of tracking the ball with his eyes while he’s going after it and shedding defenders,” May said. “He loves contact and he’s going to throw his body around and they have great role definition as well. So, I think he’s able to anticipate what’s going to happen next…you have the bigs like (Matt Hodge) can make threes. I just think they did a really nice job of putting the right pieces together.”
It is one thing to have pieces, but the “Willard” scheme attempts to keep you off balance. They throw out matchup zones, switch one through five, will press, and will mix up coverages.
There is no question that May’s team can shoot and defend against any team in the country. And the Wolverines are the heavy favorites. But even for a team as hot as Michigan is right now, discipline and team basketball are what is needed to take down a spunky road team on Tuesday night.
