Tennessee might be Michigan basketball's biggest challenge to date

INDIANAPOLIS — It took Michigan 15 minutes to get its bearings in a win over Colorado State Thursday. Tennessee was in a game with Longwood for about 10 minutes and change before pulling away, and now the two teams will face off Saturday for the right to advance to the Sweet 16.

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Few teams in the country are playing as well as the Vols. They’ve won 17 of their last 19 games, have athletes all over the floor and defend like crazy.

When they shoot like they did from long range Thursday — 58.2 percent — they’re nearly impossible to beat. Michigan head coach Juwan Howard understands the challenge.

“We understand we’re going to be playing a really good team tomorrow,” Howard said Friday. “This team has size. They have shooting. They have great coaching; experienced coaching. Our kids will just try to be ready from start to finish, play a competitive game, because that’s the type of game we expect them to play. Play Michigan basketball.”

The Volunteers are second nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency, athletic enough to switch at most positions. They’re only 34th in offensive efficiency, however. Teams that win it all are usually among the top 10 in that category.

Still, it’s about match-ups in the tourney, and this isn’t a great one for Michigan.

“They have great size, good inside play, [rim] protectors,” Howard said of the Michigan challenge. “They have shooting from all over the floor, whether they’re perimeter or primary ball handler or from Kennedy Chandler or [Zakai] Zeigler, and also have wings and they have a great coach [in Rick Barnes]. He’s had a lot of success in college basketball over his years in different programs.

“They play in a tough conference … the SEC. They face teams like Kentucky and many others, so I’m expecting it’s going to be a very competitive game tomorrow.”

But Michigan has faced its share in the Big Ten, as well, he continued.

“It would be nothing new to us when it comes to facing size and facing shooting,” Howard said. “At the end of the day, we’ve just got to make sure when we get out there, it’s still basketball. It’s still basketball. The ball is still orange, and it’s still round.”

But Tennessee has elite players, starting with Chandler. The former Michigan recruit averages 12.6 points and five assists per game, shooting 39.2 percent from long range.

“Kennedy is a special, special player, one of the best point guards in college basketball, in my opinion,” Howard said of the frosh. “The way he’s able to make immediate impact right out of high school into the college level, that’s impressive. But it also says a lot about the coaching staff and his development and putting him into positions to help lead the team to where they are today …

“He’s a high IQ player. He has the same face … I call it the Kawhi Leonard or the Tim Duncan face. He never seems to get rattled or frustrated, from what I’ve noticed. I’ve been impressed with how he’s mentally stable when things are going good or bad.”

And then there’s Santiago Vescovi. He’s made 10 of his last 17 triples and went 6-for-8 in the win over Longwood.

“He moves great without the basketball. His feet are always moving,” the Michigan coach continued. “He kind of reminds me of a guy like JJ Reddick, also Duncan Robinson, Klay Thompson, Ray Allen, Reggie Miller.

“That’s pretty special, because obviously he has to have great conditioning. And you can see that he worked on it. But then to be able to read how the defense is playing and whether they’re locking and trailing, how to curl it, or if a guy shoots the gap how to step back and shoot the jumper …”

All issues Michigan will have to contend with Saturday, not to mention Tennessee’s athleticism.

It could well be the biggest test of the year for Michigan outside of an early-season game with Arizona. It will take their best effort to advance to a fifth straight Sweet 16.