Michigan basketball likes early chemistry as it heads into final tuneup vs. Wayne State

Friday will mark a series of firsts for college basketball fans in the Detroit area.

It’s the first chance for Michigan and Wayne State supporters to check out this season’s new-look squads. It’s also the first time the public will be able to take in a game at WSU Fieldhouse, the new state-of-the-art facility that will be shared with the Detroit Pistons’ G-League affiliate, the Motor City Cruise.

But for the sixth-ranked Wolverines, the exhibition will be their second and final tuneup ahead of next week’s regular-season opener against Buffalo, following a closed-doors scrimmage they had against DePaul last weekend.

“I saw a lot of really good things in our scrimmage on both sides of the ball,” coach Juwan Howard said Thursday. “I thought offensively we did a really good job of moving the basketball, making the extra pass. Every guy played well from top to bottom on our roster. Then on the defensive side of the ball, I thought we were great on that level as far as being disruptive, challenging shots. We did a really good job of keeping guys in front.

“Also, we weren't out there just fouling because sometimes I see in practice we get so physical that we sometimes foul each other too many times. My concern is I don't want that to become a habit where it leads into the season where you're putting teams to the free-throw line and they're getting into the bonus early.”

Like Howard, grad transfer guard DeVante’ Jones was encouraged with the result and noted the chemistry with the starting unit — which was comprised of fifth-year senior guard Eli Brooks, senior forward Brandon Johns Jr., sophomore center Hunter Dickinson, freshman forward Caleb Houstan and Jones — stood out the most.

“I feel like we came out great with a lot a defensive intensity, the offense was smooth,” Jones said. “You usually get with a group of guys and the ball gets stagnant, everybody wants to take a lot of dribbles, everybody wants to keep the ball in their hands to make plays, but it was so smooth. It was so easy offensively and defensively to get everything going.”

According to Dickinson, Michigan led by 17 at halftime but allowed DePaul to cut into the deficit in the second half when both teams sprinkled in some zone defense and played their reserves more minutes.

"I think the team was really clicking on all cylinders (in the first half). I think we were really sharing the ball and really executing offensively, then also getting stops defensively,” Dickinson said. “I think something we need to clean up is not having a dip with the second unit. I think when we made the subs at halftime, they kind of came back on us a little bit. I feel like keeping the energy up, it starts with people who are getting subbed out and we need to make sure that we keep the people on the court energized and pumped up for their play.”

In terms of areas of improvement, Dickinson and Jones both felt the defense could’ve been better against DePaul. Jones noted there were some shots he felt the team gave up that it shouldn’t have, and Dickinson said he needs to do a better job of running — not jogging — back in transition and getting in gaps to help prevent opponents from getting straight line drives on fast breaks.

Jones added the team needs to shore up its rebounding and put an emphasis on attacking the boards as a unit instead of relying one on or two players to crash the glass.

“Other than that, I thought everything else was solid, everything was good,” Jones said. “Knowing that we can get better from that is amazing.”

With the official start of the season less than a week away, Howard said he’s in no rush to settle on a rotation and how deep it goes, given the number of new pieces on the team. He deployed an array of lineups against DePaul, according to Dickinson, to see what worked and what didn’t, and could take a similar approach against Wayne State.

“Every guy is still being judged as far as what's best for our team moving forward,” Howard said.

“We're going to see what we can learn from that (Wayne State) game and see how we can help prepare ourselves for next week.”

jhawkins@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @jamesbhawkins

Michigan at Wayne State

► Tip-off: 7 p.m. Friday, WSU Fieldhouse, Detroit

► TV/radio: No TV/950, 1400

► Outlook: This marks the ninth time the two programs have squared off in an exhibition and first time since 2014. … While the game won’t be televised, it will be streamed through Wayne State’s website via a $5.95 pay-per-view pass. … All fans attending the exhibition are required to show proof of vaccination and wear a mask. … Last season, Wayne State won its first outright Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular-season title since 1998-99.