Game: (751) Creighton Bluejays (1-0) vs (752) Michigan Wolverines (1-0)
Time: Tues. 11/12 6:30 PM EST at Crisler Center
Spread: Michigan -4.5 ML: -200/+170 Total: 147.5 at 5Dimes
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Michigan looks for a more polished performance in its second game of the season when Big East meets Big Ten as it hosts Creighton on Tuesday as part of the 2019 Gavitt Tipoff Games. Creighton is entering off a season-opening win over Kennesaw State, while Michigan picked up a victory over Appalachian State in their opener. The Bluejays’ 59th-ranked offense (offensive efficiency of 110.3) will battle against the Wolverines’ third-ranked defense (defensive efficiency of 90.1).
Creighton has high expectations this year with no shortage of talent on the perimeter along with skill, versatility, and size to be able to compete with the rest of the Big East. Last season Creighton averaged 77.9 ppg (#53 NCAA) & allowed (73.2 ppg, #224 NCAA). The Bluejays lost a couple of key contributors from last year, but they returned by far their most important player in guard Ty-shon Alexander. The junior averaged 15.7 points per game last year. Senior grad transfer Kelvin Jones came from Idaho State who is 6’11 and will provide some much-needed size for them on the block. Zegarowski shot nearly 43 percent from three last year, Creighton has a ton of scoring talent, so if the defense is up to par then this team is going to be really scary.
In the Bluejays’ first game, they had no trouble getting past the Kennesaw State Owls, 81-55. With 18 points and five assists, Creighton’s Marcus Zegarowski had a solid outing. Creighton dominated nearly every stat category in the game. The defense forced the Owls to commit 18 turnovers and holding them to just three of 20 shooting from three. Proficient from outside, and likely unaffected by an extended three-point line. Their 6’11” C Jacob Epperson is listed out for this game.
While the NBA drafted Michigan’s top scorers and their coach John Beilein, there will be a lot of questions about this team to start the year. They were picked to finish in the middle of the pack in a Big Ten. Michigan’s future now rests on their untested players from last year’s and new coach Juwan Howard.
The Wolverines didn’t look very good in their opener. They only beat an Appalachian State team that is ranked 188th on the analytics site kenpom.com by 8 points. Michigan turned the ball over 17 times in a sloppy season debut. Eli Brooks made five 3-pointers in his career-high 24-point in the win against Appalachian State after averaging 2.5 points per contest last season. Jon Teske added 17 points and 13 rebounds to register the 11th double-double of his career. Isaiah Livers scored 14 points, while Zavier Simpson finished with 8 rebounds and 6 assists and 6 turnovers.
Creighton holds serious upset potential but keep in mind, Michigan always brings in Top talent and this team is somewhat inexperienced but they learn quickly, especially from a 30 point blown lead. Juan Howard won’t let that happen again. Where Creighton has experienced guard play, Michigan has size and young talent. You would expect a high scoring game from these teams but they both strive to play good defense.
The Total on this game has jumped to 154 points with 57% of the bets coming in on the under and the spread has moved to Michigan -6 with 55% of the bets coming in on the Wolverines. Look for this to be a high scoring intense game.
This should be a great matchup down to the wire. Creighton is the type of team that will pull off a few big upsets this year and they have had this one circled since it was scheduled to put them on the board early for the year. Look for Creighton to cover this spread with Intense defense and remarkable three-point shooting. The reverse line movement on the O/U also indicates this will be a high scoring competitive matchup with both teams battling it out.