Michigan basketball: Wolverines start slow but advance over Montana
By Zac Snyder
The Michigan Wolverines’ 2018 NCAA debut was not a thing of beauty but it was enough to beat Montana to advance to the second round.
It was exactly the type of start to their NCAA Tournament opener the Michigan basketball team hoped to avoid after a long break following their Big Ten Tournament championship.
Moe Wagner won the opening tip but promptly lost his footing and was called for traveling. Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman was called for the game’s first foul call just 11 seconds into the game. Then it was a 10-0 Montana lead with Abdur-Rahkman and Zavier Simpson already to the bench with a fouls.
But the Michigan Wolverines never panicked, even if they were uncharacteristically sloppy in the first half. John Beilein went ten men deep in the first half and was able to get some very good minutes from Jaaron Simmons with Simpson and Abdur-Rahkman on the bench.
There was never a big run in that first half. It was mostly just the Wolverines finding their footing, playing solid defense as they started to get some shots to fall to chip away and eventually take a lead. For as ugly as a first half as it was, Michigan was able to head into the locker room with a three point halftime lead.
While Michigan was able to eventually right the ship in the first half, Moe Wagner went scoreless in the first 20 minutes. That changed in a hurry in the second with a dunk just 11 seconds in. Wagner would later add a three-pointer but neither he nor the offense overall were able to operate with the kind of flow we saw in the team’s run to the Big Ten Tournament title.
It was a different story on the other end of the court where Michigan was just fine defensively. Just a three point lead was extended to 14 halfway through the second half, mostly on the strength of the defense holding Montana scoreless for ten minutes and seven seconds.
Even far from their best Michigan was too much for Montana, ultimately coming away with a 61-47 win. Charles Matthews was the only regular to play up to his usual level, ending as the team’s leading scorer and rebounder. Matthews finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
March Madness isn’t about being pretty, it’s about surviving and advancing and that is what Michigan did against Montana. It was just two weeks ago that the Wolverines needed overtime to get past Iowa in their Big Ten Tournament opener. That tournament turned out just fine. Hopefully we will look back at this game in a similar light.
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The Wolverines advance to the second round to take on the sixth-seeded Houston Cougars. Led by Rob Gray’s career-high 39 points, Houston got a 67-65 win over San Diego State in the first round. Second round game time will be 9:50 p.m. ET on Saturday night.