Preview: Michigan Basketball Hosts Ball State Cardinals Wednesday Night

The Michigan Wolverines (2-0) are ready for some Wednesday night basketball at Crisler Center, with the team hosting the Ball State Cardinals (0-1) at 7 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network.

Michigan is 9-1 in the all-time series against Ball State. The Wolverines and Cardinals are meeting for the first time in 12 years, with the last matchup coming when U-M dropped a 75-64 decision at Crisler on Nov. 16, 1998.

Ball State comes to Ann Arbor after a heartbreaking 74-73 season-opening loss to Northern Kentucky. Despite a career-best 28 points and 11 rebounds by sixth-year guard K.J. Walton, and two last-second attempts for the win, NKU's 3-pointer with 22 seconds left sealed the outcome.

After blowing out Bowling Green in the opener, the Wolverines are fresh off an early season scare from the Oakland Grizzlies Sunday evening, a game that went to overtime. Freshman center Hunter Dickinson's 19 second-half points and four assists helped the Maize and Blue pull out the win, 81-71, to remain undefeated in the early going.

Below is everything you need to know about each team, including a breakdown of the lineups and a Q&A with Ball State basketball beat writer Jordan Guskey of The Star Press.

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Date: Wednesday, Dec. 2

Time: 7:00 p.m. ET

Venue: Crisler Center (Ann Arbor, Mich.)

Channel: Big Ten Network

On The Call: Chris Vosters (play-by-play) & Stephen Bardo (analyst)

Radio: Detroit: WWJ-Radio (950 AM) | Ann Arbor: WWWW (102.9 FM) | Sirius XM: Channel 83

On The Call: Brian Boesch (p-by-p) & Terry Mills (analyst)

Line: Michigan -15

Over/Under: 142.5

KenPom Prediction: Michigan 79, Ball State 65 (90 percent chance of a Wolverine victory)

#12 - Fifth-year senior guard Mike Smith (5-11, 185) — Columbia grad transfer notched eight assists to go along with his 16 points and one rebound against Bowling Green but struggled with foul trouble against Oakland (played just 18 minutes) and had two points and four assists.

#55 - Senior guard Eli Brooks (6-1, 185) — Averaging 8.5 points, 4.5 assists and two rebounds per contest ... Is shooting 46.2 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from long range.

#21 - Sophomore guard Franz Wagner (6-9, 220) — Is off to a slow start scoring the ball through two games (7.5 points per game) but is rebounding at a high level (9.5 per game) ... Has yet to make a three-point attempt on six looks.

#2 - Senior forward Isaiah Livers (6-7, 230) — The team's leading scorer is averaging 19.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per tilt, while shooting 66.7 percent from the field and 53.3 percent from long range.

#51 - Fifth-year senior forward Austin Davis (6-10, 250) — Davis is starting games down low but averaging only 12.5 minutes ... Posting 4.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.

Key Bench Players

#15 - Senior guard Chaundee Brown (6-5, 215) — After a 19-point outing in the opener, Brown was quiet against Oakland, scoring five points and grabbing five boards while connecting on only one of his 10 attempts from three-point range.

#1 - Freshman center Hunter Dickinson (7-1, 255) — Added a huge spark off the bench in the second half of Sunday's win over Oakland, scoring 19 points and dishing out four assists in the second half and overtime.

#23 - Junior forward Brandon Johns Jr. (6-8, 240) — Tallying 7.5 points and 3.0 rebounds while shooting at a 71.4 percent rate.

#5 - Freshman forward Terrance Williams (6-7, 240) — Averaging 5.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per contest. Added a lift off the bench against Oakland.

#2 - Sophomore guard Luke Bumbalough (6-1, 180) — Did not score but notched one assist and two rebounds in 33 minutes in the opener.

#1 - Sixth-year senior guard K.J. Walton (6-3, 200) — The Missouri transfer missed most of last season with an injury but exploded for 28 points on 11-of-21 shooting and 11 rebounds in only 27 minutes against Northern Kentucky.

#5 - Senior guard Ishmael El-Amin (6-3, 180) — Scored 15 points and added three assists and one rebound ... Shot 6 of 13 from the field and 2 of 6 from long range.

#0 - Redshirt senior forward Miryne Thomas (6-8, 200) — Contributed nine points and three rebounds while shooting 3 of 4 from the floor.

#12 - Fifth-year senior forward Brachen Hazen (6-8, 210) — Had one point and one rebound in six minutes, and is dealing with a lingering injury. His status is questionable.

Key Bench Players

#13 - Redshirt sophomore guard/forward Kani Acree (6-6, 185) — Put up four points, five assists and three rebounds in 29 minutes.

#44 - Redshirt junior center Blake Huggins (6-10, 245) — Posted five points, eight rebounds and three blocks in the opener and shot 2 of 3 from the field.

The Wolverine: Ball State lost in heartbreaking fashion against Northern Kentucky. What did you learn about the Cardinals in game one?

Guskey: I believe we learned that, as head coach James Whitford had predicted prior to the start of the season, this team is going to need time to get going and develop into the Mid-American Conference contender Whitford and his players believe they are. I believe having K.J. Walton and Ishmael El-Amin leading the backcourt, both offensively and defensively because they're skilled at both, makes the Cardinals a tough team to beat.

I believe it's going to take some time to see how, considering Tahjai Teague and Kyle Mallers are both gone and guys have missed time for various reasons during the preseason, BSU's front court will look when it's at its best. Should this team make the strides it thinks it can, they should contend for the MAC title. But yeah, that was a tough way to lose the opener. Can't miss free throws and rebound like that defensively and expect to win, really.

The Wolverine: What should Michigan fans expect to see out of K.J. Walton, considering he's a Missouri transfer, missed much of last season with an injury, put up 28 points and 11 boards in the opener, and has such a high offensive usage rate?

Guskey: Well, it's my understanding that the defensive philosophies NKU and Michigan use are different, so I don't think they should expect him to do exactly what he did the way he did it against NKU. But Wolverines fans should not be surprised to see Walton consistently attacking the basket, having possessions where he grabs his own rebound on a missed shot (really good at that), getting into the interior of Michigan's defense to open up perimeter shots for guys like El-Amin and more.

He's not really a jump shooter, so you probably won't see him take many of those or any threes really, but he doesn't need those to score.

The Wolverine: From what you know about Michigan, how does Ball State match up with the Wolverines?

Guskey: Michigan has talent across the board. It's a team that's barely outside of the AP top 25. The Wolverines will be a tough team to beat.

Offensively, I think if Ball State continues its improvement it's going to be able to put up points on Michigan.

Defensively, if Ball State plays like it did at times last year it has a shot. But that means guys like Blake Huggins, Miryne Thomas, Kani Acree and more really stepping up because they don't have Teague or Mallers to rely on. And Michigan, even more than Ball State so far this year, has shown it can score and score in bunches.

The Wolverine: What's your final score prediction and how do you think the game will play out?

Guskey: I'm going to punt on a score prediction. This is 2020 and anything could happen. Maybe they'll add a third team and put an extra basket up and really make things interesting. But I think this'll be a good game and one worth watching for both Michigan and Ball State fans.

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