Michigan’s second and final exhibition matchup comes tonight at the Crisler Center against the Cardinals of Saginaw Valley State. Here are three things to watch for as the season nears:

Trey Burke will see his first game action of the season tonight

1. Rotation: Trey Burke will be back in the lineup tonight after serving a one-game suspension last Thursday for a violation of team rules and will certainly be starting over Spike Albrecht, whose play in the first exhibition game exceeded many observers’ expectations. Because this game doesn’t count in the record books, Beilein will probably try to get Albrecht some quality minutes again to prepare him for the regular season, but I wouldn’t expect more than 15-20. Burke needs to get minutes against a different opponent with his teammates both new and old to develop the chemistry that all great teams have. Watch for Beilein to play Burke, Glenn Robinson III, and Mitch McGary together on the court for long periods of time. Also pay close attention to the rotation at the two-guard spot. I expect Matt Vogrich to start again, but Nik Stauskas’s play has certainly spoken volumes, and a bigger lineup would likely see Tim Hardaway, Jr. slide down to the shooting guard spot.

1. Shooting: The Wolverines, and notably the freshmen, got off to a hot start against Northern Michigan with their three-point shooting in particular, as Spike Albrecht, Nik Stauskas, and Glenn Robinson III combined to go 9-for-15 from behind the arc. Was this just a case of getting hot at the right time or will these freshmen continue to light it up from deep? Only time will tell, but with each passing game it will become more evident. Pay special attention to Vogrich, who struggled shooting the deep ball Thursday, going 0-for-4 from three-point land. If Stauskas continues to outshoot him, Beilein may shuffle up the lineup sooner than I thought.

1. Defense: With the potential to play a bigger lineup this year, Michigan has some options on both ends of the court, and many expect to see significantly more zone defense being deployed by Beilein when a bigger squad is on the floor. Against Northern Michigan the Wolverines went to the 2-3 zone for a short stretch in the second half, but there wasn’t a whole lot more than that. Watch tonight to see if Beilein mixes up the calls a little bit more on the defensive end, and if so, which zones he plays. The 2-3 will likely be the most utilized zone defense we see this season, but Beilein always has the 1-3-1 in his back pocket as well, and with more length and athleticism, Michigan could be deadly in spurts by switching to the 1-3-1 at times. It certainly won’t be used often, but I think we will see it more than we have over the past couple of years.

Spike Albrecht scored 16 in his Michigan debut (photo by MGoBlue.com)

With every new season comes new question marks, and Michigan is no different despite being ranked in the top five in the country entering the year. Tonight, some of those questions were answered in a big way.

If someone gave me 20 chances to pick the exacta (for all you horse racing fans out there) for Michigan’s leading scorers, there is simply no way I would have ever chosen Nik Stauskas and Spike Albrecht to win the bet for me. If there were odds on that stat, I imagine Vegas would have given out 200-1 or so on those two freshmen finishing 1-2, but I digress.

John Beilein’s squad came out guns ablazing, sprinting to a 17-0 lead behind six points apiece from Albrecht and Glenn Robinson III; the team as a whole didn’t miss a shot until the clock read 15:21, at which point the outcome of the exhibition tilt was unquestioned.

When Beilein announced Trey Burke’s one-game suspension yesterday, naming Albrecht as the starter for his first-ever Michigan game, many wondered how much the freshman would play and how he would look. Spike answered the bell, shooting an impressive 4-of-7 from the field (3-of-6 on threes) and dishing out six assists to just two turnovers in 30 minutes of action in the All-American’s absence.

Perhaps equally impressive was fellow freshman Nik Stauskas, who scorched the nets to the tune of 17 points (5-of-8 FG, 4-of-6 3-Pt) in just 19 minutes; his shooting was everything it has been advertised to be, as he seemed to be on line with every shot, and his pump fake, dribble, and step-to-the-left-and-pop-the-three bomb was easily the sweetest shot of the game. By the time he had drained his fourth trey of the game, I basically gave up on my $5 bet on who will be the best three-point shooter on the team at the end of the year (I have the field and my friend has Stauskas).

What encouraged me most about Stauskas’s game, however, was his ability to put the ball on the floor. When the shot wasn’t there, he wasn’t afraid to fake the defender and look for the drive and dish or for his own lay-up, and while he made a couple mistakes by doing so, he clearly presents loads of potential on the offensive end.

Albrecht, while not big, fast, or super athletic, was very crafty but controlled at the same time. He did a wonderful job picking his spots and playing within himself, and was really good in finding the open man on the perimeter.

Glenn Robinson III had perhaps the quietest 13 points (5-of-8 FG, 2-of-3 3-Pt) in his 23 minutes on the floor that I’ve ever seen, but also showed flashes of the five-star talent he is, throwing down a breakaway slam with ease and beautifully finishing an alley-oop in the half-court set from Tim Hardaway, Jr. on a ball that he seemed to bring from his waist to the hoop. It almost seemed as if he played too much within the offense, rarely looking for his own shot or putting the ball on the floor. Look for him to be more active on both sides of the ball as the season progresses and he continues to learn his role on this team.

Mitch McGary recorded two blocks to go along with 5 points and 9 boards (photo by John T. Greilick, Detroit News)

McGary showed the intensity and energy that he will bring to the floor night in and night out on a couple occasions and was relentless on the boards (nine rebounds) despite struggling with his touch around the hoop and from the line (five points on 2-of-4 FG, 1-of-5 FT). He seemed to play better immediately after making some big plays and had an eye-opening, one-handed put-back dunk that didn’t count because a foul had been called; McGary will learn to play hard on every possession, regardless of how he is doing on either end of the court.

Caris LeVert was not to be left out of the scoring frenzy either, making a three-pointer of his own and playing a mix of the one, two, and three in 10 minutes. For a very short stint in the first half Beilein put out the whole “Fresh Five”, but the offense failed to flow much and the lineup was quickly broken up. LeVert has great potential and has been very hyped this offseason, but I would still be surprised if he didn’t redshirt this season; he is simply too skinny and the team has too many weapons for him to make a big enough difference to warrant playing him.

Of the returning players, Tim Hardaway, Jr. looked like he has added a couple inches to his vertical, grabbing eight rebounds and pouring in 13 points on 3-of-9 shooting (2-of-5 3-Pt) and Jordan Morgan neared a double-double with nine points (4-of-8 FG, 1-of-2 FT) and 12 boards, showcasing an unquenchable thirst in cleaning up the glass. If these two can rebound consistently this Michigan team should be well above-average team in that category when all is said and done.

Because it was an exhibition, I will not get into deep statistical analysis. It was clear that Beilein was experimenting with many different looks and players, and the lack of Trey Burke basically means that the team we saw tonight will still be completely different from what we will see in a week’s time. Beilein will continue to tinker with different looks and groups on the floor until probably about Big Ten season, when a pretty clear rotation should emerge.

In the end, Michigan easily handled a team they were expected to handle easily while nearly every freshman impressed. Beilein has warned that the freshmen will make lots of mistakes, and especially early on, and every freshman did make his fair share of mistakes tonight. At the same time, however, no one looked out of place against a college opponent, notably on the defensive end. None of the Fresh Five had the look of a lock-down defender, but none was clearly inept on that end either, a welcoming sign for this team.

After tonight, it’s hard to imagine a game in which there isn’t at least one player that is on; with the number of offensive weapons at Beilein’s disposal, it certainly appears that the Wolverines will score the ball on anyone. If the defense continues to improve as the schedule strengthens and the regular season nears, Michigan will be good. Scary good.

It wasn’t pretty, but it was a win, whether it counts or not. Michigan shook off the rust of the offseason, scoring just 47 points (19.5 points below last year’s average), but gave up just 39, beating NCAA Div. II Wayne State in Crisler Arena on Friday night.

It was the much anticipated debut of point guard Trey Burke and he didn’t disappoint. The freshman from Columbus, Ohio split time at point with Stu Douglass and looked comfortable. He made his entrance about five minutes into the game and was the only freshman to play more than just a few minutes.

Tim Hardaway Jr. led all scorers with 20 points and also added nine rebounds. Zack Novak scored 14 points and Burke added seven points and four assits. Jon Horford was the only other Wolverine to score with six points and six rebounds.

Defensively, Michigan showed good intensity, holding the Warriors 37 points below last season’s average. Wayne State shot just 33 percent (13 percent from three-point range) and attempted just four free throws.

The main point of improvement needed is the post defense. Wayne State center Ike Udanoh recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

“Our bigs have a lot of work to do,” Head Coach John Beilein said after the game. “We’ve got to work with them to realize where they are on the court.”

Michigan now has a week off before the season opener against Ferris State next Friday. Many times, a team wouldn’t want a week off between games, but Beilein insists it’s a good thing in this situation.

“We need to practice right now,” Beilein said. “We weren’t sharp with some things. Give Wayne State credit. They’re a veteran team. But we’ve got some rhythm-type issues that we have to take care of.”

Five-of-24 from downtown, 4-of-12 from the free throw line, and 14 turnovers are not good stats for the Wolverines, but that’s why they play exhibition games.