Michigan basketball has made it to the Sweet 16 four straight times, could it make it five in a row?
For the Wolverines to survive and advance, however, it would have to overtake a big obstacle — 3-seed Tennessee, arguably the hottest team in the nation — in the round of 32.
On paper, everything Michigan does, Tennessee does better. Whether it’s points per game, rebounds, forcing turnovers, committing turnovers, and assists. But, in the first half, the Wolverines were the aggressors, jumping out to an early lead, and staying even in most of the aforementioned categories.
However, the Vols went on a 13-2 run with just minutes left in the first half to take a five-point lead. While turnovers weren’t an issue for a while, they eventually became one.
The Wolverines came back with a vengeance in the second half, but so did Tennessee. Cutting the lead to two, the teams traded baskets for a time. But the maize and blue would have to continue on without DeVante’ Jones, who left the game with an undisclosed illness at the half.
With just under 14 minutes left in the game, the Wolverines took the lead back, thanks to a Hunter Dickinson 3, his second make of the game. From there, the two teams traded the lead, over and over and over again, but some mistakes allowed UT to take a five-point lead with just over nine minutes left in the game.
The turnovers started to mount, again, as did thee Vols’ lead. A four-minute scoring drought coincided with a 7-0 Tennessee run — an untimely situation that was broke by Eli Brooks, who got a steal and then a long-range jumper.
With UT suddenly on a four-minute scoring drought of its own, the Wolverines got going again, tying the game before the Vols broke the streak to take a two-point lead, thanks to another Michigan turnover.
But Michigan responded as Eli Brooks had an amazing game. He drove to the basket and was fouled, allowing the team to take a three-point lead. With the Wolverines in the bonus, and UT fouling more as the game went on, Michigan found itself with a four-point lead with 2:09 remaining.
Under a minute to go, the four-point lead was still there, thanks to an Eli Brooks skyhook. The lead went up to six, but the Vols got a chance at a three-point play to cut it to three with 25 seconds left, but missed the free throw.
From there, Michigan held on and won, 76-68, and will head to its fifth-straight Sweet 16. The Wolverines will face the winner of Sunday’s Ohio State vs. Villanova game.
Here are our five takeaways from Saturdays win.
[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbzardvge799bm2 player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=https://wolverineswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]