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Final Score: Michigan 90, Alabama 77.
That was not Michigan's best effort tonight, but the Wolverines win ugly, outscoring Alabama 43-28 in the second half. Michigan ratcheted up the defense in the final twenty minutes after giving up 49 points during the first half. Michigan made Alabama work shot clock and force a lot of difficult shots in the second half, holding the Crimson Tide to its lowest point total in a second half this season. Yaxel Lendeborg stuffed the stat sheet, with 23 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists. Dusty May made a great halftime adjustment, having Lendeborg facilitate offense from the free throw line in. The Wolverines got huge nights off the bench from Trey McKenney (17 points) and Roddy Gayle (16 points). Eliot Cadeau also had 17 points on a night when Aday Mara (8 points) and Morez Johnson, Jr. (7 points) were relatively quiet. Labaron Philon had 35 points for Alabama, though it was much harder for the guard to score in the second half. Michigan only went 8/16 from the free throw line in the second half. The Wolverines were a bit off and still won by 13 points. May is certainly happy to advance though he knows the Wolverines shouldn't rest on their laurels and need to play better. That was a choppy, at times arrogant, performance by the Wolverines, who may get out of the Midwest with such play but will need to be much better to win it all, which this Michigan team is certainly capable of. Make the jump to see the game's final stats and my live running reactions of Michigan's sleepy and uneven win against Alabama.
Second Half, Final Four Minutes Live Reactions
Michigan leads 86-74 with 2:22 remaining. Timeout Michigan. Cadeau got trapped and had to call a timeout. Michigan got a dunk from Morez, who has 7 points on just 3-for-9 from the field. Philon had a crafty layup as well.
Second Half, Under-4 Timeout Live Reactions
Michigan leads 84-72 with 3:34 meaning. Michigan was letting Alabama hang around, but just got five big points from Eliot Cadeau on a floater and a three. Alabama is 5/18 from three this half. Philon now has 30 points, 11 of which have come during a less explosive second half for the sophomore guard.
Second Half, Under-8 Timeout Live Reactions
Michigan leads 75-64 with 8:00 remaining. Both teams have had some offensive droughts here. Michigan's defense has cut off Alabama drive and kicks. The Wolverines have definitely not played its best game but are pulling ahead because of its half-court defense this half. Alabama has not been able to get the pace to its liking. At one point, Michigan had a 16 to 6 rebounding advantage so far this half. The Wolverines need to sustain some offense, though, as Alabama can get back into a game with just a few possessions. Michigan has outscored Alabama 28-15 this half. 'Bama is 5/17 this half and down to 38% for the half. Philon only has 5 points this half.
Second Half, Under-12 Timeout Live Reactions
Michigan leads 70-60 with 11:48 remaining. Morez just missed another bunny and committed a foul. I have never seen Morez miss so many point-blank layups. Note: Duke has just defeated St. John's, 80-75. St. John's got up by nine points early in the second half, but Duke came back behind strong play from Isaiah Evans and Caleb Foster, and 24 free throw attempts compared to just 8 for St. John's. Shocker! I figured Duke would get the beneficial whistle, though the Blue Devils missed 9 free throws, shooting 62.5%. Duke did dominate the glass, with 40 rebounds to 27 rebounds. St. John's shot better from three than I expected, 13/32 (40.6%). At one point, the Johnnies were shooting 50% from three relatively deep into the second half. Dylan Darling had a chance to tie the game but air balled a deep three with about two seconds left.
Second Half, Under-16 Timeout Live Reactions
Michigan leads 70-60 with 12:09 remaining. The Wolverines are essentially having Lendeborg initiate offense in the half court and it is paying off. Lendeborg had 12 points at halftime. He has 22 points right now and has taken 7 shots. The Wolverines have four threes this half but are turning this game defensively. Alabama has hit three threes to stay alive, but there is not much offensive rhythm for the Crimson Tide. Roddy Gayle Jr. has had an amazing game off the bench.
Michigan leads 54-51 with 17:04 remaining. Michigan is making it a point to get Landeborg shots. He has five shots already this half, with two makes. Michigan is picking up its defense, limiting dribble drives by Alabama and blocking two Latrell Wrightsell three point attempts from the corner.
Halftime Adjustments
Alabama just needs to keep doing what it's doing, with the exception of getting back on defense. The Crimson Tide have Michigan playing a frenetic pace. Michigan must make post touches a priority early in the second half. The three-point shots are alluring, but Michigan needs to be more selective than getting into a jack-it-up game. Dusty May should also bring some full-court pressure after made baskets to slow Alabama up. Michigan needs to ride Lendeborg, who hasn't missed on four shot attempts but had to sit near the end of the half with two fouls.
Halftime Score: Alabama 49, Michigan 47.
Michigan is not playing a smart game so far. The Wolverines were up 47-41 on big threes from McKenney and Roddy Gayle, Jr. However, the Wolverines couldn't contain Labaron Philon, who goes on an 8-0 personal run to end the half. Morez Johnson, Jr., missed two bunnies and Aday Mara forced a quick shot. Alabama has gotten hot, gone cold, gotten hot, gone cold, and gotten hot. Michigan is playing into the Alabama style. Here are the halftime stats.
First Half, Under-4 Timeout Live Reactions
Alabama leads 38-37 with 3:54 remaining. Roddy Gayle hits a tough shot in the mid-range and McKenney gets out in transition for a layup. Alabama is doing a horrible job getting back on defense. Michigan has 11 fast-break points.
First Half, Under-8 Timeout Live Reactions
Alabama leads 38-33 with 5:32 remaining. Michigan is falling for this pace. Alabama has four threes during this stretch and is now 8/17 from deep, including 5 out its last 7. Michigan has three dunks during this stretch (two for Morez, one for Mara). Defense is optional, as this is a playground game, which favors Alabama. Lendeborg has 12 points on 4-for-4 shooting. Mara is gassed as the games a long time without a whistle. Michigan cannot contain Alabama off the bounce. Michigan is 5/11 from three, which is fool's gold. It might be time for Dusty May to put Morez in at the five as this pace does not suit Mara's game. Cadeau has 8 shots already. Michigan needs better balance with its shot distribution as no other player has more than 4 shots.
First Half, Under-12 Timeout Live Reactions
Alabama leads 18-17 with 10:59 remaining. This is definitely an Alabama game, run and jack up threes. Michigan came out of the break with a 7-0 run to tie the game. Michigan got Lendeborg a three and two free throws right out of the break. Trey McKenney has hit two threes in this stretch. Alabama missed four straight threes before a Labaron Philon trey. Aday Mara is struggling a bit with the tempo of this game and Alabama's active hands. Michigan cannot fall in love with the three and must get the ball down low.
First Half, Under-16 Timeout Live Reactions
Alabama leads 11-4 with 15:38 remaining. Alabama is 3/5 from three to start the game, Michigan is 0-for-2. The Crimson Tide are the more active team, getting into the lane and swarming around on defense. Michigan looks a bit lethargic. The Wolverines have scored on two tough layups by Yaxel Lendeborg and Eliot Cadeau. The Wolverines are struggling to contain the Crimson Tide dribble, which is collapsing the Michigan defense and leading to open kickout threes. The first possessions for both team show the contrast in styles. Michigan feeds Morez Johnson, Jr., on the first possession of the game. Johnson misses a banker, and Aday Mara misses a tip in. Alabama jacks up a three that barely hits rim on the Crimson Tide's first possession. Alabama has 4 assists on its first 4 field goals, and 6 second-chance points.
Prediction: Michigan
Nate Oats is a coach no top-seed wants to see in the Sweet Sixteen as his Alabama squads will shoot the three ball without any fear. Even if it means going down early, the Crimson Tide can shoot itself right back into a game quite quickly. With its prolific shooting, Alabama does profile as a team that can space Michigan out and cause some problems, similar to Wisconsin earlier this season. With that said, Michigan is too damn big with Aday Mara, Morez Johnson, Jr., and Yaxel Lendeborg for the Crimson Tide to handle. Dusty May always has his teams ready to play during the NCAA Tournament so an Alabama upset would be truly shocking. Michigan is the vastly superior team and will prevail in a game that might be close for a half but will ultimately come down to size and physicality. The Wolverines will move forward, one step closer to its first Final Four since 2018.
St. John's - Duke Updates prior to the Alabama-Michigan Tip
Give credit to St. John's, which leads 40-39 at the break. Prey hit a three right before the half. He has been great off the bench.
Duke leads 35-28 with 4:20 remaining. The Blue Devils are exerting its defensive will against the Johnnies, which have hit just 2 out of its last 11 shots. Duke is also getting Cameron Boozer going down low. This game is at an up-and-down pace favoring Duke at the moment. St. John's must hang close heading into the half as I head over to the Alabama-Michigan game.
St. John's leads 26-23 with 7:33 remaining. Duke is dominating with 18 points in the paint compared to 8 for St. John's. Maliq Brown and Isaiah Evans are having very active and effective halves for the Blue Devils. St. John's has gone a bit cold, though a Dillon Mitchell three just gave the Red Storm the lead again. This game is being played at St. John's frenzied pace, but it feels like the Johnnies should be up more. Duke did a good job weathering the storm and is getting the ball to the rim rather easily. Cameron Boozer is off to another slow start, 2 points on 1-for-4 shooting. St. John's three-point shooting has cooled off after a hot start. This game seems to be tilting toward Duke.
St. John's leads 19-15 with 11:51 remaining. St. John's is on a 12-4 run. The Johnnies are shooting the ball much better than they did against Kansas. St. John's is 7/10 from the field, including 3/5 from three, with big makes off the bench from Ruben Prey and Ian Jackson. Duke is 7/11 from the field. Caleb Foster is back for the Blue Devils and had a nice assist on his first possession, an alley-oop to Patrick Ngongba.
Duke leads 11-9 with 14:46 remaining. Duke has brought the defensive intensity early, forcing several SJU turnovers. The Red Storm did not score for 3 minutes. Duke has five points from Cayden Boozer. The Blue Devils were up 11-4 before Dylan Darling hit a three and St. John's forced a turnover with its press, leading to a Dillon Mitchell layup. Mitchell has six points so far. Both teams have two turnovers. Duke has a 4 to 1 advantage on the glass, and an 8 to 6 advantage with points in the paint.
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