The final game of 2018 has finally come for the Wolverines, and it comes at a time when Michigan is ranked number two in the nation. On Sunday afternoon at noon, Binghamton ventures into Ann Arbor to try and build off a thrilling victory over LIU-Brooklyn. The final non-conference game figures to be a tune-up as Michigan hopes to avoid any struggles with the Bearcats before Big Ten play starts up for the rest of the season.
Binghamton -- An Overview:
The Bearcats are 4-9 this season, but have plenty of momentum. Their most recent game saw a stellar comeback over LIU-Brooklyn at the Barclays Center. Down five with 45 seconds left, J.C. Show took over by hitting a three, hitting a free throw down three with two seconds left, missing the second but getting it back on an inbound pass, and then hitting a corner three with 1.1 seconds remaining to complete the frantic comeback. Despite the big recent win, only Sacred Heart was defeated in terms of Division One colleges by Binghamton. They also have a common opponent, having lost to Northwestern in their fourth game of the season by a score of 82-54. The other P5 team on their schedule was slightly closer, where they lost at Notre Dame by thirteen points. Head coach Tommy Dempsey is just 51-147 over his seven seasons with Binghamton, he's yet to finish better than sixth place or 5-11 in America East conference play. He will hope to kickstart a turnaround for his side.
Starting Five:
There has been reason to be optimistic for Binghamton, and that's because of freshman guard Sam Sessoms. A 6'0" guard from Philadelphia, Sessoms is proving to be a great find for Tommy Dempsey's men. Awarded the Preseason America East Newcomer of the Year, he's already been outstanding and proving worthy of the preseason acclaim. He ranks top on his team in minutes, shots taken, points, steals, and assists. His 17.7 points per game are also good for fourth in the conference, he has taken, and made, the second most shots of anyone in the conference, behind Vermont star Anthony Lamb, and his 3.5 assists per game are sixth in the conference. Raved about by coaches and teammates alike for his talent and maturity level, he runs the show at point guard. Of course, he certainly has areas to improve. He averages 3.7 turnovers per game and is shooting just 30.4% from deep (21-for-69), those numbers being dragged down as a result of shooting 23.7% during the first eight games of the season. Personally, I highly rate this match-up for Zavier Simpson. While I believe he will give some challenges, a player with a high usage rate (30.8% according to BartTorvik.com) and that takes a ton of shots while missing threes and turning the ball over feeds right into Simpson's hands. It will be fun to watch the freshman, though, in his toughest game to date.
The number two option is the aforementioned player, senior J.C. Show. A transfer from Bucknell, the third and final year of the 6'3" guard's career has seen him averaging double figures yet again, a constant in all three seasons of his. Last season's leading scorer, the explosion of Sessoms has seen him take a slight stepback in production (dropping to 11.1 points per game from 13.8 last season). He is shooting the ball at a slightly elevated clip from last season (up from 33.6% to 34.5%), but his overall field goal percentage is down 2.2%. He and Sessoms have alternated their times of production, as Show hit 39% of threes in the first eight games, but sputtered to 23.3% over the next four (including going one-for-ten against Notre Dame from three) leading up to a return to from in Brooklyn. He is quite streaky thus far, but the senior's big shots could certainly buoy him back to the clip we saw to the start of the season. He also needs to improve on his two-point percentage, down from 51% as a sophomore, to 42.7% as a junior, to just 36.4% as a senior. Steadying that out will force defenders to respect the drive and stop cheating on threes.
Grad transfer Chancellor Barnard is the third and final player who has started all thirteen games for the Bearcats this season. A transfer from Loyola (MD), he is a 6'4" forward who plays bigger than his height indicates down low. Given his vast experience at Loyola, despite missing all of last season with a pectoral injury, it should be no surprise that according to the PORPAGATU! metric on BartTorvik.com, Barnard is the second most valuable player behind Sessoms. Averaging 30.2 minutes per game, Barnard lives inside the arc, as he's yet to take a three this season. He hasn't needed to. He is shooting 72.5% from two (50-for-69) while averaging 9.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per game. He is both athletic and tough, able to rebound well and play strong down low. The added versatility means that despite being a bit undersized on paper, they do indeed play with two forwards. I would expect Ignas Brazdeikis to cover Barnard, because Charles Matthews' perimeter defense would seem to be too good of a weapon to waste on Barnard, who does not shoot a three-ball. Brazdeikis will need to be strong on the drive with Barnard. If he is beaten off the dribble, then I would certainly expect to see Matthews take a shift on the grad transfer.
Caleb Stewart has come off the bench in just one game this season, but his consistent starting gives Binghamton their starting big man. A 6'9" senior, he joined the Binghamton squad as a junior last season and his development in the post will be important to sustained success for them this season. A transfer from Division Two's St. Leo's, Stewart returns from last year and has seen a big jump in production. He averages 7.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game and is averaging over fifteen minutes more per game than last season. He also will step out and shoot the three, having taken ten more shots from deep this season already than the entirety of last season. He is a 34% shooter from three this season (17-for-50) and a 40.4% shooter from inside (19-for-47). Expect Stewart to space the floor on Jon Teske while Teske's length figures to deter him from venturing too far inside. This could also be another time to see Brandon Johns in action if Teske and/or Isaiah Livers gets in early foul trouble.
Rounding out the starting five is a fourth senior in the mix, Everson Davis. While the 6'3" guard came off the bench to start the season, he has been able to snag a starting spot over the last three games. Previously a three-season starter, Davis seems set to regain that title despite seeing fewer minutes per game thus far this season than ever in his career. He averages 3.5 points per game and 2.4 rebounds in 14.5 minutes per game. He's shooting 38.3%, a career low, and is just three-for-ten from three, but as mentioned, he is playing much less a role in the offense than previously. He is coming off a season-best thirteen points against LIU-Brooklyn on six-for-nine shooting from two (zero-for-one from three) and all three games he has started have seen him start at least 25 minutes. Shooting 40.5% from two, he is tough from two, but not an everpresent for the defense to worry about in terms of shooting threats.
Bench Rundown:
With Binghamton, you are really only guaranteed to see three men off the bench. Richard Caldwell started the first nine games he saw action in, but his poor play has meant Everson Davis gets some run in the starting five. Caldwell is a 6'4" junior who comes into the program as a JuCo transfer from Colorado's Lamar CC. With as many points scoring fewer two points as double figure games, and two of his top five games coming against the non-Division One opposition, Caldwell has not yet taken to the elevated competition of Division One basketball, and his coach acknowledged that saying he needs more out of him. He's averaging 5.8 points and 2.9 rebounds per game, but is shooting just 26.4% overall, a shade over 19% from three, and just under 61% from the free-throw line. These all drop when counting only D1 games too (he's just a 16% three-point shooter against Division One teams). He is athletic and does have the ability to hit the three, but he needs to show that at this D1 level sooner rather than later for the sake of his team.
Backing up Sam Sessoms at point guard will likely be a 6'1" senior, Timmy Rose. Rose offers a bit of added experience for an already strongly veteran team. Team leader in assists his sophomore and junior seasons, Rose has seen his minutes drop playing behind Sessoms, but he remains effective passing the ball by averaging 2.6 assists per game, good still for second behind the freshman. His 47% FG% is a career high and his three-point percentage of 46.7% (seven-for-fifteen) is very good for a limited quantity shooter. A lefty, Rose sees close to twenty minutes and his passing ability allows his skill set to work with Sessoms fairly easily to put them both on the court at the same time.
Also expecting to see the court will be 6'9" freshman Calistus Anyichie. Able to help right away, he has been needed for the Bearcats with the concussion symptoms affecting Thomas Bruce and Tyler Stewart, which seem nearly certain to keep both men out of the Michigan game. Anyichie was a stellar shot blocker at the high school level and already has eleven in just 105 minutes of basketball. He's eleven-for-sixteen on the season (68.8%) and lives inside the arc. His average of 2.7 rebounds per game is especially impressive when considering he averages just 8.8 minutes per game. That includes a ten-rebound, 25-minute outing at Northwestern.
Pre-Game Thoughts:
On paper, this is Michigan's weakest game. They are one of just two teams in the KenPom 300s on the schedule at this point of the season (Chattanooga is #304) and have a line-up that, unlike a team like Western Michigan, matches up better with Michigan's. This is a Bearcats team with a lead scorer a perimeter threat, and someone who is outstanding inside and off the dribble getting to the rim. If Zavier Simpson can lock down Sam Sessoms, that is the first and biggest step in controlling this Binghamton team's play. The trick then becomes outside shooting for Michigan. The Wolverines found pockets of timing that allowed them to shoot from deep against Air Force, but a more consistent attack should be enough to put away Binghamton early on. This seems to be a fairly straightforward game, a battle at point guard and keeping things clean on the glass have to be priorities in the game. If those two things are won by Michigan, I certainly like the idea that Michigan will enter Big Ten play undefeated.
Follow me on Twitter @RMAB_Ryan for plenty more Michigan basketball coverage, as well as AFC Ann Arbor and Liverpool FC coverage as well!
Binghamton -- An Overview:
The Bearcats are 4-9 this season, but have plenty of momentum. Their most recent game saw a stellar comeback over LIU-Brooklyn at the Barclays Center. Down five with 45 seconds left, J.C. Show took over by hitting a three, hitting a free throw down three with two seconds left, missing the second but getting it back on an inbound pass, and then hitting a corner three with 1.1 seconds remaining to complete the frantic comeback. Despite the big recent win, only Sacred Heart was defeated in terms of Division One colleges by Binghamton. They also have a common opponent, having lost to Northwestern in their fourth game of the season by a score of 82-54. The other P5 team on their schedule was slightly closer, where they lost at Notre Dame by thirteen points. Head coach Tommy Dempsey is just 51-147 over his seven seasons with Binghamton, he's yet to finish better than sixth place or 5-11 in America East conference play. He will hope to kickstart a turnaround for his side.
Starting Five:
There has been reason to be optimistic for Binghamton, and that's because of freshman guard Sam Sessoms. A 6'0" guard from Philadelphia, Sessoms is proving to be a great find for Tommy Dempsey's men. Awarded the Preseason America East Newcomer of the Year, he's already been outstanding and proving worthy of the preseason acclaim. He ranks top on his team in minutes, shots taken, points, steals, and assists. His 17.7 points per game are also good for fourth in the conference, he has taken, and made, the second most shots of anyone in the conference, behind Vermont star Anthony Lamb, and his 3.5 assists per game are sixth in the conference. Raved about by coaches and teammates alike for his talent and maturity level, he runs the show at point guard. Of course, he certainly has areas to improve. He averages 3.7 turnovers per game and is shooting just 30.4% from deep (21-for-69), those numbers being dragged down as a result of shooting 23.7% during the first eight games of the season. Personally, I highly rate this match-up for Zavier Simpson. While I believe he will give some challenges, a player with a high usage rate (30.8% according to BartTorvik.com) and that takes a ton of shots while missing threes and turning the ball over feeds right into Simpson's hands. It will be fun to watch the freshman, though, in his toughest game to date.
The number two option is the aforementioned player, senior J.C. Show. A transfer from Bucknell, the third and final year of the 6'3" guard's career has seen him averaging double figures yet again, a constant in all three seasons of his. Last season's leading scorer, the explosion of Sessoms has seen him take a slight stepback in production (dropping to 11.1 points per game from 13.8 last season). He is shooting the ball at a slightly elevated clip from last season (up from 33.6% to 34.5%), but his overall field goal percentage is down 2.2%. He and Sessoms have alternated their times of production, as Show hit 39% of threes in the first eight games, but sputtered to 23.3% over the next four (including going one-for-ten against Notre Dame from three) leading up to a return to from in Brooklyn. He is quite streaky thus far, but the senior's big shots could certainly buoy him back to the clip we saw to the start of the season. He also needs to improve on his two-point percentage, down from 51% as a sophomore, to 42.7% as a junior, to just 36.4% as a senior. Steadying that out will force defenders to respect the drive and stop cheating on threes.
Grad transfer Chancellor Barnard is the third and final player who has started all thirteen games for the Bearcats this season. A transfer from Loyola (MD), he is a 6'4" forward who plays bigger than his height indicates down low. Given his vast experience at Loyola, despite missing all of last season with a pectoral injury, it should be no surprise that according to the PORPAGATU! metric on BartTorvik.com, Barnard is the second most valuable player behind Sessoms. Averaging 30.2 minutes per game, Barnard lives inside the arc, as he's yet to take a three this season. He hasn't needed to. He is shooting 72.5% from two (50-for-69) while averaging 9.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per game. He is both athletic and tough, able to rebound well and play strong down low. The added versatility means that despite being a bit undersized on paper, they do indeed play with two forwards. I would expect Ignas Brazdeikis to cover Barnard, because Charles Matthews' perimeter defense would seem to be too good of a weapon to waste on Barnard, who does not shoot a three-ball. Brazdeikis will need to be strong on the drive with Barnard. If he is beaten off the dribble, then I would certainly expect to see Matthews take a shift on the grad transfer.
Caleb Stewart has come off the bench in just one game this season, but his consistent starting gives Binghamton their starting big man. A 6'9" senior, he joined the Binghamton squad as a junior last season and his development in the post will be important to sustained success for them this season. A transfer from Division Two's St. Leo's, Stewart returns from last year and has seen a big jump in production. He averages 7.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game and is averaging over fifteen minutes more per game than last season. He also will step out and shoot the three, having taken ten more shots from deep this season already than the entirety of last season. He is a 34% shooter from three this season (17-for-50) and a 40.4% shooter from inside (19-for-47). Expect Stewart to space the floor on Jon Teske while Teske's length figures to deter him from venturing too far inside. This could also be another time to see Brandon Johns in action if Teske and/or Isaiah Livers gets in early foul trouble.
Rounding out the starting five is a fourth senior in the mix, Everson Davis. While the 6'3" guard came off the bench to start the season, he has been able to snag a starting spot over the last three games. Previously a three-season starter, Davis seems set to regain that title despite seeing fewer minutes per game thus far this season than ever in his career. He averages 3.5 points per game and 2.4 rebounds in 14.5 minutes per game. He's shooting 38.3%, a career low, and is just three-for-ten from three, but as mentioned, he is playing much less a role in the offense than previously. He is coming off a season-best thirteen points against LIU-Brooklyn on six-for-nine shooting from two (zero-for-one from three) and all three games he has started have seen him start at least 25 minutes. Shooting 40.5% from two, he is tough from two, but not an everpresent for the defense to worry about in terms of shooting threats.
Bench Rundown:
With Binghamton, you are really only guaranteed to see three men off the bench. Richard Caldwell started the first nine games he saw action in, but his poor play has meant Everson Davis gets some run in the starting five. Caldwell is a 6'4" junior who comes into the program as a JuCo transfer from Colorado's Lamar CC. With as many points scoring fewer two points as double figure games, and two of his top five games coming against the non-Division One opposition, Caldwell has not yet taken to the elevated competition of Division One basketball, and his coach acknowledged that saying he needs more out of him. He's averaging 5.8 points and 2.9 rebounds per game, but is shooting just 26.4% overall, a shade over 19% from three, and just under 61% from the free-throw line. These all drop when counting only D1 games too (he's just a 16% three-point shooter against Division One teams). He is athletic and does have the ability to hit the three, but he needs to show that at this D1 level sooner rather than later for the sake of his team.
Backing up Sam Sessoms at point guard will likely be a 6'1" senior, Timmy Rose. Rose offers a bit of added experience for an already strongly veteran team. Team leader in assists his sophomore and junior seasons, Rose has seen his minutes drop playing behind Sessoms, but he remains effective passing the ball by averaging 2.6 assists per game, good still for second behind the freshman. His 47% FG% is a career high and his three-point percentage of 46.7% (seven-for-fifteen) is very good for a limited quantity shooter. A lefty, Rose sees close to twenty minutes and his passing ability allows his skill set to work with Sessoms fairly easily to put them both on the court at the same time.
Also expecting to see the court will be 6'9" freshman Calistus Anyichie. Able to help right away, he has been needed for the Bearcats with the concussion symptoms affecting Thomas Bruce and Tyler Stewart, which seem nearly certain to keep both men out of the Michigan game. Anyichie was a stellar shot blocker at the high school level and already has eleven in just 105 minutes of basketball. He's eleven-for-sixteen on the season (68.8%) and lives inside the arc. His average of 2.7 rebounds per game is especially impressive when considering he averages just 8.8 minutes per game. That includes a ten-rebound, 25-minute outing at Northwestern.
Pre-Game Thoughts:
On paper, this is Michigan's weakest game. They are one of just two teams in the KenPom 300s on the schedule at this point of the season (Chattanooga is #304) and have a line-up that, unlike a team like Western Michigan, matches up better with Michigan's. This is a Bearcats team with a lead scorer a perimeter threat, and someone who is outstanding inside and off the dribble getting to the rim. If Zavier Simpson can lock down Sam Sessoms, that is the first and biggest step in controlling this Binghamton team's play. The trick then becomes outside shooting for Michigan. The Wolverines found pockets of timing that allowed them to shoot from deep against Air Force, but a more consistent attack should be enough to put away Binghamton early on. This seems to be a fairly straightforward game, a battle at point guard and keeping things clean on the glass have to be priorities in the game. If those two things are won by Michigan, I certainly like the idea that Michigan will enter Big Ten play undefeated.
Follow me on Twitter @RMAB_Ryan for plenty more Michigan basketball coverage, as well as AFC Ann Arbor and Liverpool FC coverage as well!
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