ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's basketball team (3-1) is set to begin its third trip to the Battle 4 Atlantis, taking on Memphis (3-0) in the lower-bracket opening round on Wednesday (Nov. 22) in the Imperial Arena at the Atlantis Resort. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN2.

Notes

Michigan and Memphis are tied 2-2 in the all-time series. All four games have been part of a preseason tournament, including the 1986 Preseason NIT (L, 82-76), 1988 Maui Classic (W, 79-74), 1996 Rainbow Classic (L, 73-72) and 2011 Maui Invitational (W, 73-61).

Michigan has opened the season winning its first three games by 23.7 points before suffering its first loss against Long Beach State, 94-86, at Crisler Center. With 30-plus field goals in every game, U-M is shooting 52.1 percent. Leading the Wolverines, Will Tschetter has started shooting 76.2 percent (16-for-21), while Olivier Nkamhoua is second at 67.4 percent (29-for-43) with 12 dunks.

Terrance Williams II has begun his senior season posting four straight double-figure scoring games. Throughout his 88-game career, he never had back-to-back double-digit games. Williams now has 14 total double-figure games, with a career-best five last season.

Dug McDaniel has opened the 2023-24 season in grand fashion as he averages 21 points with four straight games of 15-plus points, including three games of 20-plus point with a new career-best 26 vs. St. John's at Madison Square Garden. In addition to his scoring, he leads U-M with 6.3 assists per game. He had a season-best eight assists against UNC Asheville, and he is shooting 52.6 percent and 41.1 percent from long range -- including a team-best 12 triples.

When Michigan and Memphis square off in the opening round, it will pit two former college and NBA legends against each other -- Juwan Howard vs. Penny Hardaway -- whose careers mirror each other. Howard is in his fifth season coaching his alma mater (79-48) and played 19 years in the NBA. Hardaway is in his sixth season coaching at alma mater (113-52). He played 15 seasons in the NBA.

U-M will be in the lower bracket to start the Battle 4 Atlantis with Arkansas and Stanford. With an opening win, the Wolverines would advance to the champion's bracket on Thursday (Nov. 23) and face the winner of the Razorbacks versus Cardinal at 5 p.m. With a loss, the Wolverines move to the consolation bracket and would face the loser of the Arkanas-Stanford game at 7:30 p.m.

After an opening loss at the 2015 event (No. 18 UConn, 74-60), Michigan has won its last five games, including the 2019 championship in its two previous visits. In 2015, Michigan had an 88-68 decision over Elon (Nov. 16) in a pre-travel campus matchup. After heading to Paradise Island, U-M dropped its opening game 74-60 to No. 18 UConn (Nov. 25) before rallying with wins over Charlotte (102-47, Nov. 26) and Texas (78-72, Nov. 27). In 2019, Michigan dazzled in Howard's first season at U-M, winning Battle 4 Atlantis. Following an opening 83-76 win over Iowa State, the Maize and Blue posted back-to-back wins against No. 6 North Carolina (73-64) and No. 8 Gonzaga (82-64).

In addition to U-M winning the 2019 Battle 4 Atlantis, Nkamhoua was part of Tennessee's 2022 championship run. The Vols opened with a 71-45 win vs. Butler (Nov. 23) before a thrilling 73-66 overtime win over USC, giving them a shot at No. 3 Kansas for the title. With a 64-50 victory, Tennessee claimed the Thanksgiving title.

After Michigan's 2019 Battle 4 Atlantis run, the Wolverines helped Howard win his first seven games of his U-M coaching career and lifted the Maize and Blue from unranked to No. 4 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.

Odds and ends: Michigan has scored 45-plus first half points in all four games; the Wolverines have scored 85-plus points in all four games; U-M has had at least one 20-plus point scorer in all four games; and the Maize and Blue has had 38-plus rebounds in all four games

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