Wolverines Return to Crisler for Monday Matchup with Maryland

» Michigan begins a three-games-in-six-days stretch starting with Monday's (Jan. 15) game with Maryland.
» U-M is coming off a one-day prep for the Terrapins following the Wolverines' upset of No. 4 Michigan State.
» Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman is just seven points away from reaching 1,000 in his career.
» Monday night's game will feature several celebrations for Martin Luther King Day as the Wolverines will wear special T-shirts, the first 2,500 fans will receive #UMICHMLK wristbands, the Detroit Youth Choir will perform the national anthem and "Rise Up" at halftime as well as an Alpha Phi Alpha Step Performance during pregame.

THIS WEEK
Monday, Jan. 15 -- Maryland (Crisler Center), 6:30 p.m. (TV: FS1)
Thursday, Jan. 18 -- at Nebraska (Lincoln, Neb.), 8 p.m. CST (TV: BTN)
Sunday, Jan. 21 -- Rutgers (Crisler Center), noon (TV: BTN)

The University of Michigan men's basketball team (15-4, 4-2 B1G) opens its first of three games this week hosting Maryland (14-5, 3-3 B1G) in a Monday (Jan. 15) matchup at Crisler Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. with the game broadcast on FS1.

THE SERIES WITH MARYLAND
• Monday's game marks the 11th all-time meeting between Michigan and Maryland. It will be the first of two regular-season meetings as the Wolverines play a return game in College Park, Maryland, in the 2018 B1G regular-season finale on Saturday, Feb. 24.
• U-M trails in the overall series with a 4-6 record. In the only meeting last season, the Terrapins built a nine-point first-half lead and held off a Wolverine rally to take a 77-70 victory at Crisler Center. Moritz Wagner led U-M with 17 points and five rebounds, while Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman had 12 points.
• Michigan is 2-1 all-time in games held in Ann Arbor. U-M coach John Beilein is 1-4 all-time against Maryland.

A LITTLE ABOUT THE TERRAPINS
• Maryland comes to Ann Arbor having lost two of its last three games -- at Michigan State (91-61) and at Ohio State (91-69). The Terrapins will have had three days to prep for Monday's battle, while U-M is coming off a one-day prep after playing at Michigan State on Saturday.
• The Terrapins are led by sophomore guard Anthony Cowan, who leads with 15.9 points, 4.6 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game. Fellow sophomore shooting guard Kevin Huerter is second in scoring (13.9) and leads the team with 48 three-point field goals (2.5 per game).
• Freshman forward Bruno Fernando (10.5 ppg) is the team's top rebounder at 6.3 per game after sophomore forward Justin Jackson (8.1 rpg) suffered a shoulder injury and is out the rest of the season. Senior center Michal Cekovsky averages 7.1 ppg and 3.5 rpg while shooting a team-best 68.9 percent from the field.

WOLVERINE TIDBITS
• Michigan is coming off an 82-72 upset win at No. 4 Michigan State. It is the second straight over the Spartans and is just the third win at the Breslin Center since 1998.
• Continuing to recover from an ankle injury, Moritz Wagner scored a career-best 27 points at MSU in 27 minutes of action. He had eight field goals with three long-range buckets and was a perfect 8-for-8 at the free-throw line.
• Monday night's game is the second game in a three-day period for the Wolverines. In fact, U-M plays three games in six days this week -- Maryland (Jan. 15), at Nebraska (Jan. 18) and Rutgers (Jan. 21).
• Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman (993) needs just seven points to become the 52nd Wolverine to reach 1,000 in a career. He would be the 10th Wolverine under U-M head coach John Beilein to reach that milestone.
• After scoring only one double-figure game in the first nine games, Zavier Simpson has six in the last 10 games, including a career-high 16 at Michigan State. In addition, with five assists (no turnovers) against the Spartans, he has continued to lead U-M (66) and has recorded five or more in six of his last seven games.
• After a stellar three-game stretch, Isaiah Livers moved to the starting line-up at Michigan State. It moves Duncan Robinson to the bench where he was U-M's sixth man last season.
• Michigan's free-throw numbers have been lower than usual this season. The Wolverines are shooting 66.4 percent on the season. Over the last four games, however, U-M has shot 77.5 percent (62-for-80) including a season-best 28-for-35 (80 percent) performance at Michigan State. Last season, the Wolverines set the program record for free-throw percentage at 77.9 percent.

MICHIGAN'S BIG FOUR
• Three members of U-M's "Big Four" are averaging in double-figures as Charles Matthews leads with 15.3 points per game while Moritz Wagner is second at 14.7. Veterans Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman (10.9) and Duncan Robinson (9.5) are just behind.
• Michigan's shot distribution has been pretty even between U-M's "Big Four" as Matthews leads with 211 (11.1) field goals attempted while Wagner has 177 (10.4) and Abdur-Rahkman (9.5) has 175. Robinson is fourth with 144 (7.6).
• U-M's "Big Four" has scored in double figures in 54 of 75 possibilities and posted all 12 20-plus point games. In fact, they have combined for 54 of U-M's 72 total double-figure scoring games.
• Overall, U-M's "Big Four" has accounted for nearly 67 percent of the U-M offensive production, averaging 48.8 points per game together. Overall as a team, U-M averages 76.7 per game.