Michigan

Purdue Basketball: Michigan Preview

Published

2 years ago

January 23, 2024

Press Room

University of Michigan Wolverines

Overall Record: 7-11

Big 10 Record: 2-5

KenPom Ranking: 79

Basic Information

Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan

Type of School: Public Research University

Mascot: None (seriously, how hard is it to put someone in a Wolverine costume?)

Head Coach – Juwan Howard

Seasons at Michigan: 5

Other Head Coaching Jobs: None

Career Record: 86-59

Conference Championships: 1

Conference Tournament Championships: 0

NCAA Appearances: 2 (5-2)

Final Four Appearances: 0

Kenpom Style of Play

() = National Ranking per Kenpom

Offense

Adj. Efficiency: 116.1 (45)

Avg. Poss. Length: 17.6 (198)

Defense

Adj. Efficiency: 54.6 (39)

Avg. Poss. Length: 17.6 (198)

Adjusted Tempo

67.6

Kenpom 4 Factors

() = National Ranking per Kenpom

Offense

Effective FG%: 54.6 (39)

Turnover %: 17.9 (207)

Off. Reb. %: 31.7 (96)

FTA/FGA: 31.5 (206)

Defense

Effective FG%: 50.1 (164)

Turnover %: 14.2 (331)

Off. Reb. %: 30.5 (235)

FTA/FGA: 30.2 (122)

Personnel

Michigan Starters

Position	Number	Player	Class	Height	Weight	Previous Team	Minutes	Points	Rebounds	Assists	Steals	Blocks
Position	Number	Player	Class	Height	Weight	Previous Team	Minutes	Points	Rebounds	Assists	Steals	Blocks
Point Guard	3	Jaelin Llewellyn	So.	5’11”	175	Princeton	11.5	3.4	0.9	0.9	0.3	0
Shooting Guard	4	Nimari Burnett	Sr.	6’4″	200	Texas Tech / Alabama	31.8	9.6	4.7	2.6	1	0.6
Small Forward	5	Terrance Williams	Sr.	6’7″	225	N/A	34.2	12.6	4.2	1.3	1.3	0.6
Power Forward	13	Oliver Knamhoua	Sr.	6’9″	235	Tennessee	34.1	17	7.3	2.6	0.6	0.6
Center	32	Tarris Reed Jr.	So.	6’10”	265	N/A	24.1	8.8	6.2	0.6	0.7	1.3

Michigan Bench

Position	Number	Player	Class	Height	Weight	Previous Team	Minutes	Points	Rebounds	Assists	Steals	Blocks
Position	Number	Player	Class	Height	Weight	Previous Team	Minutes	Points	Rebounds	Assists	Steals	Blocks
Guard	40	George Washington	Fr.	6’2″	170	N/A	6.2	0.5	0.1	0.3	0	0.1
Small Forward	24	Youssef Khayat	So.	6’9″	215	N/A	5.5	1.5	0.9	0	0.1	0.2
Power Forward	42	Will Tschetter	So.	6’8″	245	N/A	16.8	7.4	2.4	0.6	0.2	0.2

Michigan on Offense

Like the Illinois game, this is tough because the Wolverines are playing without their road-suspended (no idea guys, just reporting the facts) leading scorer, Dug McDaniel. The Wolverines have enough trouble on offense with his 17 points a game in the lineup. Without them, it’s a struggle.

The best game to watch in preparation for this game is the Michigan vs. Maryland game from January 11th. The Wolverines managed 57 points against the Terps. That’s not great. When you consider that the score of the game was 57-58 Maryland with 2:36 remaining and the final score was 57-64 Maryland, it’s even worse. Not only could Michigan not score, they couldn’t score when it mattered most.

Maryland pressed Michigan all game and gave up some easy hoops, but that makes sense. Maryland is also not good on offense, and without McDaniel, they have two guards they’re comfortable playing.

Purdue’s not going to press.

That’s bad for Michigan because the only time their offense had flow against Maryland was in transition. Their half-court sets were a grind if Maryland managed to deny their first option. Nothing looked easy or coherent. Almost every possession bogged down into some sort of iso look for whoever ended up with the ball in his hands when they ran out of ideas.

With McDaniel at home, Tennessee transfer Oliver Nkamhoua takes over as Juwan Howard’s go-to scorer. He’s a talented, consistent stretch 4, but he’s not a guy that’s going to go off and put up a huge number. He averages 17 a game, and he’s usually going to produce something close to that. His season high against a competitive team was 24 in an overtime loss to Florida. In the Maryland game, he scored an efficient 18 points on 8-16 shooting, but that didn’t help fill the hole left by McDaniel. Howard is probably getting everything Nkamhoua has to give. Someone else has to step up if they want to shot to win this game.

Nkamhoua has a sneaky post game that includes a nice turnaround jumper off the block that catches defenders flat-footed. His range extends out to the 3-point line where he shoots a solid 37%. He’s a solid finisher in traffic in transition. Solid may be the best way to describe his game. I don’t see any one elite skill, but he does everything average to above average and could give Purdue issues with his ability to post a smaller Mason Gillis or pull TKR (who is apparently healthy after doing something super weird looking to his leg against Iowa) away from the basket and attack him off the dribble.

The only player outside of Knamhoua that concerns me is Terrance Williams because he’s the other guy that can score outside the offense. The 6’7” wing is consistently inconsistent. He put up 24 against Penn State and looked like one of the best wings in the conference. He put up 8 last time out against Illinois on 3-10 shooting and looked disinterested.

In Michigan’s upset win over Ohio State, Williams put up 18 points, including going 5-5 from deep. That’s the type of shooting that could keep the Wolverines in this game. In fact, Williams getting hot may be the only way Michigan keeps this thing close. Look for Williams when Purdue doubles Knamhoua in the paint. He’s 6’7”, he’s going to get a clean look over a closeout. He’ll need to hit every halfway decent chance he gets.

Michigan on Defense

If you’re going to slow Purdue down, you need a Zach Edey plan.

I don’t think Michigan has a workable Zach Edey plan.

They have to double-team the big man. Tarris Reed is a load at 6’10”, 265, but Zach will foul him out in the first half if he’s left to check the best player in college basketball on his own. Once Reed gets into foul trouble, Michigan is cooked beyond cooked. Their backup center is 6’9” Olivier Knamhoua, and he also happens to be Michigan’s first, second, and third option on offense. Zach will make him look like a child in the paint.

The Wolverines are going to have to double Zach, but they’re not well-connected on defense. Purdue’s going to find wide-open perimeter looks once they get Michigan in rotation, and they’re going to have them in rotation all game. Jones, Loyer, and Gillis better calibrate their shots to swish because they’re going to get more open looks than they know what to do with in this one.

Matchup to Watch

Zach Edey vs Tarris Reed Jr.

This one has the potential to get out of hand and stay out of hand. Michigan is only 7 deep with Dug in the lineup. Their only big off the bench receiving consistent minutes is 6’8” Will Tschetter. If this comes down to a Zach Edey vs. Will Tschetter battle in the post, scoring records could fall.

For Michigan to have a chance in this game, Reed Jr. has to stay on the court. I don’t see anyone else capable of stopping Zach from scoring 40+ other than Matt Painter if Reed Jr. gets in early foul trouble.

Prediction

KenPom

Purdue: 86

Michigan: 69

Confidence: 26%

Drew

Purdue: 90

Michigan: 70

The Wolverines could use a “get right” game after dropping 6 of their last 7. Purdue is a get murdered game. Michigan might get hot from outside and keep the game reasonable in the first half, but they don’t have enough to hang for an entire game.

Coach Howard may want to consider turning this game over to one of his assistants.

Source link

Michigan

Q&A: Jocelyn Benson on her tenure as Michigan’s secretary of state

Published

6 hours ago

April 19, 2026

Press Room

Q&A: Jocelyn Benson on her tenure as Michigan’s secretary of state

Lansing — Jocelyn Benson, the front runner for the Democratic Party’s nomination for governor, said she believes her work in eight years as secretary of state will help convince voters to promote her this fall.

On Sunday, during a convention in Detroit, Democrats will pick a new secretary of state nominee. And on Thursday, Benson’s campaign for governor submitted about 30,000 petition signatures to get her name on the Aug. 4 primary ballot.

Amid those key moments in the 2026 election cycle, Benson, a former law school dean, sat down Thursday afternoon for an interview with The Detroit News about her time as secretary of state.

“I think that’s what people are looking for: A government that saves them time, saves them money and makes their life easier,” Benson contended. “I’ve done that as secretary of state, and I’ll do that as governor.”

The following interview was edited for length and clarity.

Question: You just dropped off your signatures this weekend. The Democrats are going to be gathering to nominate a new person for secretary of state. I was just looking over your campaign promises from 2017, do you feel like you hit them?

Benson: I had two goals when I came into office: wait times down and voter turnout up. And we did both, and I’m really proud of that.

When I started, we did a strategic planning session every January, and during our first strategic planning session in 2019, we filled the whiteboard on every wall in the office. And in our most recent one, the final one, we had just sort of one, just one little to-do list item left, which was really gratifying. Because we have not just increased turnout, but we’ve transformed our elections, eliminated gerrymandering, implemented the state’s first-ever citizens redistricting commission, which was no easy task, and then also implemented a number of new election procedures and options, educated voters about them and took Michigan’s elections from being ranked 31st in the country to No. 2.

We also did that while reducing those wait times (in Secretary of State offices), transforming our customer service experience. … Wait times are consistently 20 minutes or less, which was my No. 1 campaign goal.

Q: What were some of the strategies you used to get the wait times down for people?

A: No. 1, we listened to our employees, and No. 2, we collected data about what wasn’t working. You can’t fix what you can’t measure. And No. 3, we actually went around the country and looked at what states that actually had low wait times were doing. There weren’t many, but there were a few. Indiana and Illinois, had some interesting things that they did, and we took best practices that were working in other states and replicated them here.

But that first piece was key, listening to our employees. Early on in the process, we brought everyone in, all the branch office directors. I was expecting a daylong retreat where we would be discussing ideas, and I sat down with the director of branch office services. He had a whole PowerPoint presentation that went through everything we needed to do, from filling 900 vacant positions that were just vacant and not filled, to creating internally this opportunity for people to schedule the visit ahead of time.

We didn’t pay someone else to build that. That was built by our employees.

Q: When you ran in 2018, one of the big things you were talking about was election security. Do you feel like you’ve achieved that: improving election security? And what do you think about more people probably having faith in the results of elections then than they do now?

A: I am really proud of the fact that in this era of misinformation, we were able to protect our elections and ensure they remained secure.

While withstanding this unprecedented scrutiny and an unprecedented level of frivolous lawsuits, sham legislative hearings and falsehoods spread about our elections in the eye of the storm, we not only met the moment, but we built a better election system through it. That’s evidenced by the fact that we now have choices on how to vote in our state, we’ve modernized how you can register to vote and have increased the registration numbers we have.

Q: If one of these current candidates for secretary of state came to you and said, “I believe that the election is secure and everything is fine, but obviously there’s a lot of voters who don’t. How do we improve that?” What would you say to them?

A: Transparency is our friend.

Q: Just continue to open the process up as much as possible?

A: Well, the facts are on our side. The process is secure. So one of the most important things we need to do first is just continue to give people the tools that they need to get their questions answered and work with folks across the aisle, like we worked with Sen. Ed McBroom in 2021 to invite them into the process as well as answer questions that they have, while also, of course, maintaining any necessary confidence or security about the information that we’re providing.

But the through line is just transparency.

Q: What do you say to some of your opponents who will say, “Yeah, you decreased wait times. But what about the campaign finance website?” It’s not functioning, as they would hope it would.

A: Well, it’s certainly better than what we’ve had in the past. I think it’s important to remember that when I first ran for office, one of the things I heard most on the trail was actually, when are you going to get rid of MERTS (the former campaign finance disclosure system)?

Q: But that’s from people who are on the back end of it?

A: Right. Yeah. So I didn’t want to leave office without taking on that behemoth, knowing that it wasn’t going to be a smooth process, but it’s a necessary one if we were actually going to have a more transparent system, which I would argue also is something that the next secretary of state really needs to lean into more: getting money out of politics. I’ll be an ally for that as governor.

But when it comes to MITN and that process, one, what it really underscores is that I’m not afraid to take on big behemoths that others, frankly, past secretaries of state, refused to do, because it was too hard. And it does invite criticism. Whenever you try to transform a massive system that’s broken, yes, there are going to be hiccups along the way.

Q: Do you think voters are interested in that message: “I’ve improved these systems. I’m in government. I’ve succeeded in government. I can make it work.” Or are they looking for someone to just change everything?

A: People see a broken system that needs fixing, and they know I have transformed and fixed a system that every single one of our residents has interacted with. The other day, I was picking up food for my son and husband, and walking out with bags of food, and this gentleman in a pickup truck pulled up next to me in the parking lot and said, “Excuse me, are you the secretary of state?”

I was like, “I am.” And he said, “You know, I’m not political or anything. But I just was driving down this road the other day and realized when I passed the secretary of state’s office that it’s been years since I’ve had to go in there. Thank you for everything you’ve done to make that possible for me.” And I said, “Yeah, now imagine if all of government worked that well.”

Q: Do you think all three of the Democratic candidates running for secretary of state would be a good secretary of state? I know you’re not endorsing.

A: I’m committed to working with whoever comes through the convention and making sure they’re prepared to build on what we’ve done and achieve even more success.

cmauger@detroitnews.com

Source link

Michigan

Before-and-after images show severity of Black Lake flooding

Published

18 hours ago

April 18, 2026

Press Room

Before-and-after images show severity of Black Lake flooding

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.

Source link

Michigan

Driver swerves to avoid oncoming traffic, dies after crashing into tree in Texas Twp

Published

1 day ago

April 18, 2026

Press Room

Driver swerves to avoid oncoming traffic, dies after crashing into tree in Texas Twp

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.

BE THE FIRST TO COMMENT

This incident remains under investigation by MSP.

Source link