With the start of the Big Ten schedule less than two weeks away, Michigan coach John Beilein is hoping his squad can improve while playing against seemingly inferior competition.
After sloppy victories in their last two games, the 20th-ranked Wolverines look for a better performance Saturday when they host Alabama A&M.
Beilein wasn't too happy following Michigan's 63-50 win over Arkansas Pine-Bluff on Tuesday after watching his team commit a season-high 19 turnovers and allow a 12-1 run to end the game.
The Wolverines (8-2) pulled away for a 90-80 win over Oakland on Dec. 10, but they were tied at halftime and committed 17 turnovers.
Beilein said Michigan needs to cut down on the giveaways to continue winning, especially with conference play beginning Dec. 29 against Penn State.
''It will be, officially, the last game we will ever win when we have 19 turnovers - this year,'' Beilein said. ''I don't predict that happening again.''
Freshman Trey Burke scored 15 points, but only two came in the second half. Evan Smotrycz scored a team-high 16.
Tim Hardaway Jr., the team's leading scorer averaging 15.6 points, scored eight in 19 minutes and turned the ball over three times. Beilein said Hardaway bruised his tail bone, but the injury shouldn't keep him from playing Saturday.
"They have to learn from this experience," Beilein said. "That's not Michigan basketball to turn the ball over like that.
"I was just trying to get (the lead) up to 25 or 30 (points) and clear the bench, but it never happened."
Michigan will face another seemingly overmatched opponent in Alabama A&M, which has yet to beat a Division I team this season.
The Bulldogs (2-3) are coming off a 67-44 loss to South Alabama on Saturday, shooting 2 for 17 from 3-point range and 31 percent overall.
Leading scorer Casey Cantey, averaging 13.6 points, went 3 for 9 and is a combined 5 for 21 over his last two games, scoring a total of 16 points.
Alabama A&M, which has played the fewest games of any Division I team this season ranks 331st of 339 D-I teams in 3-point shooting at 25.3 percent.
"I don't think it was them putting us under pressure. I just think we executed poorly," coach Willie Hayes said. "We had some opportunities, we missed a lot of front ends of one-and-ones where we could've gotten some points, but we have to put ourselves in a position to score."
Michigan, facing its second straight Southwestern Athletic Conference opponent, ranks seventh in the Big Ten allowing 60.7 points per game, and it will look to extend its winning streak over unranked non-conference opponents to 18 games.
It last lost such a contest to Boston College, 62-58 on Dec. 2, 2009.
The Bulldogs already have faced one ranked team this season, falling 82-45 at then-No. 13 Alabama on Nov. 23. They have lost six games by an average of 38.5 points versus ranked foes since 2001.
