The Michigan Wolverines succumbed to their first defeat of the season in the last outing against the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Saturday.
Speaking to the media, the Michigan assistant Phil Martelli said on Monday: “When the street fight started, we didn’t answer it.”
He made their stance known later as he added: “We were knocked down. We weren’t knocked out.”
The Wolverines will be looking to bounce back from their high-margin loss in their next game. And just as the Michigan team was able to defeat Minnesota in their first meeting this season, the team beat Maryland in an 84-73 away win in College Park on the last day of the previous year, just as predicted by casino Australia right before the game.
Michigan point guard Mike Smith said to the press: “We’re going to go into (the game) knowing they want to come in and instantly make a statement. We have to know they’re coming for our heads.”
Following their loss on Saturday, Martelli revealed a blueprint for their upcoming opponents to follow and it will be up to his team to deliver a better performance. Freshman center Hunter Dickinson, who bagged 26 points and 11 rebounds, in their first outing with Maryland Terrapins, was unable to deliver much impact to the team as he scored just nine points and 5 rebounds at the end of the game.
Martelli stood with what the head coach Juwan Howard said right after the final whistle was blown, admitting that Dickinson was doing too much at times, which had been a main focus in the practices ever since.
Martelli went on to say: “We have to put our other players in position to address the kind of double teams and physicality that Minnesota laid on him.”
Ever since suffering a loss to Michigan on New Year’s Eve, Maryland had lost to both Indiana Hoosiers and Iowa Hawkeyes before scoring a win against Illinois last week. Following the cancellation of their Saturday meeting with Nebraska Cornhuskers due to the Covid-19 outbreak in the Nebraska program, the Terrapins scheduled a meeting with Wingate Bulldogs, a Division II team, on Friday. The Terrapins came out victorious as they secured a 100-58 win, which usplayercheck gathered odds on for the fans.
Point guard Eric Ayala, who scored three of Maryland’s 13 three-pointers in their match against Michigan last month, was sidelined for that game but he will be expected to make a return to the team on Tuesday. Darryl Morsell is also among the players to watch in their next game. He was sidelined for the second half of their first meeting having suffered a facial fracture due to an unwanted elbow he got.
Michigan Wolverines will be looking to see the return of Eli Brooks to the team after missing out on their Saturday’s game. Brooks has made 12 of 13 free throws this year, while his teammate Isaiah Livers has 23-of-24 after scoring 44 out of 46 for the last campaign.
The Wolverines will be going into the game with hopes of becoming the first Big Ten team to reach seven league wins. This could become a new type of inspiration for them as they face the Maryland Terrapins.