Michigan
Michigan basketball vs. Wake Forest: 3 things to watch on Wolverines’ first road trip
After taking care of business in two exhibition games and the season opener, Michigan basketball is ready for a road test against a power conference opponent.
Michigan is 1-0 under new head coach Dusty May after obliterating Cleveland State by 48 points in the opener on Monday. The Wolverines will have had almost a full week off before facing Wake Forest on Sunday afternoon.
The game will be played at a technically neutral site — First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina — albeit one just over 30 miles west of Wake Forest’s campus. That should give Michigan a pseudo-road environment, with most fans cheering against the Wolverines. (Next year, U-M gets its payback: a neutral-site game vs. Wake Forest at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.)
Here are three factors to watch on Sunday afternoon when the Wolverines and Demon Deacons tip off at 1 p.m. (ESPN2).
A tournament-level test
Wake Forest enters the game at 2-0 with wins over Coppin State (by 15 points) and North Carolina A&T (by 16 points) at home. The Demon Deacons were ranked third in the preseason ACC poll, behind just Duke and North Carolina, and received one vote for first place.
“I’m really excited,” said Michigan wing Sam Walters, a transfer from Alabama. “They got some really good players. My former teammate (Davin Cosby) plays for them as well, so I’m really excited to play against guys I know and a really good team. I think it’s going to be a good test for us, especially early in the season to play a good team in their home state.”
The Demon Deacons are led by senior guard Hunter Sallis, a preseason All-ACC first-team selection after he averaged 18 points as a junior last year. Sallis, who played two seasons at Gonzaga before transferring across the country, is a big-bodied guard who thrives attacking downhill while shooting 39.2% from 3-point range for his career.
“His athleticism, his size and then his ability to get into the pain, stop, shot fake and then obviously make,” Michigan assistant coach and general manager Kyle Church said. “Combine that with the ability to make 3s. I think he’s becoming a better playmaker for others as well. He’ll be one of the better guards we play all year.”
Hitting the road
This is Michigan’s first regular-season game outside of Crisler Center this season, though the Wolverines won an exhibition game against Oakland last month at LCA in Detroit. Michigan scheduled the neutral-site game to help provide a boost to its NET rankings and get a taste of playing at an NCAA tournament venue — Greensboro hosted first- and second-round men’s games in the 2023 tournament, though it’s not on the schedule for the next three men’s tournaments.
“It’s still a different feel,” Church said. “It’s not like being on campus and having the students, so it’s something we want to work in for those reasons.”
Michigan still expects a large Wake Forest presence cheering against them. It will help prepare them for the Big Ten teams they will face on the road, starting with a visit to Wisconsin in early December.
“I think it will be a great atmosphere,” said Will Tschetter, one of U-M’s few returning players. “It’ll be great for our team to have our first road game played in front of an opposing crowd. Looking forward to it.”
Focus on cleaning up rebounding and limiting turnovers
Even though Michigan hasn’t had to face much adversity through the exhibitions and opener, they still want to see improvements in a few key areas of the floor, namely in keeping possession and not surrendering second-chance opportunities. Monday against Cleveland State, the Wolverines had 16 turnovers and were just plus-one in rebounding because of the Vikings’ 20 offensive rebounds.
“Obviously, the glaring weakness would be the defensive rebounding,” Church said. “That’s something that’s been addressed heavily this week.”
The team didn’t break out any new rebounding drills, Walters said.
“I wouldn’t say we did anything specifically, but there was a big emphasis when we are playing like in our drills and our live stuff to make sure we are boxing out, finding our guy,” Walters said. “And even in our film breakdowns, that was a main point of focus.”
The other main area of focus is limiting giveaways. Michigan’s 16 turnovers only led to eight Cleveland State points, but it limited the amount of shots Michigan could take.
“It is a possessions game,” Tschetter said. “Being able to have as many possessions as possible is critical. So that’s kind of our main focus right now in our area of improvement.”
Next up: Demon Deacons
Matchup: Michigan (1-0) vs. Wake Forest (2-0), Deacon-Wolverine Challenge.
Tipoff: 1 p.m. Sunday; First Horizon Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina.
TV/radio: ESPN2; WWJ-AM (950).
Jared Ramsey is a sports reporter for the Detroit Free Press. Follow Jared on X @jared_ramsey22, and email him at jramsey@freepress.com.
Before-and-after images of homes on Black Lake near Onaway provide perspectives on how the community was affected by April flooding.
Snowmelt and rain have stressed dams and caused lakes to flood in northern Michigan.
The Cheboygan County Sheriff’s Office shared on social media photos and videos that the agency captured of Cheboygan County floods on Friday, April 17 from both the ground and air.
Deputies “observed a level of destruction that simply cannot be understood from ground level,” the sheriff’s office said in the post.
Google Maps images taken from two locations on Black Lake in 2024, compared with the Friday images, show how the floodwater has changed the landscape.
On North Black River Road and Taylor Road, the water has overflowed to North Black River Road.
In the 400 block of South Black River Road, water has also flooded homes and lakeside property.
“Black Lake, Black River, Cheboygan River, Burt Lake, Mullet Lake, the Sturgeon River − and nearly every waterway in the county have overflowed beyond their banks, swallowing docks, roads, yards, and in far too many cases, homes,” the sheriff’s office post said. “What should be familiar shorelines are now unrecognizable expanses of water.”
“Our hearts are with every family affected by this flooding,” Cheboygan County Sheriff Todd Ross said in the post. “We know many of you are facing significant damage to your homes and property, and the emotional toll that comes with it. Please know you are not alone. We are working around the clock with our partners to ensure safety, provide support, and begin the process of recovery. Stay strong, stay connected, and don’t hesitate to reach out for help, we will get through this together.”
Nearby, the UAW Black Lake Conference Center shared images on social media of floodwater threatening its Old Lodge.
The conference center is located at 2000 Maxon Road in Waverly Township.
The Cheboygan County Road Commission and the Cheboygan County Office of Emergency Management closed the bridge at Five Mile Point Road on Saturday, April 18 due to significant road washout in the area of South Black River Road and Red Bridge Road.
The sheriff’s office had encouraged residents in parts of the area to evacuate earlier in the week and said Saturday it had completed evacuation efforts on the west side of the lake.
TEXAS TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A 20-year-old Kalamazoo man is dead after crashing his vehicle into a tree Friday evening in Texas Township, according to Michigan State Police (MSP).
It happened on South 3rd Street and West PQ Avenue around 6:50 p.m., troopers said.
While he was driving in a no-passing zone, the Kalamazoo man swerved off the road to avoid an oncoming vehicle and subsequently crashed into the tree, according to MSP.
The 20-year-old died at the scene. A passenger was hurt, but police said their injuries were non-life threatening.
Troopers do not believe alcohol or drugs were a factor, and the two were reportedly wearing seatbelts.
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This incident remains under investigation by MSP.
A Southfield man has pleaded guilty to illegally possessing driver’s licenses, Social Security cards and equipment to create fake documents, federal prosecutors said.
Jerome Antwan Andrews, 41, pleaded guilty Thursday to possessing the driver’s license information and Social Security numbers of more than 250 people in a scheme that caused more than $550,000 in fraud losses, U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon Jr. said.
As part of his plea agreement, prosecutors say Andrews admitted to having an embosser, a laminator, a card cutter and an ID card printer and admitted that his business model was aimed at creating and selling fake Social Security cards and driver’s licenses in the names of real people.
“Jerome Antwan Andrews and his criminal associates stole more than $1.5 million by submitting hundreds of fraudulent claims to a pandemic program intended to help unemployed American workers. Today’s conviction of Andrews represents yet another attack in our war against fraud. It sends a stern warning that my office will relentlessly investigate those bad actors greedily lining their pockets with U.S. taxpayer funds,” said Anthony P. D’Esposito, Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General.
Andrews faces up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine or twice the pecuniary gain or loss, according to prosecutors. He will be sentenced at a later date.
Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Department of Labor investigated Andrews’ case.
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