In its third straight Sweet 16 appearance, Michigan is set to face off with No. 3 seed Texas Tech Thursday night.
The matchup between the strong defenses will tip off at 9:39 p.m. on CBS with Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller, Dan Bonner and Dana Jacobson on the call.
Michigan is one of just four schools -- along with Gonzaga, Kentucky and Purdue -- to reach the Sweet 16 in each of the last three seasons.
The Red Raiders have a 28-6 record a 14-4 record in Big 12 play. The Red Raiders opened the NCAA Tournament with a 72-57 win over Northern Kentucky before topping Buffalo, 78-58, to reach the Sweet 16.
Texas Tech has one of the best defenses in the nation. Their defense ranks second in the nation in field goal percentage defense, allowing opponents to shoot just 36.8 percent from the field. Texas Tech trails only Houston nationally in field goal percentage defense. Texas Tech is also third in the country in scoring defense, allowing just 59.2 points per game.
Sophomore forward Jarett Culver was named to U.S. Basketball Writers Association All-America second team and the Big 12 Player of the Year. Culver averages a team-high 18.8 points and a team-best 6.5 rebounds per game. He is the hub of Texas Tech’s offense using 31.3 percent of his team’s possessions, which is the 33rd highest in the country.
Not only is Culver a capable scorer, he is adept at dishing out assists as he has an assist rate of 26.8, which is the highest on Texas Tech. He’s also great at drawing fouls as his ratio of fouls drawn per 40 minutes ranks 66th nationally.
South Dakota graduate transfer point guard Matt Mooney was named to the All-Big 12 second team and averages 10.9 points per game. His steal rate of 3.5 is the 53rd best in college basketball and he shoots 38.1 percent from three. He was named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team.
Sophomore guard Davide Moretti earned All-Big 12 third team honors and is scoring 11.5 points per contest. Moretti leads the nation in free throw shooting at 91.9 percent and his offensive rating of 129.3 is the 15th highest in the country. His true shooting percentage of 68.8 is the ninth best in college basketball and his three-point percentage of 45.4 is the 37th best.
St. Johns graduate transfer center Tariq Owens also was named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team. He was also an All-Big 12 honorable mention selection, averaging 8.9 points and 2.5 blocks per game. His block percentage is the 11th best in the nation and he is shooting 68.5 from two, which is 19th best in college basketball.
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