COLLEGE BASKETBALL

• 15th-ranked Wolverines host winless Huskies

  
  

  Ann Arbor, MI (Sports Network) - The Huskies of Houston Baptist come to Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor to challenge the 15th-ranked Michigan Wolverines.

  Houston Baptist, a member of the newly-formed Great West Conference, has had a rough go of it here in the early going, dropping all three of its games thus far -- each by double digits. All three took place as part of the Rice Basketball Challenge and came against South Alabama (76-64), Sacramento State (70-60) and the host team, Rice (60-46). The Huskies are coached by Ron Cottrell, who has led the team to an average of 21 wins per season in his 18 years at the helm, although most came as a NAIA program.

  Michigan enters the 2009-10 season as one of the teams expected to challenge for the Big Ten Conference title, and the Wolverines got off to an impressive start by blasting Northern Michigan last Saturday, 97-50. Head coach John Beilein has a wealth of talent at his disposal, starting with junior guard Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims, both of whom averaged better than 15 ppg last season. The Wolverines have won 496 games at Crisler Arena.

  This game marks the first-ever meeting between Houston Baptist and Michigan in the hardwood.

  The Huskies have had a different high scorer in each of their first three games, which demonstrates balance, but also a lack of a true star capable of shouldering the offensive load on a consistent basis. Mario Flaherty is averaging 12.7 ppg on the strength of his 52.0 percent shooting effort, while Andrew Gonzalez chips in with 10.7 ppg, although he would be better suited to keep his game inside the arc, as outside it he has missed all 10 of his tries thus far. Flaherty is grabbing nine rebounds per contest, and the team as a whole is knocking down just 34.9 percent of its field goal attempts and has hit an absolutely dreadful 4-of-47 three-point tries (.085). As a result, HBU is putting up just 56.7 ppg while foes are turning in 68.7 ppg despite shooting just 40.3 percent from the floor and only 18.9 percent from long range.

  Harris became only the second player in Michigan history to record a triple- double, doing so in the season-opening rout of Northern Michigan with 18 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. Not content to let his teammate grab all the headlines, Sims posted his seventh career double-double consisting of 22 points and 10 boards, and a total of five players scored in double figures for the Wolverines. Michigan shot a rock-solid 57 percent from the field, and drained nine three-pointers in the game, led by freshman guard Matt Vogrich who hit all five of his long-range tries.

  11/20 11:18:57 ET