Date, opponent set for Michigan basketball’s season opener

As the Michigan men’s basketball roster has taken shape, so has the team’s schedule.

The Wolverines will travel to New York; the Bahamas; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Eugene, Oregon, during the 2023-24 season for games that were previously announced. On Wednesday, it was reported that Michigan will host UNC Asheville to open the season on Nov. 7. A Michigan basketball source confirmed the date and opponent.

UNC Asheville went 27-8 last season, a program record for wins and winning percentage, and made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015. The Bulldogs went 16-2 in the Big South to win the conference’s regular-season title, and won the league tournament as well. They earned a 15 seed in the NCAA Tournament and lost to 2 seed UCLA 86-53.

Michigan and UNC Asheville have met once before, on Dec. 31, 2004. Michigan won at home 75-54.

The Bulldogs return six of their top seven players (based on minutes) from last season, including Big South Player of the Year Drew Pember. The 6-foot-11 center, who started his career at Tennessee, led Asheville with 20.9 points and 9.1 rebounds per game.

Mike Morrell, in his fifth season as head coach, was the league’s Coach of the Year. He brought in two transfers this offseason: forward Greg Gantt, who started 17 games for North Carolina State last season and began his career at Providence, and Evan Johnson, a guard who played the past three seasons at Georgia State.

UNC Asheville last beat a major-conference team in 2015, typically facing two or three such opponents in each of the seasons since.

Michigan lost its top three scorers from last season’s team, which failed to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015 and finished 18-16. Michigan has brought in three transfers and will likely add another one or two before the season starts.

The college basketball season opens on Nov. 6, a Monday. Michigan will welcome the Bulldogs the following night at Crisler Center before hosting Youngstown State on Nov. 10, a Michigan basketball staffer confirmed. The Penguins won the Horizon League regular-season title last season.

Both the UNC Asheville and Youngstown State games were first reported by bracketologist Rocco Miller.

Michigan will go to New York to play St. John’s in a Gavitt Games matchup on Nov. 13 and will visit the Bahamas Nov. 22-24 to compete in the Battle 4 Atlantis, a tournament that includes Arkansas, Memphis, North Carolina, Northern Iowa, Stanford, Texas Tech, and Villanova.

Michigan travels to Oregon on Dec. 2 and will face Florida in the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte on Dec. 19.

That leaves three unannounced nonconference games. Previous years’ schedules would suggest all three could be home games against non-major-conference teams. Michigan will also play a 20-game Big Ten schedule.

Michigan men’s basketball 2023-24 nonconference schedule (incomplete):

Nov. 7: UNC Asheville

Nov. 10: Youngstown State

Nov. 13: at St. John’s (Madison Square Garden)

Nov. 22-24:…