Michigan to See Irish in NCAA First Round Friday
3/17/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 17, 2016
• TV: CBS | Live Video | Live Audio |
• Complete Game Notes 
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• Tournament Central | NCAA Bracket
The University of Michigan men's basketball team (23-12) knocked off Tulsa in the First Four of the NCAA Tournament and advanced to Brooklyn, New York, and the Barclays Center. The Wolverines will face No. 6 seed Notre Dame (21-11) on Friday (March 18) in the NCAA First Round at 9:40 p.m. on CBS. If U-M wins, the Wolverines will play for a chance to go to the Sweet 16 against either No. 3 seed West Virginia or No. 14 seed Stephen F. Austin.
HOW MICHIGAN ADVANCE TO BROOKLYN
Michigan shook off a poor shooting start to take down the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, 67-62, on Wednesday night (March 16) at the University of Dayton Arena. After taking an eight-point lead into the half, Michigan found itself in a tightly contested battled for much of the second half. Tulsa had a one-point edge with less than four minutes to play, but sophomore guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman hit a huge fall-away jumper to beat the shot clock and give the Wolverines the lead. Two minutes later, freshman forward Moritz Wagner pulled in an offensive board and dunked to put Michigan up three, 59-56.
The Golden Hurricane responded with back-to-back jumpers to re-take the lead, but junior guard Zak Irvin drained a clutch three-pointer to put the Maize and Blue up 62-60 with 53 seconds to play. After a defensive stop, the Wolverines sealed their victory from the stripe.
MICHIGAN'S NCAA PATH TO THE NCAA SWEET 16
• Notre Dame is making its 35th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament, including 11 under head coach Mike Brey, who is in his 16th season as head coach of the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame brings a 21-11 record into the tournament, including an 11-7 mark in the Atlantic Coast Conference; the Fighting Irish tied for fifth in the ACC. Notre Dame has five players who score in double figures, led by Demetrius Jackson's 15.5 points per game; Zach Auguste averages a double-double with 14.4 points and 10.8 rebounds per game. U-M and Notre Dame have met twice in the NCAA Tournament, with the Wolverines winning both meetings (1974 and 1976).
• West Virginia comes into the NCAA Tournament with a 26-8 overall record and went 13-5 in the Big 12 to finish second in the conference. The Mountaineers reached the final of the Big 12 Conference Tournament, where they fell to Kansas, 81-71. West Virginia is led by Jaysean Paige and Devin Williams; Paige averages a team-best 13.9 points per game, while Williams averages 13.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per contest. The Mountaineers are in the NCAA Tournament field for the seventh time under Bob Huggins, who is in his ninth season as head coach at West Virginia.
• Making their third consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament, the Lumberjacks of Stephen F. Austin have a 27-5 overall record, including a perfect 18-0 record in the Southland Conference. Stephen F. Austin won both the regular-season and tournament championships in the Southland. The Lumberjacks have three players scoring in double figures, led by 17.5 points per game from Thomas Walkup; Demetrious Floyd adds 13.8 points per game and Clide Geffrard scores 13.4 points per game. In his third season as head coach at Stephen F. Austin, Brad Underwood has a career record of 88-13.
MICHIGAN AT THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
• Michigan has been selected 26 (22*) times to the NCAA Tournament.
• Michigan has a 52-23 (45-19*) all-time record in the NCAA Tournament.
• Michigan has made six (four*) national championship appearances -- 1965, 1976, 1989, 1992*, 1993*, 2013.
• Michigan is 1-5 (1-3*) all-time in the national title game.
• Michigan is 6-1 (4-1*) all-time in national semifinal games and owns the best winning percentage, .857, of any school to play in at least five games.
• Michigan won the program's first and only NCAA championship in 1989, following a dramatic 80-79 overtime win against Seton Hall when Rumeal Robinson made two free throws to secure the title. During the "Shock the World" run, Glen Rice set the NCAA Tournament record for most points in a single tournament with 184 (30.6 ppg).
• Michigan has seven (five*) Final Four appearances.
• Michigan has 13 (12*) Elite Eight appearances.
• Michigan has 13 (12*) Sweet 16 appearances.
• Michigan has earned a No. 1 seeding on two occasions -- 1985 and 1993*.
• Michigan has earned a No. 2 seed on two occasions -- 1986 and 2014.
• Michigan made its first ever appearance in the First Four this past Wednesday (March 16), defeating Tulsa, 67-62, in Dayton, Ohio.
DID YOU KNOW?
• With six three-point field goals against Indiana (March 11) -- including Duncan Robinson's game-tying three-pointer and Kameron Chatman's final dagger -- Michigan set the new single-season program (320) record for three-pointers in a season. U-M topped the previous mark of 319 (37 games) set in 2013-14 season and now has 332 triples on the year.
• Michigan has had two players reach 1,000 points this season -- Caris LeVert against Northern Kentucky (Dec. 15) and Zak Irvin at Ohio State (Feb. 16). Irvin has 1,106 (41st), and LeVert has 1,070 total (44th). There are 50 Wolverines on the U-M's 1,000-point list.
• Irvin has scored a season-best 22 points on two occasions. Both of those games were upset victories over nationally ranked foes. First was against 3/3 Maryland (70-67; Jan. 12) and against 18/16 Purdue (61-56; Feb. 13). He also led U-M with 17 points in the 72-69 win over 10/10 Indiana (March 11).
• Derrick Walton Jr. leads U-M with four double-doubles -- all of which have come via points and rebounds. In fact, he recorded the program's fifth triple-double with 10 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists against Youngstown State (Dec. 19). The 6-1 guard leads U-M with 5.5 rebounds.
• Duncan Robinson is 12th nationally shooting 44.7 percent from long range. With 92 total, he needs eight more three-pointers to become just the second Wolverine ever to reach 100 in a single season.
A LITTLE MICHIGAN KNOWLEDGE
• Michigan has a 23-12 overall record and a 10-8 mark in B1G play. The Wolverines earned the No. 8 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
• The Wolverines are currently 57th in the RPI and have a strength-of-schedule (SOS) rating of 43rd according to the NCAA (March 13).
• With the win over Northwestern (Feb. 24), Michigan reached the 20-win plateau for the 27th time in U-M history and for the sixth time in U-M coach John Beilein's nine year tenure.
• In addition to U-M reaching 20 overall wins, the Wolverines won their 10th B1G game, against the Wildcats. It is the fourth time in the last five seasons U-M has reached double-digit wins in conference play.
• Michigan has had seven different starting lineups this season, however, the Wolverines have settled on their current lineup over the final 20 games -- Derrick Walton Jr., Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, Duncan Robinson, Zak Irvin and Mark Donnal.
• Michigan continues to use a four-man rotation down low in the frontcourt. Mark Donnal has moved into the starting five, while Ricky Doyle, Moritz Wagner and D.J. Wilson all come off the bench.
