NCAA Tournament: 3 things to know about Texas A&M's second-round opponent Michigan
The teams come into the matchup fresh off different kinds of victories. The Aggies controlled the pace versus the Bulldogs for much of the night as they pulled out the 80-71 win. The Wolverines, on the other hand, were given all they could handle against a scrappy UC San Diego squad who tied the game in the final seconds before Michigan sunk a basket for the 68-65 win.
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Four-seed Texas A&M is 3-1 against the Big Ten this season after defeating Ohio State, Rutgers and Purdue. The only loss came to Oregon. Michigan went 0-2 against the SEC this season, losing to Arkansas and Ole Miss.
Between A&M and Michigan's seven common opponents, the Aggies are 7-1, and the Wolverines are 5-4
Here are three things to know about the Aggies' second-round opponent:
Vladislav Goldin leads the way for Wolverines
A&M had to deal with a sharpshooter in round one when they faced off against Yale's John Poulakidas and now enter round two with another prolific scorer to contend with in Michigan's Vladislav Goldin.
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The 7-foot-1-inch center from Russia is unlike many of the leading scorers the Aggies have faced this season and could pose a matchup problem for an A&M squad whose tallest player, Pharrel Payne, is 3 inches shorter than the Michigan playmaker.
Goldin is averaging 16.6 points per game and 6.8 rebounds, which are 10th and 12th in the Big Ten, respectively.
Michigan struggles with assist/turnover ratio
As good as the Big Ten champion Wolverines have been at scoring (78.0 ppg) and limiting opponents in the same category (71.1 ppg), Michigan has struggled to protect the basketball.
The Wolverines are 17th in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.14. Michigan is averaging 16.1 assists per game but also turns the ball over an alarming 14.1 times per game, last in the Big Ten.
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Guard Tre Donaldson is leading the way, dishing off 4.2 assists a game, while center Danny Wolf leads the team in turnovers with 3.2 per game.
Michigan center Vladislav Goldin has a sterling .621 shooting percentage this season.
Aggies looking for revenge
It's not an extensive history between A&M and Michigan, as the two programs have met just twice. However, it's been a painful one for the Aggies, who are 0-2 against the Wolverines, with the most recent matchup coming back in 2018 in the NCAA Tournament.
The two programs met in the Sweet 16 at the then-Staples Center in Los Angeles, where the Wolverines beat the Aggies soundly, ending their season 99-72.
Michigan was led by guard Muhammad Ali Abdur-Rahkman, who finished with 24 points, while forward Moritz Wagner added 21. A&M was led by Tyler Davis, who scored 24 points, but the Aggies struggled to find consistent scoring, having just three scorers reach the double digits.
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Reach Texas A&M beat reporter Tony Catalina via email at ACatalina@gannett.com. Follow the American-Statesman on Facebook and X for more. Your subscription makes work like this possible. Access all of our best content with this tremendous offer.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: March Madness: 3 things to know about Michigan
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