First Scouting Report: Against Michigan, can Kentucky record this season’s first big win?
A look ahead to the Kentucky Wildcats’ next men’s basketball game:
The opponent
No. 19 Kentucky (5-2) will face Michigan (5-2) on Sunday, Dec. 4, at The O2 Arena in London, England.
The game will tip off at 1 p.m. (EST) and be telecast by ABC (Channel 36 in Lexington).
Michigan faced No. 3 Virginia on Tuesday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and was defeated, 70-68.
Series history
Kentucky leads the all-time series with Michigan 5-2.
Most recent meeting
Aaron Harrison’s three-pointer from the deep left wing with 2.3 seconds left gave Kentucky a 75-72 victory over Michigan in the NCAA Tournament Midwest Region finals at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on March 30, 2014, and sent the Wildcats to their third Final Four in four seasons.
Power rankings
The CBS version of the NET Rankings have Kentucky No. 9, Michigan No. 27.
In the Kenpom Ratings, Kentucky stands No. 4, Michigan No. 47.
The Sagarin Ratings have Kentucky No. 15, Michigan No. 48.
Know your foe
1. Fourth-year Michigan Coach Juwan Howard has a 66-34 record at his college alma mater. Howard directed the Wolverines to the NCAA Tournament round of eight in 2020-21 and to the round of 16 last season.
A member of Michigan’s famed “Fab Five” as a player, Howard played against Kentucky in the 1993 Final Four. A 6-foot-9 forward, Howard had 17 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals in the Wolverines’ 81-78 overtime victory over the Wildcats.
Michigan went on to lose to North Carolina in the NCAA finals, the second straight season in which Howard and the rest of the “Fab Five” lost in the national championship game. Michigan fell to Duke and Christian Laettner in the 1992 finals.
2. A 7-foot-1, 255-pound center, Hunter Dickinson is Michigan’s best player. The junior from Alexandria, Va., is almost averaging a double-double — 19.1 points, 9.1 rebounds — while shooting 58.7 percent from the field.
Last season, Dickinson averaged 18.6 points and 8.6 rebounds.
The Michigan star will be the second marquee big-man matchup of the season for Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe. Last season’s consensus National Player of the Year, Tshiebwe has already gone up against Gonzaga star post player Drew Timme this season.
Besides Dickinson, Michigan’s only other double-figure scorer is guard Jett Howard, (15.1 points, 43.8 percent on three-point attempts), a 6-8 freshman and son of the Wolverines’ head coach.
3. Before Tuesday night’s home defeat to No. 3 Virginia, Michigan’s sole loss of the season was a blowout, 87-62, vs. Arizona State in the Legends Classic in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
The difference in the game was shooting — ASU hit 32 of 53 shots, 11 of 19 treys. Meanwhile, Michigan made only 21 of 62 field-goal tries, four of 22 three-pointers.
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