Michigan Takes Down Texas Southern In The NCAA Tournament, 82-66
The Michigan Wolverines' basketball team blew out Texas Southern today, 82-66, to kick off its NCAA Tournament action.
Miss any of the contest this afternoon? Below is how the entire tilt unfolded…
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First Half
Michigan jumped off to a quick 5-0 lead today on a corner triple from senior guard Eli Brooks at the 19:07 mark, before sophomore guard Franz Wagner laid it in on the following possession to put the club up 7-0.
Brooks drained his second triple of the game at 17:30 to give the Wolverines an early nice 10-2 lead. U-M's edge was 10-6 at the under-16 timeout, and the Maize and Blue were an efficient four-of-seven from the field.
The Wolverines held a 15-8 advantage with 12:38 to go in the half, despite being in the midst of a 2:51 scoring drought. Michigan's lead was still a comfortable 17-8 at the under-12 break, despite having hit just one of its last seven shots at that juncture.
Brooks was the leading scorer with six points at the under-12 media break, and U-M's defense was holding Texas Southern to a dismal 23 percent shooting. Michigan then got some pleasant unexpected contributions from freshman guard Zeb Jackson, draining a triple from the left wing with 9:50 remaining to give U-M a 22-10 margin.
The lead was stretched to 14 (24-10) on two free throws from junior forward Brandon Johns at the 8:43 mark, before Jackson kept the good times rolling with his second three-pointer of the game at 7:35 to put the Maize and Blue up 29-12.
The six points already marked a career high for Jackson at that juncture. Texas Southern kept hanging around, however, ripping off an 8-0 run to trim U-M's lead to 29-20 with 5:47 left in the stanza.
Juwan Howard's club answered immediately though, tallying a 6-0 run of its own to go back up 35-20 at the 4:17 mark. That's what U-M's lead was at the under-four media break.
Freshman center Hunter Dickinson was the team's leading scorer at that point with eight points. Fifth-year senior guard Mike Smith put U-M back up 17 (39-22) with a triple from the top of the key at 1:57, before finishing off a driving layup with 28 seconds to go in the half to give Michigan a 42-24 lead at the break.
Second Half
Brooks continued his hot shooting in the second half, connecting on a three-pointer at 19:15 to enhance the blowout and put U-M up 46-24. The onslaught continued with a baseline jumper from Dickinson at 17:10 to balloon the margin to 50-26.
Johns continued his hot play with a corner with a corner triple at the 15:26 mark, extending U-M's lead to 55-31. Michigan was a hot 50 percent from the field at that juncture, and Texas Southern was just 27 percent.
A driving layup in transition from Smith put the Maize and Blue up 20 (59-39) with 11:59 to go in the game, and Dickinson was the team's leading scorer with 12 points. U-M went up 22 (61-39) on a Davis lay in at 11:23, before Smith poured in a three-pointer with 9:37 to go.
Smith's bucket put the Wolverines on top 64-44, and he had a game-high 14 points. The unexpected contributions continued with freshman forward Terrance Williams converting an and-one with 9:07 to go, maintaining his squad's 22-point lead (69-47).
That's what the score was at the under-eight timeout. The Wolverines' defense was limiting Texas Southern to just 33 percent shooting at that point. Dickinson slammed down a dunk with just 5:20 to play, and Michigan was feeling good about itself with a 73-54 lead.
Stagnant offensive play set in after that, however, and Texas Southern creeped to within 73-57 at the under-four timeout. A 7-0 run from the Tigers made things tighter at 73-61 with only 3:40 to play, and Howard's Wolverines were forced to call a timeout.
Two free throws from Brooks with 2:40 to go finally ended the Tigers' run, putting Michigan back up 75-61. Dickinson fouled out on the ensuing U-M possession though, with the referees giving the freshman a flagrant one foul in the process due to an elbow to the face of his defender.
The ensuing Texas Southern free throws were missed though, and Wagner poured in a huge triple with only 1:40 remaining to put the Wolverines up 78-63, all but putting the dagger in the Tigers.
Two free throws from Smith with just 15 seconds left made the score 82-66, marking the final scoring of the game and sealing the triumph. U-M shot 48 percent for the game, and Texas Southern hit just 36 percent of its shots.
The Maize and Blue will next take on LSU Monday in the second round.
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