CHICAGO — In front of a large Wolverine contingent, head coach Dusty May, at the very least, one-upped himself.
After taking the Michigan men’s basketball team to the Sweet 16 in his first season at the helm last year, May and his squad punched their ticket to the Elite Eight in his second season with a 90-77 victory over Alabama.
The Crimson Tide dictated the tempo early. They like to play a fast and loose brand of hoops littered with early-shot clock 3-pointers and fastbreaks, and that’s exactly how the first half shaped up. And Michigan, a fast-paced team itself, was content to play up-tempo in hopes of slowly wearing Alabama down.
The strategy worked out. The hot-shooting Crimson Tide went cold in the second half, and the Wolverines pulled away and collected the win.
Here are five key takeaways from the Sweet 16 victory…
Another Big Game For Lendeborg
In big games, graduate forward Yaxel Lendeborg tends to come through. On the biggest stage so far this year, he continued that trend.
He stuffed the stat sheet, finishing the night with 23 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists, and two steals. He shot 8-for-12 from the field, including a 4-for-5 mark from beyond the arc.
When Lendeborg is playing at this level, the Wolverines are nearly impossible to stop. He doesn’t fit the typical mold of a star-player — that is, his usage-rate isn’t incredibly high — but his personal play dictates much of how his teammates play, too.
Silent Frontcourt
Outside of Lendeborg, the Wolverines’ frontcourt was relatively mum. Junior center Aday Mara finished with eight points on 4-for-8 shooting, while sophomore forward Morez Johnson Jr. added just seven points on a 3-for-10 clip.
Part of this uncharacteristically low output was due to how the Crimson Tide were scheming their defense. They were sagging way off both Mara and Johsnon, daring them to shoot. This kind of deep-drop coverage does a good job of taking away a lot of Michigan’s post-isolation looks, but it also allowed Mara to show off his passing chops in the high post.
“If I have to play being a facilitator in the high post just passing the ball to go to Elite Eight, I will do it,” Mara said. “Whatever the game gives you, you just got to play with it.”
Mara tallied four assists, and Johnson added three of his own. It wasn’t the duo’s best night offensively, but they still found ways to contribute,
Second-Half Defensive Improvements
Alabama shot an almost-comical 47 3-pointers. While absurd to an extent, it wasn’t unexpected — that’s what they do. And in the first half, they were making a good portion of them.
On many of the Crimson Tide’s nine first-half triples, the Michigan defenders were just a step too slow. Particularly on the wing-to-corner pass, the Wolverines weren’t recovering to the corner fast enough.
In the second half, however, Michigan did a much better job on that front. Alabama shot just 5-for-23 from deep in the period, and the Wolverines even picked up a couple of blocks on the corner recovery.
“We try to disturb the shooter that’s receiving the first pass, while not allowing the direct pass to the corner,” graduate guard Nimari Burnett said of the second-half adjustment. “That helps throw their offensive rhythm off.”
Trey McKenney Comes Up Big
Freshman guard Trey McKenney isn’t playing like a freshman. He has proved time and time again that he is unfazed by the moment.
While he’s still coming off of the bench, McKenney has been playing starter minutes recently. He played 28 minutes Friday night, which was the third-highest mark on the team. In those 28 minutes, he scored 17 points on 5-for-7 shooting.
Alongside senior guard Roddy Gayle Jr. — who also had a great game — McKenney provides a dependable scoring punch off the bench that has been quite valuable in the tournament.
Michigan Faces A Challenge In Red-Hot Tennessee
While Tennessee is a No. 6 seed in the Midwest region, the Volunteers are playing as well as just about anybody in the country — a necessary trait in advancing to the Elite Eight. They took down No. 3 seed Virginia in the second round and defeated No. 2 seed Iowa State Friday night.
Tennessee is the best offensive rebounding team in the country, and that is a big factor behind its recent success. It out-rebounded Iowa State by a ridiculous 43 to 22 margin, 16 of which were offensive.
If the Wolverines want to book a trip to Indianapolis for the Final Four, they will have to take down the streaking Volunteers on Sunday afternoon at 2:15 p.m. EST.
