Michigan
.png&width=60&height=60&type=webp)
UNC Asheville
Wolverines to Tip Off 2023-24 Season by Hosting UNC Asheville
11/6/2023 10:24:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Promotions
Halftime Entertainment - Michigan Drumline
Maize Rage Giveaway - 2023-24 Michigan Basketball Season T-Shirt
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- With the preseason concluded, the University of Michigan men's basketball team shifts its focus to opening the regular season by hosting Big South favorite UNC Asheville on Tuesday (Nov. 7) at Crisler Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. with the broadcast available on the Big Ten Network. Connor Onion and Stephen Bardo are the scheduled broadcast team.
Notes
• Preseason Big South favorites UNC Asheville are led by preseason Player of the Year Drew Pember, who transferred from Tennessee last season. He averaged 20.9 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game, and guided the Bulldogs to a school-record 27 wins last season (27-8) -- tied for fourth-most in Division I. In addition to Pember, starters Fletcher Abee and Nick McMullen, who each averaged 8.0 points per game, are back. Â
• Winning the Big South (16-2), the Bulldogs went on to win the Big South Tournament and earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament. However, UNC Asheville was knocked out in the first round of the West Regional by UCLA (86-53). UNC Asheville is led by sixth-year head coach Mike Morrell, 2022-23 Big South Coach of the Year.
• The Wolverines will play their second all-time meeting against UNC Asheville. In their first series matchup, Michigan topped UNC Asheville by a 75-54 score in Ann Arbor back in 2004. Current director of basketball operations Chris Hunter (2002-06) led both teams with 20 points on 8-of-12 from the field, while Ron Coleman (2004-08) pitched in 17 while shooting 8-of-14. As a team, the Wolverines made nearly 59 percent of their field goal attempts and held the Bulldogs to under 43 percent.
• U-M is 11-0 all-time against current Big South members. This will be the Wolverines' first game against a Big South opponent since a 42-point rout of Presbyterian at the Crisler Center in 2019. UNC Asheville is 0-1 against current members of the Big Ten.
• Michigan has won 20 straight season-openers dating back to the 2003-04 season. Last season, the Wolverines opened with a three-game win streak spurred by beating IPFW by 19 points (75-56) on opening night. The Wolverines last lost in a season-opener in 2002, when they fell to St. Bonaventure at the Virgin Islands Paradise Jam.
• Michigan's Jace Howard will miss four to six weeks due to a stress fracture in his right knee and tibia. The Miami native and team captain is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection. Playing in 55 career games, Howard came off the bench in 30 games last season while setting career bests in nearly every statistical category.
• U-M's Jaelin Llewellyn continues to be listed as inactive as he continues to rehab after suffering an ACL injury to his left knee vs. Kentucky (Dec. 5, 2022) at the O2 Arena in London, England. In eight games, he was averaging seven points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists. Before the injury.
• Juwan Howard underwent a successful heart procedure on Sept. 15 at the University of Michigan Health Samuel and Jean Frankel Cardiovascular Center. The scheduled operation was performed by Dr. Himanshu Patel, who successfully resected an aortic aneurysm and repaired Howard's aortic valve. Howard has continued to rest and rehab with no immediate timetable on his return.
• While Howard continues to recover from his heart procedure, associate head coach Phil Martelli serves as the interim head coach. Assistants Saddi Washington and Howard Eisley have maintained their current duties, while director of player personnel Jay Smith has moved up to the third assistant spot.
• Michigan lost six Wolverines from last year's squad. Jett Howard and Kobe Bufkin each entered the NBA Draft early and were first-round selections with Howard 11th (Orland) and Bufkin 15th (Atlanta). U-M had three players enter the transfer portal Isaiah Barnes (Tulsa), Hunter Dickinson (Kansas), Gregg Glenn III (Tulane), while Joey Baker exhausted his eligibility and is now playing professionally in Lithuania.
• Despite losing six players, U-M picked up five for this year's team. The Wolverines added three graduate transfers: Nimari Burnett (Alabama), Tray Jackson (Seton Hall), Olivier Nkamhoua (Tennessee), signed freshman George Washington III and added preferred walk-on Harrison Hochberg.
.png&width=84&height=84&quality=100&type=webp)
