Wolverines and Dawgs battle in Alaska

You know what? We're No. 22, according to The Associated Press. We should win tonight's game.

Michigan has already lost on the road to a ranked team, 74-52 against No. 5 Georgetown.

Freshmen Kelvin Grady and Manny Harris were the only standouts in maze and blue that night, scoring 16 and 13 points. Redshirt freshman Anthony Wright was the next closest player to double digits netting seven. Ron Coleman and David Merritt, Michigan's only seniors, combined for no points. Two Michigan juniors didn't dent the scorebook either. Jevohn Shepherd scored four points, and Jerret Smith didn't play. The only other two "standouts" DeShawn Sims and Ekpe Udoh, both sophomores, combined for six points.

The Wolverines shot less than 28 percent from beyond the arc and less that 37 percent from the entire field. They also made five of 10 free throws and turned the ball over 14 times. Georgetown outrebounded them 45 to 31. Michigan did outscore the Hoyas in the second half, but Butler is a second half team too.

Despite struggling in Evansville, the Dawgs turned up their defense in the second half and shut down the Purple Aces offense, especially their post play. Butler forced some turnovers and controlled the game until the players could find a way to score. A.J. Graves guided his team through that storm, as he's done so many times in the past. We should have all of our components in place to win this first game in Alaska.

The Wolverines should also play right into our hands. Their upperclassmen leadership and experience didn't show up in Georgetown. They only made five three pointers, while shooting terribly from the charity stripe. They gave up the ball too.

The Dawgs' defense should settle in nicely with this opponent. We just need someone to help A.J. score.

First-year Michigan head coach John Beilein is a great leader, but his new team has only played four games under his tutelage. His past West Virginia teams mirror the Bulldogs, relying on the three pointer to fuel the offense. I don't think he's going to be able to beat our hardened, veteran team with two freshman.

Look for the Wolverines to match Graves, Mike Green, Julian Betko, Pete Campbell and Drew Streicher with Harris, Coleman, Sims, Grady and redshirt sophomore Zack Gibson (scored two points against the Hoyas).