Can Michigan basketball get back on track vs Washington? Prediction

For the first time in this season, Michigan basketball will enter a game coming off a loss.

The Wolverines played well offensively the last time out against Wisconsin, but surprisingly it was their No. 1 defense that couldn’t come up with stops against the Badgers.

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Michigan allowed 54 second-half points including a 3-point barrage in what ended as a 91-88 home loss to Wisconsin.

Now, Dusty May’s group hits the road for a trip to the Pacific Northwest, starting with a game against Washington on Wednesday, Jan. 14 (10:30 p.m., Big Ten Network).

“I’m excited to get on the road,” May said at his weekly press conference before the team left for Seattle, the first of its two stops in the region. “See if we can get back to playing much better basketball.”

The Huskies (10-6, 2-3 Big Ten) haven’t exactly been a juggernaut this season. They’re 3-5 in eight games against power-conference opponents, but they are coming off a win against Ohio State. Prior to that, they lost tight at Purdue (81-73) and were down just six at Indiana with less than five minutes to play before the game got away from them (90-80).

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Washington is 7-1 at home, however, with its lone loss coming by two points to UCLA. Michigan hasn’t played its best in true road games this season, even though May’s group is 3-0 in those games. They needed a comeback against TCU, found itself down nine in the second half against Maryland before storming back and most recently survived a 74-72 win at Penn State when a game-winning 3-point attempt at the buzzer clanged off the back iron.

However, Michigan has done well out west under Dusty May (7-0 dating back to last season), which includes a multi-million dollar pay day over Thanksgiving week at the Players Era Festival this year.

TIMING IS EVERYTHING: Why Michigan basketball road trip is coming at the ‘perfect time’

“Our last road trip in Vegas, West Coast trip, it went really well,” said Nimari Burnett. “So look to carry that the same way, spend a lot of time together, as we always do, get this thing back.”

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Burnett scored 16 points on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting night last season against Washington (including four 3-pointers) but this is a new group, as is the case for most teams in America in the transfer portal era. U-W is led by German freshman Hannes Steinbach (18.4 points per game), and sophomore Zoom Diallo, who has taken a step since his freshman season, doubling his 3-point accuracy (36.4%) and averages (15.1 points) per night.

The X-factor is Desmond Claude, who missed last game against Ohio State and his status remains unclear for Wednesday. If the USC transfer does play, he could be a problem. He’s putting up 14.1 points per game and last season he had 19 points and seven rebounds for the Trojans when Michigan beat USC in Los Angeles in early January.

Washington does many things decently well, but is not exceptional in any aspect. Danny Sprinkle’s team is No. 61 on offense (117.6 points per 100 possessions) and No. 54 (101.5) on defense, per KenPom. The Huskies are No. 49 in limiting turnovers (14.9) and No. 51 in offensive rebound rate (35.7%), so it will be incumbent upon U-M’s defense to come away with steals (Michigan had just one against Wisconsin) and limit second chance points (the Badgers had 15 last time out).

“They’ve had some guys go down, and it almost looks like because their rotation is shorter, they’re playing better,” May said. “Early in the season, they played well and didn’t make shots, and now they’re starting to make shots. And so they have a good roster. … We expect (Claude) to play. But if Claude or those guys are back, they’re much deeper.”

If there’s something going for U-M, other than its talent advantage, it’s a stylistic edge. The Huskies don’t shoot many 3s – just 33.3% of their field goal attempts (No. 313 nationally) – which accounts for just 24.1% of their scoring. Washington relies on scoring inside, ranking No. 57 in the country with 53.4% of their points coming on 2-point shots.

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That’s one thing the Wolverines are exceptional at limiting. U-M is No. 1 in 2-point defense (39.5%) in the country, thanks in large part to 7-foot-3 rim-protector Aday Mara.

Michigan plans to make the most of its time as a group on the road, as May said there are activities and dinners planned for their time on the West Coast. But more than anything, what will make it an enjoyable trip is returning to Ann Arbor with a pair of victories.

“We have to get better this week prior to playing Washington and then use that to learn more about ourselves as we prepare for Oregon,” May said. “It’s two tough environments to play in.”

Michigan vs Washington prediction

The Wolverines have been a bit out of sorts over the past week, but seem to play their best when they’re on extended road trips. It’s never easy to win on the West Coast, but U-M pulled out two victories a season ago against the L.A. teams and this year’s team is even better. Michigan got a wake-up call against Wisconsin and while it’s not as simple as flipping a switch, expect a hungry Michigan squad to take the court at American Airlines Center. Plus, if Yaxel Lendeborg truly is getting closer to 100% with his pulled calf (and May made it sound like he is) that could be a much-needed boost after he’s scored just 10.7 points per game over the last three. The pick: Michigan 87, Washington 75.

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Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.

Next up: Huskies

Matchup: No. 3 Michigan (14-1, 4-1 Big Ten) at Washington (10-6, 2-3).

Tipoff: 10:30 p.m. Wednesday; Alaska Airlines Arena, Seattle.

TV/radio: Big Ten Network; WWJ-AM (950).

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Can Michigan basketball get back on track vs Washington? Prediction