Michigan “hosts” Wake Forest tonight at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit (6:30 p.m., FS1) in the return leg of last year’s 72-70 Wake Forest win in Greensboro.
The Demon Deacons started the year 2-0 with home wins over American and Morehead State, but failed to cover the KenPom margin in either contest. They return just four players (one starter) from last year’s team — which rejected a bid to the NIT — and rebuilt the roster on the fly via the transfer portal in the spring.
This could be a make-or-break year for Wake Forest head coach Steve Forbes, who is in his sixth season without making the NCAA Tournament. The Demon Deacons were picked to finish 11th in the 18-team ACC — which earned four bids total last year — and enter tonight’s match-up ranked 66th nationally, per KenPom.
It’s the first high-major test of Michigan’s regular season against the squad that first exposed some of last year’s primary weaknesses — a revenge game, at least to the extent that there can be such a thing in the transfer portal era.
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