2K Classic Preview

THE ESSENTIALS

Right: Derrick Walton expects to be at full strength after rolling his ankle in Friday's win over Howard. [Photo: Marc-Gregor Campredon]

After winning both 2K Classic "regional" games last weekend in Ann Arbor, Michigan gets a major step up in competition for this week's championship round at Madison Square Garden.

Tipoff is scheduled for 9:30, but the other semifinal (Pitt/SMU) tips off at 7 in MSG, so there's a good chance this ends up starting later than the listing. Set your DVRs and sleep schedules accordingly.

THE US

Derrick Walton didn't look quite right for the second half of Friday's game and all of Sunday's after tweaking an ankle late in the first half against Howard. It apparently bothered him even though he played 35 and 36 minutes in those two games:

“I was coming down on the break and I tried to stop and go into a step-back,” Walton said on Sunday when discussing the Friday night injury. “I kinda jammed it and slightly rolled it. It’s real stiff. I did a couple things after the last game and up until this game. It’s still a little stiff, but my guys carried me (today).”

Michigan ranked 31st on KenPom so start the season and Marquette 47th, but the Golden Eagles have surpassed the Wolverines following two blowout wins to open the season, including one against a common opponent. Marquette beat Howard by 32 on Monday; Michigan's margin was "only" 18. That followed an impressive season-opening 95-71 win over #68 Vanderbilt.

Marquette has five players averaging double-digit points through two games, led by senior wing JaJuan Johnson, who's at 17.5 points per game this season after emerging as a top scoring option over the second half of 2015-16. Johnson is an efficient scorer both inside and outside the arc; it's yet to be seen if he's rid himself of his turnover issues of the previous two seasons.

6'5" guard Haanif Cheatham, another effective inside-outside scorer with past turnover problems, has been their best all-around offensive player. He's averaging 13.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game. Cheatham has a nine-to-one assist-to-turnover ratio this season; last year it was 73-to-88. Sophomore point guard Traci Carter is the more trustworthy distributor, but he only shot 37% from two and 31% from three last year. While Carter's backup, freshman Markus Howard, looks to be a better shooter given the limited information available—he's 3-for-4 on threes—he's showing his inexperience; he's committed five fouls and four turnovers in 27 minutes.

Starting four Katin Reinhardt is a 6'6", 210-pound college basketball nomad; the former four-star prospect started his career at UNLV, where he started 34 games as a freshman, then transferred to USC and started 40 games over two seasons there before moving on to Marquette as a grad transfer. He's another sharpshooter from the outside—he's attempted nearly as many threes as twos in his career—but he doesn't have much impact on the boards. His backup, 6'7" freshman Sam Hauser, has been much more productive on the boards, and he's also 7-of-11 threes this season; he's only attempted one two-pointer.

The Golden Eagles have a legit post presence in 6'11", 250-pound former Indiana transfer Luke Fischer, who's shot 61% from the field in each of his last two seasons at Marquette. He's an excellent shot-blocker and offensive rebounder; oddly, he has Nnanna Egwu-like (or last year's Michigan centers-like) low rebounding percentages on the defensive end.

This will be a great test of Michigan's defense. If they're playing sound, aggressive defense on the perimeter, they can turn the tide of the game by converting turnovers into transition opportunties. If they're screwing up rotations and allowing blow-bys by guards, it could be a long night. We've seen both sides of that in the first two games. DJ Wilson continuing his thus-far breakout season would be huge; he can be a mismatch against Marquette's smaller fours as long as he can stay in front of them on defense.

THE SECTION WHERE I PREDICT THE SAME THING KENPOM DOES

Marquette by 1.

[Hit THE JUMP for previews of Pitt and SMU, Michigan's potential Friday opponents.]

THE ESSENTIALS

Right: I'm just going to keep putting photos of DJ Wilson dunks in hoops posts until those stop happening, which is hopefully never. [Marc-Gregor Campredon]

If you're looking ahead to the second matchup, you probably prefer Michigan to play Pitt, which is lower-ranked on KenPom than SMU and returns one fewer starter. Their semifinal tips off at 7 pm on Thursday on ESPN2. Let's all root for a fast-paced game that ends in regulation.

PITT

Pitt has dropped a couple spots to 53rd on KenPom after needing double overtime to defeat Eastern Michigan in their opener, 93-90, before rebounding to blow out Gardner Webb by 19.

In their first season under former Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings, Pitt has quite the starting lineup: every starter is between 6'6" and 6'9" and weighs at least 210 pounds. The star so far has been senior center Michael Young, who scored 18 points in 15 minutes off the bench against Gardner Webb after a 26-point, ten-rebound, five-assist (and seven-turnover) outing as a starter versus EMU. While Young does the majority of his damage inside the arc, including drawing a high number of fouls, he can step out and hit the occasional jumper, and he's a good rebounder on both ends of the floor.

Wing Jamel Artis has been their other volume scorer so far, averaging 19 per game. Last year he was the rare combination of volume shooter and efficient scorer, and he's also a pretty good passer. Power forward Sheldon Jeter is averaging a 13 and 11 double-double; he's making a seamless transition to the starting lineup after finishing fifth in ACC Sixth Man of the Year voting last season.

Wing Cameron Johnson fits the Just A Shooter™ profile despite a 6-for-7 start from two-point range this season; he's 5-for-10 from three, and last year he took more threes than twos while shooting 43% inside the arc and 37% outside of it. He didn't have much impact as a passer or rebounder last year. 6'6", 215-pound starting point guard Chris Jones didn't have the statistical profile of a point guard entering this year, but he's done well with it so far, averaging nine points and dishing out 11 assists to only two turnovers.

Pitt gets a little smaller when they go to their bench. Sixth man Justice Kithcart is a 6'1" true freshman point who came in as the #162 overall recruit in the class. He has five assists and two turnovers in 44 minutes and has yet to find his shot, going 2-for-9 from the field.

SMU

The Mustangs have faced the same two opponents as Pitt and fared much better, beating Gardner Webb by 28 and EMU by 27. Eastern entered the season as a top-100 team on KenPom (they're #89 even after the SMU loss); on the strength of those two blowouts, SMU has moved up from #49 to #34 on KenPom. Three starters are back from the 2015-16 squad that demolished Michigan in Dallas last December, though thankfully big man Jordan Tolbert—who went 11-for-12 from the field in that game—is not among the returners.

This year's team is led by 6'7", 235-pound power forward Semi Ojeleye, who sat out last season after transferring from Duke. He was the AAC player of the week after averaging 22 points and 11 boards through two games, though he's also committed eight turnovers.

Spectacularly named sophomore wing Shake Milton is starting to generate some NBA Draft hype after a quietly excellent freshman year in which he shot 53% from two and 43% from three on a near-equal number of shots from both areas. He was the fourth option on last year's squad; he now plays second banana to Ojeleye. Fellow wing Sterling Brown posted the #4 eFG% and #3 TS% in the country last year. From SMU's game notes:

As a junior in 2015-16, Sterling Brown shot 60.2% from the field (109-181, 2nd AAC), 53.6% from 3-point range (30-56, 1st AAC, SMU Record) and 85.7% on free throws (54-63). He is believed to be the first in NCAA Division I to accomplish the 60-50-80 marks for a season. (The 3-point line was instituted in 1986-87.)

He's obviously a threat, though turnovers have prevented him from being a truly reliable option; he had an ugly 27.6% turnover rate last year and has seven through two games this year.

Former Virginia Tech transfer Ben Emelogu took an injury redshirt last year after playing a very limited role as a sophomore. He was a 37% three-point shooter as a freshman at VT but hasn't shot nearly as well in his time at SMU; he's only 1-for-8 on threes this season after going 16-for-59 in 2014-15. Low-usage returning starter Ben Moore rounds out the lineup at center; he's got a solid statistical profile for a center—55% 2-pt with good rebounding and block rates last year—despite being a bit undersized at 6'8", 220.

The top reserve is 6'6" wing Jarrey Foster, who's off to a scorching start; he's 12-for-15 from the field. That obviously won't last and those numbers could come back to earth hard, as he was a below-average shooter last year.