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Michigan vs. Air Force: Preview, How to Watch and Game Thread

After a week off, Beilein’s boys return to action.

NCAA Basketball: Western Michigan at Michigan Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

It’s been a whirlwind week for Michigan fans with National Signing Day to go along with some coaching, NFL, and transfer news. Well, in case you forgot, the men’s basketball team is 11-0 and ranked No. 4 in the country.

Air Force heads to Ann Arbor this weekend for a 4 p.m. tilt on the Big Ten Network. The Falcons are only 4-6 with ESPN’s predictor rating giving them a 1.4 percent chance of pulling off the upset. Yikes.

They’re led by a pair of 6-foot-7 forwards Lavelle Scottie and Ryan Swan. Scottie has struggled shooting the ball this year despite being a historically reliable one, while Swan has been relatively good from three.

Including those two, the Falcons have six guys averaging more than seven points per game, and all but one of those shoots above 30 percent from three.

For the Wolverines, the goal will be to get back to how they were playing earlier in the year. Since blowing out Purdue, they have posted their three worst net ratings of the year against teams they should’ve beaten handily. Everything starts defensively, where Michigan has lost some of its early-season intensity. Hopefully that changes against an Air Force team struggling to score.

Offensively, I think you have to be mostly happy with what you’ve seen. You have three guys in Iggy, Matthews and Poole that can legitimately take over a game as a go-to guy.

I’m hoping to see a more balanced effort in this game, as nearly all the offense in the WMU game from Matthews, Poole and Zavier Simpson, who caught fire from deep. Iggy and Jon Teske were both mostly ineffective on that end.

Here’s to getting back to dominant basketball!

How to Watch

Teams: No. 4 Michigan Wolverines (11-0) vs. Air Force Falcons (4-6)

Date: Saturday, Dec. 22

Location: Crisler Center, Ann Arbor, Mich.

Tipoff: 4 p.m.

Television: BTN (Fox Sports Go Link Here and BTN2Go Link Here)