Throughout the season, Michigan basketball has prided itself on its ability to play any style against any team.
While Dusty May’s team has shown an ability to adapt, there is a style the Wolverines prefer: fast, free-flowing, with as many possessions as possible.
That’s good news for its next matchup, as 1-seed Michigan prepares to play 4-seed Alabama in the Midwest Regional semifinal on Friday, March 27 (7:35 p.m., TBS) at United Center in Chicago.
It’s not that this is an easy matchup (the Tide are top-12 in KenPom and in the Sweet 16 for a reason) but Alabama wants to play as fast as possible, a philosophy Michigan welcomes with open arms.
“It’s two really good basketball teams that are going to be competing at a high level, and there are some differences, but there are a lot of similarities, as well,” May said earlier this week. “I think there are only a few teams in the top-25 in tempo at the Power Five level, and they’re one of the few that are actually faster than us.
“A lot of the metrics line up, much like Saint Louis, with trying to accomplish the same thing; we’re just doing it a little bit differently because of personnel.”
An up-tempo game didn’t go well for the Billikens when they tried to get in a shootout, with U-M hammering Saint Louis 95-72 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last weekend in Buffalo. Alabama is not only known for its lightning pace, but also shooting, shooting and, well, shooting.
Nate Oats’ team takes 53.9% of its shots from long range, the highest rate in the country. That’s the primary way the Tide was able to crush Texas Tech, 90-65, in their second round matchup, making 19 of 42 3-pointers (45.2%).
Alabama is also near the top of the country in possessions per game, playing at the fourth fastest adjusted tempo in the nation, the quickest of any Power Four team.
“[Their tempo and 3-point shooting are] obvious,” May said on Tuesday, March 24, at Crisler Center about what stands out on film. “They’ll shoot 40 or 50. They take good shots. They’re not going to shoot a lot of contested midrange shots. They’re going to get to the rim and we’re going to try to do our best not to let their shots go in.”
Despite their rip-roaring pace, the Tide still protect the ball, ranked No. 10 nationally in turnover rate (13.2%).
Alabama is led by Labaron Philon Jr. who averages 21.4 points and five assists per night.
Latrell Wrightsell Jr. has also stepped up with the absence of Aden Holloway (the brother of Michigan women’s guard Mia Holloway) after he was arrested for possessing more than two pounds of marijuana earlier this month, with Wrightsell scoring 35 points in the first two games of the tournament.
Alabama will likely try and spread U-M out as much as possible, which is the primary concern that the Wolverines will have to counter. Their defense has focused on forcing teams off the long line and making them try and finish in traffic inside, where bigs like Aday Mara and Morez Johnson Jr. can throw a block party.
“They’re going to try to take advantage of matchups,” May said. “They’re going to try to create creases. But I think just the playmaking that they have and the range that their guys shoot it with – they have deep, deep range, which makes that court look even bigger. And, with our size, we typically want to make it look as small as we can.”
Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: How Michigan will handle Alabama’s 3-point barrage in Sweet 16
Reporting by Tony Garcia, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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