Michigan basketball will be back in action Wednesday when they host Oregon at Crisler Center for their first-ever Big Ten matchup.
The Wolverines have won their last two games over Penn State and Rutgers, while the Ducks have dropped three straight games coming into their matchup with Michigan, including a humbling 78-52 loss to UCLA last Thursday.
Here are three keys and a prediction for the Wolverines’ game against the Ducks that starts at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday on Big ten Network:
Ducks starting to quack .. er, crack
Oregon (16-6, 5-6 Big Ten) opened the season quite well under Dana Altman, winning its first nine games of the year en route to opening the season 15-3. The Ducks have fallen off their form in recent weeks as Big Ten play has ramped up, losing four of the past five games, which includes each of their past three.
As a result, Oregon has plummeted all the way to No. 37 KenPom, though it has played the No. 11 hardest schedule in America. In conference play, Oregon is No. 10 (out of 18 teams) in effective field goals (51.3%) and 2-point shooting (52.7%) and is rated No. 15 in offense (103.9), turnover rate (17.6%) and offensive rebounding (26.6%).
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On defense, meanwhile, Oregon is No. 10 in effective field goal percentage (52.9%), No. 12 in efficiency (111.2), and No. 17 in defending 3-pointers (36.7%). The Ducks have five players who average better than nine points per game, highlighted by Nate Bittle, a 7-foot senior center putting up a career-best 12.5 points and 7.2 rebounds.
Sophomore Jackson Shelstad is next at 12.3 points per game followed by Villanova transfer TJ Bamba, putting up 10.5 points per game, though on inefficient splits at 37.8% from the floor and 24.5% behind the arc.
“I thought our energy level was better, our ball movement was better, but we’ve been working on those things for a long time,” Altman recently told local reporters of the fall off since the beginning of the season. “We just haven’t made the progress that we needed to make offensively or defensively, and we’re kind of in a rut now where when our shots don’t go in, our energy level goes down.
“Our ball movement is not what it should be, our connection on the defensive end, talking, is not what it should be. I’ve got to take my fair share of responsibility because the execution is on me”
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Michigan getting healthier
At Jersey Mike’s Arena ahead of the Rutgers matchup, Michigan basketball coaches implied a number of players were banged up or working through something, even though they weren’t quite listed as questionable or out.
Now it’s a bit more clear who some of them were. Vladislav Goldin, of course, was one. U-M’s starting center who’s averaging 15.6 points and six rebounds nearly missed last week’s win over Penn State due to the flu, which U-M’s head man recently detailed as extremely debilitating.
“His wind, his energy — he just looked out of it,” U-M head coach Dusty May said on the latest ‘Inside Michigan Basketball.’ “We need him back full strength, because he lost 10 pounds in a few days.”
Though Goldin was feeling better for U-M’s 66-63 win over Rutgers, Will Tschetter was not. After the game, May admitted that Tschetter shouldn’t have played and the team was even debating traveling with him in the days leading up to the game before a change of plans in the 11th hour.
“Literally at the last minute he texted and said, ‘Hey, I just talked to my parents and I’m gonna give it a go,'” May recalled. “I basically told him, ‘We’ll use you, and depending on how you feel, it may just be two minutes, it might be the normal rotation. Let’s not make any decisions yet. Let’s see how you are.'”
Freshmen thoughts
Justin Pippen had the best game of his young career in Piscataway, New Jersey, drilling a deep 3-pointer in the first half to give U-M the lead when Tre Donaldson was in foul trouble. He also dished out a career-high four assists in 16 minutes.
L.J. Cason, however, has scored just four points since the calendar turned to 2025. Not only is he just 1 of 4 shooting and 0 of 2 from long range during that time with five turnovers in his last five games, but he’s only played more than four minutes in one of those contests, which was 14 minutes of mop-up time in a lopsided loss at Purdue.
“It’s just hard to play 10 guys,” May said of why Cason has, in part, fallen out of the rotation. “You start playing a rotation of 10, 11, 12 guys, then you’re taking (Tre Donaldson) off the floor. I think Pipp’s been very, very steady. The competition — I don’t even want to say it’s a competition amongst those two — it’s just which one can help the group function when they’re in there?
“As a freshman backup guard, their role might be, which one can hold it in the road versus which one can go make some plays. … (Cason’s) gonna be a really good basketball player. L.J. has had really big moments. He’s gonna help us win some games this year.”
Prediction
The Wolverines have seemingly re-found their form with a couple tight wins while Oregon is reeling after losing four of the past five. Seems like a perfect opportunity for U-M to gain some separation, right? Well, this is the Big Ten and the Ducks are on life support as far as their aspirations go. While U-M is unbeaten at home, that nearly changed last week vs. Penn State when U-M was fortunate to escape with a win. Not all close games can go the way of the home team, and this one is a particularly crushing example as Danny Wolf misses the game-winning attempt at the buzzer. The pick: Oregon 79, Michigan 78.
Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
Next up: Ducks
Matchup: No. 22 Michigan (16-5, 8-2 Big Ten) vs. Oregon (16-6, 5-6).
Tipoff: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday; Crisler Center, Ann Arbor.
TV/radio: Big Ten Network; WWJ-AM (950).
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball vs. Oregon: 3 keys and a prediction
