Michigan Advances After Win Over Texas Southern

Michigan cruised a bit down the stretch but still finished strong to beat Texas Southern by 16.

No. 4 Michigan, the top seed of the East bracket, advanced to the Round of 32 with an 82-66 victory over 16-seed Texas Southern on Saturday afternoon.

The Wolverines showed up ready to play, scoring the game’s first 7 points and building a 19-8 lead through the opening eight and a half minutes.

Michigan had a clear and obvious size advantage in this matchup, and Texas Southern struggled to get good looks on their end of the floor as a result. The Tigers were held to a shooting percentage under 30 percent in the first half.

With Brandon Johns Jr. moving to the starting lineup to replace the injured Isaiah Livers, Michigan’s expanded its rotation by giving extended minutes to Zeb Jackson and Terrance Williams.

Jackson rewarded head coach Juwan Howard’s confidence in him by knocking down a pair of three-point attempts to help the Wolverines extend its lead to 29-12 with 7:38 left in the first half.

With the game slipping away, Texas Southern went on an 8-0 run out of a timeout to cut into their deficit. Michigan counterpunched again however, closing the half on a 13-4 run to take an 18-point lead into the break.

In the second half, some complacency set in for the Wolverines, who watched their lead dwindle to 12 points a number of times late in the game, but Texas Southern was never able to make that big run to really threaten a comeback.

1. Clamping down defensively

Michigan’s defense was suffocating in the first half, limiting Texas Southern to just 9-of-32 from the floor (28 percent) and its lowest scoring half of the season (24 points). The Wolverines weren’t quite as engaged in the second frame on the defensive end of the floor, but that first half was the formula for success moving forward for Michigan. The Wolverines don’t have the same kind of firepower on offense as they did prior to the injury to Livers, so they’ll need to continue to play sound defensively. Michigan got it done on that end today, limiting the Tigers to just .930 points per possession for the game.

2. Efficient day for Wolverine bigs

Texas Southern, who doesn’t have a player listed above 6’9 on its roster, had no answer down low against the Wolverines. As a result, Michigan got whatever it wanted in the paint, led by Hunter Dickinson. The freshman finished with 16 points. Brandon Johns Jr. turned in a strong performance as well, scoring 11 points and converting 6-of-8 attempts from the free throw line. Finally, Austin Davis provided some scoring punch off the bench with 7 points. That trio combined to shoot 11-of-16 from the floor.

3. Smith, Brooks reach double-figures

The Wolverines got good backcourt play in this one from Mike Smith and Eli Brooks. Smith led Michigan in scoring with 18 points, while adding 5 assists, 4 rebounds and a steal. Meanwhile, Brooks scored 11 points, shot 3-of-6 from beyond the three-point line, and collected 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. While not a backcourt player, Franz Wagner’s stat line deserves some recognition – the sophomore finished with 9 points, 9 rebounds and a career-high 6 assists. It’d be nice to see Wagner be a little more aggressive moving forward in the tournament however, as he attempted just 7 shots against Texas Southern.

4. Michigan-LSU in Round of 32

With the “gimme” game out of the way, the NCAA Tournament is about to get real for the Wolverines. Awaiting Michigan in the Round of 32 is 8-seed LSU, who defeated 9-seed St. Bonaventure (score) earlier in the day. After a slow start, LSU held the lead for most of the game against the Bonnies, and they look poised to challenge the Wolverines on Monday. Tiger freshman Cameron Thomas led the way against St. Bonaventure, scoring 27 points for LSU. The Tigers also had three players with double-doubles from its starting lineup: Darius Days (13 points, 11 rebounds), Aundre Hyatt (13 points, 10 rebounds) and Trendon Watford (11 points, 11 rebounds). LSU has a talented roster, and are capable of going toe-to-toe with Michigan. The Wolverines need to be ready for a fight in the Round of 32.