Five takeaways from Michigan basketball's close win over UC San Diego in NCAA Tournament
Five takeaways from Michigan basketball's close win over UC San Diego in NCAA Tournament
After just three days off, Michigan basketball took the show on the road, going from the Big Ten Tournament (where the Wolverines won the championship) to the NCAA Tournament where the 5-seed would face 12-seed UC San Diego in the Tritons' first-ever appearance in March Madness.
The Wolverines got out to a rollicking start, taking a 10-point lead to start the game and stretching it to 14 at halftime. But turnovers and scoring droughts in the second half allowed UCSD to take its first lead with just minutes remaining in the game.
Michigan got just enough juice to hang on and win, 68-65, but it was something of an uninspiring effort given that it had a 15-point lead at one point in the second half.
Here are our five takeaways:
Typical Michigan showed up
That's not always a bad thing, given the record. But per usual, the Wolverines were playing with fire by playing with their food.
Michigan turned the ball over regularly (as expected) and also surrendered a commanding 15-point lead, letting UC San Diego to take the late lead. It was the usual ebb-and-flow of the Wolverines in most every win of the season -- including with the full second-half collapse. Michigan also turned the ball over 14 times compared to the Tritons' eight times. Still, in the first round, that's fine, but the maize and blue are going to have to play better if they're going to get out of the first weekend.
Free throw woes
These Wolverines aren't usually ones we talk about having problems shooting free throws, but this game (perhaps because of nerves) we saw an uncharacteristic performance from the stripe. If the maize and blue shot a modicum better, then the game likely never would have gotten tight.
Michigan went 11-20 and many of the misses came late when the Wolverines could have pulled away.
Good production again from Roddy Gayle Jr. and Tre Donaldson
It's still not quite what was bargained for when he came over from Ohio State, but he's looked worlds better the past four games compared to how he looked through much of the season. He finished with 11 points and hit a few clutch shots in a timely fashion. After somewhat disappearing in the Big Ten Tournament Championship Game, Donaldson came to play again in this one, hitting three 3s for 12 points overall.
If the Wolverines are going to make any kind of run in the ensuing games, both will be needed.
Foul trouble
This Michigan team isn't usually one we're talking about being in foul trouble, but Vlad Goldin found himself with four fouls at the under-eight timeout while Nimari Burnett had three. Due to the tight game, Goldin had to stay in the game and hang on for dear life. Thankfully for the Wolverines, Goldin managed to stay in without leaving the game due to his foul trouble.
The good news for the Wolverines is that UCSD had multiple players in foul trouble while its best player, Tait-Jones, fouled out relatively early.
All hands on deck
In terms of getting everyone involved, it was a good collective effort for these Wolverines. All eight players who got into the game scored, with Goldin unsurprisingly leading the charge, albeit with a modest 14 points. The Wolverines got very little production in the second half from either big -- Goldin and Wolf. However, three players got in triple digits (Goldin, Donaldson, Gayle) while the only player to hit just one shot was starter Rubin Jones (who had a clutch 3).
Either way, this team is going to have to play better than it did on Thursday when it takes on Texas A&M on Saturday.
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