Billikens coach Josh Schertz called the Wolverines the best team in the country.

Buffalo, N.Y. — It’s no secret that stretch bigs have given Michigan problems this season.

And it’s no secret that Saint Louis runs a five-out offense with one of the premier shooting big men in the country in Robbie Avila, who sports goggles and has an endless supply of color nicknames.

When push comes to shove in Saturday’s NCAA Tournament second-round matchup at KeyBank Center, the battle between the centers could be at the center of determining who secures a spot in the Sweet 16.

“We’ve learned that against pick-and-pop bigs, if you allow a direct pass, they’re going to shoot about 25% to 30% better. If they make one or two, you need to be prepared to go to your contingency plans quicker than usual,” Michigan coach Dusty May said. “We’ve played this defensive philosophy for several years, so we know what can beat it on a given night. We know what the holes in the defense are. But it’s just like everything else, there’s a give and take.

James Hawkins of The Detroit News breaks down Michigan’s second-round opponent in the NCAA Tournament and predicts the outcome:

Michigan vs. Saint Louis scouting report

▶ Saint Louis (29-5) set a school record for victories in a season in dominate fashion. The ninth-seeded Billikens shot 58% from the field and set numerous program marks for an NCAA Tournament game in Thursday’s 102-77 shellacking of No. 8 seed Georgia, including points scored, field goals (42), assists (27) and margin of victory. Per KenPom’s rankings, the Bulldogs (No. 37) are the highest-rated team that Saint Louis has beaten this season and just the third top-50 team, after Santa Clara (No. 38) and VCU (No. 42), who both made the Big Dance.

▶ The Billikens rank in the top 15 nationally in numerous offensive and defensive categories. On offense, they’re second in 3-point shooting (40.2%), sixth in field-goal percentage (50.9%), 10th in made 3-pointers (10.9) and assists (18.3) per game, 10th in scoring offense (87.2 points) and 11th in 2-point shooting (59.6%). On defense, they lead the nation in opposing field goal percentage (37.9%), rank fifth in 2-point field goal percentage (44.6%) and are seventh in 3-point field goal percentage (29.8%).

▶ Redshirt junior guard Kellen Thames and redshirt sophomore guard Trey Green led the Atlantic 10 in 2-point shooting (67.8%) and 3-point shooting (45.7%), respectively. Green’s 3-point mark also ranks third in the nation and headlines a long-range attack that features four Billikens who are shooting at least 40% from deep on 50-plus attempts. The others are forward Brady Dunlap (44.1%), guard Ishan Sharma (42.8%), center Robbie Avila (41.6%) and guard Dion Brown (40.4%). Saint Louis has made as many as 19 3-pointers in a game this season and has drained at least 10 deep balls 22 times across 34 contests.

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Michigan vs. Saint Louis prediction

Saint Louis, the Atlantic 10 regular-season champion, carved up and dissected Georgia’s defense in a blowout win. The Billikens will provide much more of a test than Howard did, and Michigan is going to need to be locked in defensively from the start.

The Wolverines have struggled to guard stretch fives (see both Wisconsin games) and Saint Louis just so happens to have a big man — the bespectacled Robbie Avila — who shoots 40% from deep. If Michigan can find a way to solve that defensive dilemma, it should be Sweet 16-bound in its seventh straight NCAA Tournament appearance, though it might not come comfortably. Pick: Michigan, 84-78

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NCAA Tournament

NO. 1 SEED MICHIGAN VS. NO. 9 SEED SAINT LOUIS

What: Second-round NCAA Tournament game

When: Saturday, 12:10 p.m.

Where: KeyBank Arena, Buffalo

TV: CBS

Records: Michigan 32-3, Saint Louis 29-5

A woman whose high school photos were digitally altered to appear nude and then shared online says she feels “completely manipulated” and let down by a justice system that has so far spared one of the men involved from jail time.

Madison Kinsella, 32, graduated from Plymouth-Canton Educational Park in 2011.

She said she first learned in 2023 that images of her as a minor had been hacked from her and altered to appear nude.

“I received a message from a fellow victim,” Kinsella said in an interview with the Investigators on Local 4. “She informed me that an agent that was involved in the case that they were building was also going to reach out, and later on that week, they actually came to my parents’ home in Michigan and spoke with them about what was going on.”

Kinsella said she was traveling when she got the call, trying to process what federal investigators were telling her.

“Your brain has never moved faster than when you’re hearing that information,” Kinsella said. “And then all of a sudden, you’re realizing that’s why I had my Apple ID password changing every day for two years, because these people were hacking into my phone and doing God knows what. And it’s just a violation of privacy, of trust, of thinking you know someone.”

The backstory

Federal prosecutors said three former P-CEP students, Daniel Bihn, an engineer; Michael Justus, who worked in digital technology and AI; and Bernard Rice, a psychiatric nurse practitioner, conspired for years to hack accounts and steal or manipulate intimate photos of women, often former classmates, then trade or post them online.

Investigators said the men used a Russian website and the anonymous messaging platform Discord to exchange nude images, some of which were obtained by hacking Snapchat accounts and accessing the password-protected “My Eyes Only” feature.

Court records show agents eventually tied online usernames, including “Triangle Guy,” alleged to be Bihn, to the former students and raided Bihn’s home in January 2021, seizing electronics.

Later that year, investigators searched Justus’ Illinois home and connected Rice to the chats.

The chats

In one 2019 Discord exchange described in federal filings, Justus and Rice discussed a “list” of women for Bihn to target:

“Very interested to see your list and see if there’s any blatant misses on my end.”

“Just got around to it lol.”

“She’s cute – nice add.”

“Good stuff.”

Kinsella said her images were not true nude photographs but rather high school pictures that had been digitally altered, something she considers a very small consolation.

“I consider myself somewhat lucky that it wasn’t a real private image, and I take some peace in knowing that it was fake,” Kinsella said. “However, I feel completely manipulated in this situation, completely … just used. It’s shattering, really, to know that this is what my face has been put on and to be made to look like… that some people believe that is me.”

“Humiliation is an understatement,” Kinsella added. “It’s just a very devastating, violating feeling.”

Kinsella said she is especially angered by what she sees as attempts to cast some of the men as socially awkward or starved for female attention.

“I find it very interesting that in the court documents that are public, we can read that there’s been a sort of spin on these men not getting female attention,” Kinsella said. “Mike Justus, who I know, I can say that wasn’t true. It’s a complete lie.”

Guilty pleas

All three men pleaded guilty in 2024 to conspiracy to commit fraud and related computer activity.

Bihn has been sentenced to time served, along with probation and restitution.

Rice was also sentenced to probation and restitution. Justus is scheduled to be sentenced on March 26.

Kinsella said she is disappointed but not surprised by the sentences handed down so far.

“If we can’t rely on the court system to do what needs to be done, then unfortunately it’s on our communities to respond, and I hope that is what happens,” Kinsella said.

Another victim, in a statement read in court, described the lasting trauma:

“When I found out my private photos have been posted online, I began having daily panic attacks multiple times per day, could not leave my house, had to start weekly therapy; I’m still working through this trauma to this day.”

Kinsella said she, too, has been in therapy since learning about the manipulated images.

She said she is “terrified” that more manipulated images of her are out there.

“To the women that have had to go through this, either in this specific experience or something similar, I think it’s important to find your power and your voice,” Kinsella said. “Even if men are going to behave this way, you owe it to yourself to be your fullest and most alive self and not stifle or be scared of the world.”

Kinsella believes change will only come if women stand together and communities refuse to look the other way.

“My prayer is that one day this will change and no longer be a reality,” Kinsella said. “And that only happens when we all work together.”

Kinsella said she and several other women plan to attend Justus’ sentencing on March 26th to “look him in the eyes.”