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Advancing to the Elite Eight for the 15th time in the history of their storied program, the Michigan Wolverines cruised to a 76-58 victory over the Florida State Seminoles in Sunday’s East Region semifinal at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Taking an 11-point lead, 32-21, into the halftime break, Michigan expanded the margin to 23 with 1:10 to play and held Leonard Hamilton’s Seminoles to their lowest offensive output of the 2020-21 season.
A quartet of Wolverines scored in double-figures, led by freshman Hunter Dickinson and junior Brandon Johns, Jr., who both tallied 14. Right on their heels was sophomore swingman Franz Wagner with 13, and the Berlin native has 37 points in the program’s NCAA Tournament run thus far, good for an average of 12.3 per game.
On paper, Florida State’s size seemed as if it could pose problems for Michigan. All five of its starters stand at least 6 feet, 4 inches, including sophomore center Balsa Koprivica and junior power forward RaiQuan Gray, who are listed at 7-foot-1 and 6-foot-8, respectively.
By executing a well-designed game plan, however, the Wolverines had little trouble with this length, outscoring the Seminoles in the paint, 50-28, and only turning the basketball over nine times.
“I think they’re the tallest team in the country, so we know they press a lot,” Wagner said. “So, that’s one thing we kind of went over in practice a lot. And like I mentioned earlier, the switching and how we can attack those close-outs. Yeah, look at some weaknesses they have on film. I think, like we always do, we analyze what the other team does and try to look how we can exploit it.
“I mean, the scout team did a great job again. I think the coaches had a good game plan. I think everybody who played watched film, like they always do. We also talked about what to do when they read the post, when they front the post, and stuff like that. That’s something they’ve seen all season with Hunter (Dickinson) being so good down there. So, those are probably the main things we talked about.”
Part of what makes this Michigan team so tough to prepare for is its depth. You never know which player is going to step up on a given night. After senior point guard Mike Smith produced 18 points in the round of 64 victory over the Texas Southern Tigers, seniors Eli Brooks and Chaundee Brown, Jr. both poured in 21 in the triumph over the LSU Tigers in the round of 32.
On Sunday, a game where Brooks and Smith were held to single-digits, the four Wolverines who recorded at least 12 points – Brown, Jr., Dickinson, Johns, Jr., and Wagner – easily handled the workload and allowed second-year head coach Juwan Howard to insert his reserves to run out the clock.
This ability to count on numerous scoring sources and come at opponents in waves has become even more important with the season-ending right foot injury to senior Isaiah Livers.
“I think it’s been all season, to be honest,” Wagner said. “Actually, without Isaiah (Livers), we have another weapon that’s not out there, but I think we’ve seen all season that we have multiple guys that can score a lot of points. They’re great shooters from the outside and a threat offensively.
“For myself, I think I always try to attack the basket, be aggressive. But like I said, I think all that only happens when we move the ball and don’t dribble too much. That’s when really everything opens up.”
While Sunday’s win marked the 15th all-time Elite Eight appearance for Michigan, four have come since 2013, a span of eight NCAA Tournaments, as Howard has continued to build on the foundation for success provided by John Beilein.
Wagner, whose brother, Moe, was an integral part of the 2017-18 Wolverines that advanced all the way to the NCAA Tournament final, shared what the success of the program means to him and made sure to give a tip of the cap to others at the school.
“I mean, the basketball court has done a good job, a great job these last couple of years,” he said. “I’m very confident in the football team. It’s going to surprise a lot of people next year. I don’t want to forget all the other sports, too, that have gone through these struggles that we have and don’t get the same attention.
“I think sports in general, the athletic department at Michigan, you can see how we make steps forward every single year, and that makes me really proud.”
Looking to reach the Final Four for the first time since that 2018 trip to the championship game, Wagner and the Wolverines will battle the UCLA Bruins, who upset the Alabama Crimson Tide, 88-78, in overtime in their Sweet 16 tilt, on Tuesday.
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