Michigan’s impressive March run came to an end on Friday night, as the Wolverines were overtaken by Auburn in the second half of their Sweet Sixteen matchup en route to a 78-65 loss:
Michigan had defied the expectations after losing its final three regular season games. The Wolverines marched through the Big Ten Tournament and won its first two NCAA Tournament games, giving fans some hope it could pull of an upset on Friday night against Auburn, the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament.
For the first three quarters of the game, it looked like Michigan just might pull it off, trailing by a point at the half and leading by nine with just over 10 minutes to go. A late-game 28-8 run from the Tigers would spell doom for the Wolverines, though, as the Tigers keep dancing into the second round.
First Half
The teams traded some sloppy possessions in the early going, but Auburn’s offense eventually settled into a groove, using a pair of threes to jump out to an early 8-5 lead.
Johni Broome found early success on offense with seven points in the game’s first eight minutes. But Michigan’s bigs Danny Wolf and Vlad Goldin were showing they could hang on the offensive end as well, combining for seven points of their own in the same timespan. At the under-12, the game was tied at 13-13 with both teams struggling outside the paint.
Michigan held serve through Auburn’s attempt to push the pace thanks in part to a Wolf three-pointer and a Goldin block. The Tigers were up 21-20 with 7:24 in the half.
In the waning minutes of the half, Michigan pushed the pace and jumped out to a 27-25 lead, gaining some separation with a Nimari Burnett step-back three-pointer. The teams swapped turnovers just before the under-4 timeout.
Broome was called for his second foul with less than a minute to go, but Vlad Goldin missed a pair of free throws to keep it a 29-28 game. An offensive board and put-back by Broome gave Auburn a 30-29 lead to end the half. At the break, Broome had 10 points and 11 rebounds, as the teams combined for 18 turnovers.
Second Half
Wolf continued his hot shooting out of the intermission, knocking down his second three of the game to make it 32-30. The Wolverines were making their shots early in the half, but turned the ball over three times in four minutes to keep Auburn in the game.
Following the under-16 timeout, the Wolverines started to move a bit more effectively on offense, jumping out to a 42-36 lead, using a Roddy Gayle Jr. three-pointer to go up by six. Broome converted his own and-one shortly thereafter, giving him 19 points for the game and making it 42-39.
Unintimidated, Wolf and Michigan stayed on the attack as Auburn stayed sloppy with the basketball. Four quick points from Wolf gave him 20 on the night, while Will Tschetter converted a pair of free throws to extend Michigan’s lead to 48-39. The lead quickly evaporated, as the Tigers would score 10 unanswered points to go up 49-48 with less than 10 minutes left.
Auburn’s offense began to make up for its early missed shots, continuing its run to go up 57-50 at the under-eight timeout and snatching all the momentum in the game. The Tiger run was 20-2 in about a four-and-a-half-minute span. Needing some offense and for Goldin to get hot, he scored four points in just over a minute span. But Tahaad Pettiford hit a big three-pointer with the shot clock expiring to make it 64-54 with about five minutes to go.
With time wearing thin, Auburn started to show why it was the No. 1 overall seed while Michigan couldn’t get anything done on the offensive end. Pettiford continued to show his late-game magic, converting an and-one to put the Tigers up 67-56.
Michigan was unable to mount any sort of run in garbage time, spelling an end to a strong first season from Dusty May. While it was a great effort for Wolf, who finished with 20 points, he was ultimately bested by Broome, who ended the night with 22 points and 16 rebounds.
Final Score: Auburn wins, 78-65.