Projecting Nik Stauskas' Final Stat Line and Blueprint for Success vs. Wofford

Nik Stauskas and the Michigan Wolverines are gearing up for another run through the NCAA tournament. The team earned a No. 2 seed and will attempt to navigate the Midwest Region, starting with a matchup against No. 15-seeded Wofford.

The Terriers are a scrappy squad that emerged from the Southern Conference for the third time in the last five seasons, but ultimately should provide little challenge for Stauskas and his battle-tested teammates.

As long as Michigan plays its standard game, can avoid any serious injuries and gets relatively normal production from Stauskas, they should avoid being on the wrong end of a Cinderella run.

Wofford has never made it outside the round of 64 and it isn’t likely to pull off the improbable on Thursday. The team collectively shoots 37.1 percent from beyond the arc, a figure that Stauskas personally bests.

Should the Terriers start getting hot, expect the Wolverines to feed the sophomore sniper; he could single-handedly trade blows with the opponent and extinguish the fire.

The unanimous first-team Big Ten and conference Player of the Year honoree is simply unstoppable against lesser talent like Wofford and will be the catalyst for Michigan’ success, or lack thereof, during March Madness.

However, Stauskas told MGoBlue.com that his squad has room to improve as a whole defensively, but due to him the offense should not be an issue during the Big Dance:

"

As far as our offense goes, I think we're a very efficient team. We have a lot of guys who are capable of scoring, passing and driving. Defensively, we've shown weaknesses at times, and I think we have room to improve there.

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It’s going to be tough for the Wolverines to replicate the great success of last season, when the No. 4 seed made a surge to the NCAA championship due to elite play from a starting five comprised of Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr., Glenn Robinson III, Mitch McGary and Stauskas.

Burke and Hardaway are now gone, having jumped to the NBA after the runner-up performance, but Robinson and Stauskas are back. They are joined in the starting lineup by freshman Derrick Walton Jr. and former reserves Caris LeVert and Jordan Morgan.

McGary is still on the team, but has not played since late December due to a lower-back condition.

Stauskas blossomed from a sweet-shooting role player on that team to the full-blown star for this current iteration of the Wolverines, a necessary evolution for this young man to keep his squad competitive.

Category	Information
Class	Sophomore
Position	Guard
Number	11
Height	6'6"
Weight	205 pounds
Hometown	Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

His scoring output increased from an average of 11.0 points on 46.3 percent field goal shooting and 44.0 percent from three-point land to 17.5 points, while going 47.6 percent from the field and connecting on 44.9 percent of his treys.

The Canada native didn’t just become a more efficient scorer, but also made big strides in terms of facilitating, raising his average from 1.3 to 3.3 assists per game this past season.

He should put all of his skills on display against Wofford, handily knocking out the Terriers with a big time showing that will start what should be a successful March Madness run for Michigan.

Predicted round 2 stat line for Stauskas: 23 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal. 60.0 FG%, 50.0 3PT%, 75 FT%.

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