Preview Michigan Wolverines vs. Oklahoma Sooners College Basketball

With only two losses on the season – by a combined four points – the Michigan Wolverines are no. 24 in a good place. Dusty May’s team is on track for an NCAA Tournament berth but wants more, meaning the Wolverines could use another solid non-conference win on their resume. The last opportunity for that is Wednesday in Charlotte, with no. 14 Oklahoma Sooners the last Power Five opponent left on the schedule.

Like the entire SEC, the undefeated Sooners are making headlines this season. En route to winning the Battle 4 Atlantis, Oklahoma has four wins over top-100 KenPom teams, the same number as Michigan. The Wolverines (23rd) sit higher in the polls than the Sooners (37th), but the polls have flipped the teams. This should be a good one at the Jumpman Invitational.

No. 24 Michigan Wolverines (8-2) vs. No. 14 Oklahoma Sooners (10-0)

Date and time: Wednesday 18 December at 9 p.m. ET
Location: Spectrum Center, Charlotte, NC
TV/streaming: ESPN2

Oklahoma has been solid on both ends of the floor, with not many flaws in its profile. Freshman Jeremiah Fears, no. The No. 44 player in the 247Sports Composite, has been as advertised, averaging 16.7 PPG while leading the team with 4.7 APG. Fears and friends play at a certain pace, move the ball well and like to take threes; this will be a test for the Wolverines after a couple of tougher defensive performances.

The last time these teams met was in the second round of the 2008-09 NCAA Tournament, when Blake Griffin’s team took down the No. 10 Wolverines who rejoined the Big Dance after an 11-year absence. Today marks the third edition of the Jumpman Invitational, completing a rotation. Michigan lost to North Carolina in 2022 and Florida last season, both games coming to a close.

A big question: Where is the discipline?

I’m not going to talk about turnovers every single game because unfortunately they don’t seem to go away. What I think is worth mentioning is the general concept of discipline and patience, especially against athletic teams that like to run. Against the Razorbacks, Michigan played right into their hand by rushing passes, which led to easy looks in transition from sloppy mistakes.

The Wolverines will need to lock down Fears on Wednesday, which will be much more doable in the half court. Oklahoma has a top-50 eFG rate, so playing disciplined defense but also smart offense is critical to avoid another subpar defensive performance. The Sooners are not a good offensive rebounding team, but cleaning up the glass remains an area where the defense needs to pay more attention. Michigan already has a solid defense (No. 15), and cleaning up its wild game will only make it even stronger.

One thing to watch: Play the percentages

Michigan ranks 39th in adjusted offense, but has the 15th-best eFG rate — and sixth-highest two-point shooting percentage in the country. The biggest reason for this gap is obviously turnovers, but even with this frustrating Achilles heel, the Wolverines have posted over 1.20 PPP in the last two games, mostly due to an insane 68.4 percent shooting mark from inside the arc. Basically, when the Wolverines get a shot off, good things will happen; it’s the shotless, turnover-filled possessions that have limited this team.

The Sooners rank in the 200s in two-point defense, though many of those games were to begin the season. Still, the Danny Wolf-Vlad Goldin combo should party again. Wolf has seen his turnover rate slowly drop, while Goldin is hitting 80 percent of his shots at the rim over the past four games after missing some bunnies earlier this year. Eventually, teams will figure out how to stop this duo (or at least sell out to prevent it), but until that happens, the Wolverines should continue to hammer this advantage.