Kentucky, North Carolina matchups highlight Michigan basketball's nonconference slate

The Wolverines will square off against some top competition and in-state foes during the early portion of their 2022-23 schedule.

The Michigan men’s basketball program on Wednesday released its 11-game nonconference slate for this upcoming season, which features five neutral-site contests and plenty of travel, with trips to London, New York and North Carolina.

Among the highlights, Michigan will take on a pair of likely preseason top-five teams in Kentucky and North Carolina in December. The Wolverines will travel to England to face the Wildcats in the London Showcase at O2 Arena and will head to Charlotte to meet the Tar Heels — who return most of their starters from last year’s team that reached the national-title game — in the inaugural Jumpman Invitational at the Spectrum Center, which will feature both the men’s and women’s teams.

The Kentucky matchup is the first in a three-game series between the two programs that has been restructured and delayed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The North Carolina tilt marks the fifth meeting in the last six seasons and will take place a day after the two women’s programs play in the event.

Before that, the Wolverines will host Virginia in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and head to Brooklyn for the Legends Classic at the Barclays Center, where they will play two of the other three teams invited — Arizona State, Pittsburgh and VCU — in November. Matchups have yet to be announced, but Michigan will face at least one former Wolverine in the early season tournament — Frankie Collins (Arizona State), Zeb Jackson (VCU) and Brandon Johns Jr. (VCU) all transferred this offseason.

There will also be some local flavor on the slate with regular-season meetings against Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan, as well as an exhibition against Ferris State. The Wolverines will head to Detroit and play the Emoni Bates-led Eagles at Little Caesars Arena in the first meeting between the teams since 2014, and they will host the Chippewas — their first meeting in five years — in the nonconference finale.

Other home games include the season opener versus Purdue-Fort Wayne, as well as matchups against Ohio, Jackson State and Lipscomb.

Michigan’s Big Ten regular-season schedule is expected to be announced sometime next month.

Michigan's 2022-23 nonconference schedule

► Nov. 4 vs. Ferris State (exhibition)

► Nov. 7 vs. Purdue-Fort Wayne

► Nov. 11 vs. Eastern Michigan (Detroit)

► Nov. 16 vs. Arizona State/Pittsburgh/VCU (Brooklyn)

► Nov. 17 vs. Arizona State/Pittsburgh/VCU (Brooklyn)

► Nov. 20 vs. Ohio

► Nov. 23 vs. Jackson State

► Nov. 29 vs. Virginia

► Dec. 4 vs. Kentucky (London)

► Dec. 17 vs. Lipscomb

► Dec. 21 vs. North Carolina (Charlotte)

► Dec. 30 vs. Central Michigan

jhawkins@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @jamesbhawkins