Michigan head coach John Beilein kneels to speak with his bench players during a free throw break in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game with Purdue, Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2010, at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich. Purdue won 80-57. (AP Photo/Tony Ding)

Jesse Newell: Welcome back to the GameDay Cram Session, as Kansas is taking on Michigan on Sunday in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Tom, what can you tell us about Michigan coach John Beilein?

Michigan head coach John Beilein kneels to speak with his bench players during a free throw break in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game with Purdue, Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2010, at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich. Purdue won 80-57. (AP Photo/Tony Ding)

Tom Keegan: I’ve been watching John Beilein’s teams play since he was coaching at Canisius Collge. My brother, who lives in Buffalo told me then he was a great coach. When Beilein left for Richmond, that opened up playing time for my nephew Michael on his grade-school basketball team, of which Beilein’s son was the star. His teams always have stung foes with relentless back-door cuts and confident three-point shooting, in some cases, from every player on the floor. It doesn’t seem as if he’s done as sound a job of recruiting talent to fit his system at Michigan as he did at West Virginia, where center Kevin Pittsnoggle was knocking down threes for him.

JN: Beilein’s teams usually are successful offensively with low turnover counts and high three-point percentages. The Wolverines aren’t turning it over much (32nd nationally in turnover percentage) but they aren’t capitalizing on those extra possessions because, as you mentioned, they aren’t hitting their outside shots (34.4 percent three-point percentage, which is 157th nationally).

For KU, one player who has been hitting his outside shots recently is Elijah Johnson. The sophomore was one of the bright spots against UMKC, posting 13 points in a team-high 26 minutes. In what areas would you say he has improved this year?

TK: He looks like a way better shooter and is far more careful with the basketball, more under control.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas guard Elijah Johnson comes away with a loose ball and leads a pack of UMKC defenders Bernard Kamwa (4) Jay Couisnard (15) and Reggie Chamberlain (10) during the second half on Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Defensively, he needs to get better at keeping his man in front of him. Part of that is making it a priority and part of it is him not being as laterally quick as he is vertically explosive. Very often when announcers refer to players as combo guards what they really mean is undersized shooting guards. That’s not the case with Johnson because he’s a good passer and a sure dribbler who really does have good point-guard skills. He has just nine turnovers in 199 minutes.

JN: Johnson also has been accurate when he takes two-pointers, as he’s gone 12-for-17 (70.6 percent) from inside the arc this season. Somewhat amazingly, KU only has three players on the entire roster that are shooting under 50 percent from two-point range this year: walk-on Jordan Juenemann (1 of 3, 33.3 percent), Royce Woolridge (2 of 5, 40 percent) and Josh Selby (9 of 26, 34.6 percent).

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas guard Josh Selby elevates to the bucket before being fouled by UMKC forward Jay Couisnard during the first half on Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011 at Allen Fieldhouse.

All right, Tom, what’s your prediction for this game?

TK: Kansas 84, Michigan 70. The Crisler Arena crowd, with the students right on top of the action, gives the Wolverines a nice home-court advantage, but this Michigan team doesn’t have enough three-point shooters to take advantage of the open jumpers Beilein’s system creates. Kansas will be focused on finishing the nonconference season undefeated for the first time since the national-championship season.

JN: I’ll say KU by seven. The Jayhawks have been great at blowing out bad teams, but they haven’t been as strong against quality opponents, which was illustrated statistically in this interesting story by “Yet Another Basketball Blog.” This game has some uncanny similarities to last year’s first KU loss (road nonconference game on the first weekend of Big 12 play, televised on CBS), but like you, Tom, I just don’t think Michigan a good enough team to pull off the upset. If Purdue can beat Michigan by 23 in Ann Arbor, then the Jayhawks should at least be able to escape with a victory.

OK, Tom, who’s your Hawk to Rock?

TK: Thomas Robinson.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas forward Thomas Robinson powers his way through UT Arlington defenders Bo Ingram (1) LaMarcus Reed III (31) and Cameron Catlett (25) for a bucket during the second half, Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2010 at Allen Fieldhouse.

These Wolverines are very young and don’t have a lot of size. Robinson will be a tough matchup for them. Plus, he’s been through a very tough week, losing his grandmother, and teammates are going to do everything they can for him to see that he has a big game.

JN: Michigan’s zone defense tends to leave players open on the perimeter, and Tyrel Reed has scored 55.8 percent of his points this season from three-point makes.

photo by: Nick Krug

The Kansas bench and the Fieldhouse crowd watch Tyrel Reed put a three over UMKC guard Michael Gholston Jr. during the second half on Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Tyshawn Taylor and Josh Selby were both quick on the dribble and extremely unselfish against UMKC, and if that kind of play continues against Michigan, Reed should get plenty of opportunities to take advantage with open three-point attempts.

Tracking the picks

Predictions tally (through 14 games)
Tom: 13-1 record, 181 points off (12.9 points off/game)
Jesse: 14-0 record, 205 points off (14.6 points off/game)

Hawk to Rock

Tom Keegan
Longwood: Tyrel Reed (6th in Keegan ratings)
Valparaiso: Marcus Morris (1st)
North Texas: Tyrel Reed (6th)
Texas A&M-CC: Marcus Morris (5th)
Ohio: Markieff Morris (3rd)
Arizona: Marcus Morris (1st)
UCLA: Tyshawn Taylor (1st)
Memphis: Markieff Morris (4th)
Colorado State: Tyshawn Taylor (2nd)
USC: Tyrel Reed (6th)
Cal: Marcus Morris (6th)
UT Arlington: Tyrel Reed (8th)
Miami: Marcus Morris (3rd)
UMKC: Markieff Morris (9th)
Average Hawk to Rock: 4.4th in Keegan ratings

Jesse Newell
Longwood: Markieff Morris (1st in Keegan ratings)
Valparaiso: Brady Morningstar (8th)
North Texas: Tyrel Reed (6th)
Texas A&M-CC: Thomas Robinson (2nd)
Ohio: Tyshawn Taylor (4th)
Arizona: Brady Morningstar (8th)
UCLA: Markieff Morris (6th)
Memphis: Thomas Robinson (1st)
Colorado State: Markieff Morris (1st)
USC: Thomas Robinson (2nd)
Cal: Markieff Morris (2nd)
UT Arlington: Brady Morningstar (10th)
Miami: Tyshawn Taylor (8th)
UMKC: Josh Selby (1st)
Average Hawk to Rock: 4.3rd in Keegan ratings