Michigan basketball marches on as they narrowly escape UC San Diego to advance to round of 32

DENVER – The No. 5 seeded Michigan Wolverines have advanced to the round of 32 after defeating the No. 12 seeded UC San Diego Tritons 68-65, snapping their 15-game winning streak in Denver.

Thursday’s (March 20) victory, including the Big Ten Tournament, is Michigan’s fourth straight after they ended the regular season losing four of their last six, including a three-game losing streak to end the regular season.

The Wolverines have shown resilience in close games, with 17 contests decided by four points or fewer points this season, winning 11 straight games while improving to 13-4 in those scenarios.

1st half

Michigan took a 14-point lead into the half, and their size seemed unmatched by the small Tritons.

Danny Wolf got the game rolling as he helped the Wolverines jump out to a 10-0 lead.

His tall stature, silky-smooth handles, and jump shot got the crowd into the game early. He finished the half with seven points, two blocks, five rebounds, two assists, and one steal.

Fellow big man Vladislav Goldin activated “Area 50-1″ as he, too, joined the big man party for Michigan.

Goldin led the team with 11 points and four rebounds, helping the men in maize take a 41-27 lead into the half.

Roddy Gayle Jr. and Nimari Burnett added six points each, while Tre Donaldson scored five points, and L.J. Cason, who picked up two quick fouls, dropped four points to help build their biggest lead of the half at 14.

The lead could have been bigger, but the men in maize turned the ball over nine times compared to six by the Tritons.

Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones led the Tritons with seven points but he got in foul trouble early.

Goldin scored the Wolverines’ final nine points of the half.

2nd half

Tait-Jones picked up two quick fouls to open the half which had him headed to the bench.

Goldin drew one of the fouls on Tait-Jones, making one of two free throws to cap off his personal 10-point scoring run.

The Wolverines’ lead jumped to 15 before Tyler McGhie, Hayden Gray, and Justin Rochelin sparked a 9-1 run to cut the lead to 42-36.

Nordin Kapic drained a three to cut the lead to 42-39 before Donaldson knocked down a three to go back up six.

Michigan, the bigger team, is playing out of its mind again. The Tritons went on a 15-3 run before head coach Dusty May called a timeout with 15:57 to play to settle his team down.

Cason misses two free throws as Gray goes down and makes a layup to cut the lead to 45-44.

Will Tschetter got an offensive rebound and was fouled, going to the line to drain both to stop the bleeding and take a three-point lead.

After some reckless defensive play, Cason drew a foul, which he knocked down to extend the lead to 49-44.

A Wolf bunny at the rim puts the lead to 51-44 before Kapic drew a shooting foul on Goldin at the 12:00 mark, knocking down both to cut the lead to five.

Gayle Jr. drove to the basket for a tough contested bucket to go back up seven before a defensive stop led to a Rubin Jones three-pointer to push the lead back to 10.

Kapic knocked down his 11 points (13 total) of the half with a three-pointer to cut into the 56-49 lead.

Tschetter followed with a tough three-pointer as the shot clock expired to push the lead back to 10.

Goldin collects his fourth foul of the game and is headed to the bench with 8:25 to play.

Kapic draws a foul on an offensive rebound to slow down the regained Wolverines’ momentum, making both to bring the lead down to single digits with 7:57 to play.

Gray knocked down a three-pointer to cut the lead to five before Tait-Jones fouled out of the game with 6:57 to play.

Gayle Jr. made a nice midrange jumper to extend their lead to seven.

Chris Howell makes a contested layup to cut into the 61-56 lead before taking a timeout at the 5:52 mark of the half.

Wolf adds to the Wolverines’ 14 turnovers before Gayle Jr. draws another foul on Kapic, splitting the pair to take a 62-56 lead with 4:32 to play.

McGhie makes a tough layup to cut the lead to four before Donaldson gets fouled, splitting the pair to take a 63-58 lead.

McGhie made another jumper to cut the lead to three.

McGhie’s bucket gave him 20 for the game, as he’s stepping up big in the absence of Tait-Jones, who fouled out with seven points.

McGhie knocked down another big shot to tie the game at 63 with under three minutes to play.

McGhie made another jumper to take their first lead of the game at 65-63.

With all the momentum shifting to the Tritons sideline, Donaldson knocks down a huge three-pointer to retake the lead 66-65 with under 2:00 to play.

McGhie scored the last nine points for the Tritons.

Michigan calls a timeout with 42.8 seconds remaining.

Goldin is fouled with 20 seconds left, knocking down both as Michigan takes a 68-65 lead.

UC San Diego has the ball and drains the clock until McGhie misses a contest three over Wolf to win the game.

McGhie finished the game with 25 points, as his last shot looked good when it left his hands.

Goldin finished the game with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Wolf finished with nine points and 11 rebounds.

The clutch three-pointer by Donaldson gave him 12 points for the game, while Gayle Jr. dropped 11 in the victory.

The Wolverines finished with 14 total turnovers, while UC San Diego finished with eight as a team in the once-sloppy matchup.

With the win, Michigan now takes on No. 4 seed Texas A&M, who beat Yale, 80-71, on Saturday at 5:15 p.m. EST in Denver for a chance to advance to the Sweet 16.