Michigan Basketball Instant Recap: Michigan 73, Louisville 69
Michigan (26-11) is headed for the Sweet 16, following a gutsy, 73-69 win over No. 2 seed Louisville.
Sophomore center Moritz Wagner led the way, pouring in 26 points for the Wolverines. Redshirt sophomore forward D.J. Wilson added 17, including clutch free throws at the end, while senior forward Zak Irvin scoring 11 and senior guard Derrick Walton Jr. tossing in 10 points, grabbing seven rebounds and making six assists.
Louisville’s Donovan Mitchell scored 19 points, While Deng Adel added 16 and Mangok Mathiang 13.
FIRST HALF
The Wolverines jumped in front early on a Wilson jumper, but Louisville quickly ran off five straight points. Wilson scored Michigan’s first six, but got no help offensively, U-M falling behind at the 15:27 timeout, 9-6.
A Mangok Mathiang three-point play quickly made it 12-6, the Wolverines struggling to keep Louisville from taking it to the rim. A Deng Adel three from the top moments later made it 15-8, but Irvin answered with a three of his own, Michigan’s first.
Senior Mark Donnal soon nailed a three-pointer from the baseline to pull the Wolverines within three, 17-14.
A Michigan turnover and Louisville fast-break bucket, followed by a put-back by Mathiang, moved the Cardinals back out to a 21-14 lead at the midway point in the half. Wagner stopped that bleeding with a power spin to the basket, pulling U-M back within five, shortly before a timeout with 7:37 left in the half.
The Wolverines fought it back to three, 25-22, with 3:26 left, the two teams going back and forth in a wild scramble. Walton nailed a three from the top a moment later to make it a one-point game, 27-26.
After a Louisville free throw, Wagner drove to the bucket to tie it with minute and a half remaining.
The Cardinals answered with threes by Donovan Mitchell and Adel. Adel added two free throws off a phantom foul call on Wagner with 9.1 seconds remaining, and Michigan went to the locker room down, shockingly, by eight.
Adel’s 10 first-half points paced Louisville, while Michigan got nine from Wagner, the Wolverines shooting just 11-for-30 (36.7 percent) from the field and 3-for-11 (27.3 percent) on three-pointers.
SECOND HALF
Louisville stretched the lead to nine on a Mitchell three in the opening two minutes, but Michigan answered back, Wagner able to drive to the rim early in the half.
The Cardinals were determined not to give up the three-point line, so the Wolverines continued to drive to the basket. A steal and fast-break feed from Wagner to Irvin for a layup pulled U-M back within five, 47-42, at the 13:23 mark.
Precisely two minutes later, an Irvin jumper got the Wolverines back within three, 49-46. Following a Cardinals free throw, Wilson nailed a three from the top, pulling U-M within one, 50-49, approaching the midway point of the second half.
Junior guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur Rahkman soon tied it with a pair of free throws, and his put-back on a fast break gave Michigan its first lead since 2-0, at 53-51.
Wagner sent in a rainbow three from the left side, giving Michigan a 58-55 edge with under seven minutes to play. After a Louisville bucket, Walton nailed a three from the top, giving Michigan its biggest lead at 61-57. Wagner followed with a spin move a short one-hander from the baseline, moving the advantage to six.
An Adel jump hook chopped the margin to three, 64-61, with just over two minutes left. Wagner made a free throw at the 2:02 mark, pushing the edge to four.
The big sophomore then drove hard to the bucket for a layup, putting the Wolverines in command. Louisville wouldn’t go away, cashing in on a bad turnover, Michigan throwing an inbounds pass on the baseline, setting up an Adel score to make it 67-63, with exactly one minute remaining.
The Cardinals then applied heavy pressure to Walton, stripping the ball away and scoring. Walton, insisting he was fouled, answered by driving hard for a layup at the other end, moving the score to 69-65 with half a minute left.
Louisville’s Mitchell drove for a layup, and the Cardinals fouled Wilson with 17.3 seconds to play. He calmly swished both attempts, leaving Pitino’s crew little time to make up the 71-67 deficit.
Mitchell drove for another layup, and again the Cardinals fouled Wilson, with time with 9.6 left. Wilson made two more, and then blocked a final Louisville attempt, sealing the win.
