Michigan and Eastern Michigan will square off for the second year in a row after last year’s Emoni Bates Showcase at Little Caesars Arena. This year’s game will have less fanfare and is scheduled for a mid-Saturday afternoon after final exams in Ann Arbor (Sat., 2:30 p.m., BTN), with most of the noise focused on off-the-court drama this week.
Eastern Michigan enters Saturday’s game at 5-4, ranked 305th per KenPom, and is the only team Michigan will face this season ranked outside the top 250 nationally. EMU has early season wins over Georgia Southern, Cleveland State, Detroit Mercy, and Central Arkansas, with losses against Butler, Florida Atlantic, North Dakota, and Oakland. Those defeats are by an average of 24.5 points per game.