[9:30 PM] Michigan v. Marquette

Who will WIN this matchup?

Michigan Wolverines (2-0)

Marquette Golden Eagles (2-0)

 

• Michigan faces its stiffest test of the season when it travels to New York City to tangle with Marquette in the semifinals of the 2K Classic at Madison Square Garden on Thursday. The Wolverines opened the season with a 76-58 victory against Howard before knocking off IUPUI 77-65 in the regional portion of the tournament, and hope to improve to 5-1 in games played in the Big Apple under John Beilein.

• Marquette followed up its impressive 95-71 road win against Vanderbilt by brushing aside Howard 81-49 to improve to 93-7 in home openers. The Golden Eagles are 6-13 all-time against the Wolverines, but won the most recent matchup 79-65 in 2009 and hope to advance to the final against either Pittsburgh or SMU on Friday.

• The emergence of junior forward D.J. Wilson continues to be one of the major storylines of the young season for the Wolverines as he registered seven points, 14 rebounds and five blocks in the win against IUPUI. Zak Irvin scored 15 points to lead four players in double figures, along with Derrick Walton Jr. (13), Mo Wagner (13) and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman (12).

• Katin Reinhardt and Jajuan Johnson each scored 14 points while Haanif Cheatham filled up the stat sheet with 12 points, seven rebounds and a career-high six assists in the win against Howard. Johnson looks poised for a breakout senior season as he’s averaging 17.5 points and 3.5 steals in his first two games after putting up 10.2 points per contest in 2015-16.

• Marquette is 32-9 in regular-season tournaments since 2004-05.

 

StreakSmarts Pick: Marquette Golden Eagles

Confidence: 4/10

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