INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Michigan Wolverines basketball is headed back to the Sweet 16, after beating LSU in the round of 32, 86-78, Monday night.
The Maize and Blue will take on No. 4 seed Florida State Sunday night (5 p.m. ET) at Banker's Life Fieldhouse with a trip to the Elite Eight on the line.
Here are five takeaways from the Wolverines' win over the Tigers.
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1. Player of the game: Eli Brooks
Eli Brooks wasn’t going to go out like this.
Down senior forward Isaiah Livers, Michigan was able to get a big-time performance from one of its other seniors who has played in a national title game and knows what the Big Dance is all about.
In this one, Brooks hit big shot after big shot, including splashing five threes on nine attempts. All told, he ended up with 21 points on 7-of-11 from the field, seven assists and four rebounds with just one turnover.
This performance was especially important because fifth-year senior guard Mike Smith, Brooks’ backcourt mate, struggled mightily — posting just five points and turning it over four times — against the size and athleticism that LSU has at the guard positions.
Brooks is stepping up at the right time, too, shooting 54 percent from three over his last five games. It seems Brooks always steps up in the clutch, and nothing is more clutch than showing up during the time of the year that it matters the most.
Brooks will play in his 12th NCAA Tournament game on Sunday in the Sweet 16.
2. The game evened out and the more efficient — and consistent — team won
LSU was firing on all cylinders right out of the gate, nailing five of its first eight and 15 of its first 29 shots from the field. The Tigers controlled the game early on — and led 30-21 at the 7:26 mark of the first half — and the concerns coming in about how Michigan matched up appeared to be very valid. LSU didn’t do anything Michigan didn’t expect, but their isolation opportunities were leading to tough buckets and a ton of momentum.
But the Wolverines battled, played possession by possession, stayed the course and made adjustments. “The percentages are going to weigh out,” was the conversation in the first-half huddles and halftime locker room, Brooks said, and it turned out they were right.
While LSU has a high-powered offense that is tough to stop, its defense is poor, undisciplined and was easily exploited by the Wolverines’ own proficient offensive attack.
The balance of being extremely good and efficient on both ends of the floor won out in the end, with the Wolverines contesting shots throughout the entirety of the game and continuing to run their action offensively.
After the hot start, which included 19 first-half points on 7-of-13 shooting from LSU stud freshman guard Cameron Thomas, the Tigers cooled off in a big way. They regressed to the mean — and then some — and actually shot a much lower percentage for the game (39 percent) than their season average (46.1 percent). Michigan, on the other hand, was as consistent as could be, shooting 57 percent in the first half, 50 percent in the second half and scoring 43 points in each stanza.
There’s a reason why Michigan has been one of the more efficient teams in college basketball the entire season and LSU, while it strung together some wins and plates some strong stretches of ball, lost 10 games and was inconsistent.
