Michigan plays an NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 game against Alabama on Friday at 7:50 p.m. at the United Center in Chicago (TBS/TruTV). Follow the game here with live updates from Detroit News contributor Kameron Goodwill.
The game was scheduled to begin at 7:35 p.m. but reportedly technical problems with the TV crew has caused the delay.
Final: No. 1 Michigan 90, No. 4 Alabama 77
It was tight at halftime, but Michigan used a big second half to separate themselves from a challenge against Alabama to move on to the Elite Eight.
Despite being down by two after 20 minutes of gametime, Michigan found their groove after slowing the pace to outscore Alabama 43-28 in the final 20 minutes of this game. Again, it was Yaxel Lendeborg who led the Wolverines with 23 points and 12 rebounds, along with four made threes.
It was Michigan’s bench that also helped, as 17 points from Trey McKenney and 16 from Roddy Gayle Jr. made up two of the four Wolverines that ended in double-digit scoring. It was hot shooting from Michigan tonight, as they finished 50% from the field while going 13-for-27 from deep beating a high-volume 3-point shooting team at their own game.
Who will Michigan play in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament?
Although the date of the Elite Eight game has yet to be determined, Michigan will face either No. 2 Iowa State or No. 6 Tennessee, which is the last game of the Sweet 16 on Friday night.
Wolverines take over in second-half, defeating Alabama for another double-digit victory in tournament to clinch Elite Eight appearance
Cadeau takes a hard fall after being fouled but he gets up and continues his free throw woes, splitting his free throws to go 2-for-5 from the line in this game, but Michigan’s now up by 13. Morez Johnson Jr. also misses both his free throws, but Alabama again misses another 3-pointer as the shots aren’t falling and this Michigan crowd is getting loud at United Center with 1:14 left.
Cadeau has one more highlight tonight, serving up a dime for a Gayle dunk as the Wolverines have put up 90 in this Sweet 16 game. Alabama misses their last shot and that’ll do it, as Michigan uses a big second-half and wins this game by 13 to move on to the Elite Eight.
Alabama continues poor second-half shooting, Michigan keeps comfortable lead with less than four minutes left
Philon hits the three as he’s up to 27 points and Alabama’s now on a 7-0 run, but that ends as Mara gets another dunk. The Wolverines have free throw troubles coming up again as they go 2-for-5 from the line after the timeout but still keep their double-digit lead as Alabama still struggles to hit shots.
Another three from Philon ends a three-minute drought of no field goals made for the Crimson Tide, but Cadeau hits his third 3-pointer tonight, as a timeout is called and the Wolverines are up by 12, just over three minutes away from making it to the Elite 8.
Michigan continues to stay up double-digits as Alabama goes cold from the field
Pace has slowed down a little as Michigan looks to keep their lead, and Alabama’s still cold from the field. The Wolverines use a missed shot from the Crimson Tide as Mara catches the lob and jams it home in transition and Michigan’s back up by 13. McKenney hits two free throws as the Wolverines take their largest lead of 15 points, but Alabama answers back with an and-one shot from Wrightsell, but he misses the free throw. Another timeout is taken with eight minutes left as the Wolverines are up by 11.
Lendeborg helps Wolverines continue second-half surge, Michigan up by double-digits over Alabama
The Wolverines continue their momentum, as a Lendeborg steal leads to an and-one layup for Gayle as he stays on the floor despite having three fouls. Lendeborg hits his fourth 3-pointer of the game, but the Crimson Tide won’t go away and hit back-to-back threes of their own. Gayle hits a three from the corner and he’s up to 14 points off the bench.
McKenney lays it in, then Elliott Cadeau hits a three as the Wolverines are on a 8-0 run and take a 13-point lead for the biggest of the night. Alabama’s Latrell Wrightsell makes a three to cut it to a 10-point deficit, but a timeout is called with 12:09 left and the Wolverines are rolling.
Michigan takes lead early in second half, going on 7-2 run in first three minutes
Michigan’s come out of the timeout firing, as they use early Alabama turnovers and turn them into points. They go on a quick 7-2 run, punctuated by a dunk by Nimari Burnett as the Wolverines take the lead and Alabama needs a timeout with 17:04 left in the game.
Halftime: No. 4 Alabama 49, No. 1 Michigan 47
This has been an entertaining game so far, but the Wolverines have met their match so far as the Crimson Tide have a slim lead at halftime.
Yaxel Lendeborg is perfect from the field so far, leading the Wolverines with 12 points and hitting all four of his shot attempts so far. But Alabama’s been led by Labaron Philon Jr.’s 19 points, including an 8-0 run by himself at the end of the first half to give Alabama the lead.
They have the lead despite shooting under 40% from the field so far, and putting up 24 total three point attempts so far while hitting just nine of them. That’s thanks to the 10-for-10 shooting from the free throw line, as Michigan’s only 3-for-4 from the charity stripe so far. But, Michigan has kept with the 3-point shooting with eight-made threes in 15 attempts.
Threes raining down in Chicago as Wolverines head to halftime down 49-47 in fast-paced game
The Wolverines go quick after the timeout with four points but Michigan’s Dusty May is upset after a no-foul call on a layup from McKenney. After a quick timeout, both teams again trade threes as we’re up to seven lead changes. The Wolverines make three 3-pointers in just under a minute, with Roddy Gayle Jr. responsible two of them as Michigan takes their biggest lead of six points with less than two minutes left in the first half.
But the Crimson Tide aren’t going away, as they answer back with a 6-0 Labaron Philon Jr. run as Alabama uses their first timeout with just over 31 seconds left. Mara takes an ill-advised shot with 15 seconds left and misses, leading to a foul on Philon and two free throws as the Crimson Tide head to halftime with a two-point lead and Michigan head coach Dusty May is not happy with Mara.
Michigan, Alabama trade buckets in entertaining first half as Wolverines are now down by five with five minutes remaining
Things are starting to heat up, as both teams trade dunks out of the timeout, then trade threes again in this back-and-forth affair in Chicago. However, the Wolverines are already up to five turnovers so far and Alabama’s up to eight made threes already, but Michigan’s made five and are trying to keep up in this high-paced game. Aday Mara’s block leads to a Lendeborg layup on a fastbreak, but Sherrell answers back with a lob dunk and finally, a timeout is called with 5:02 left as Alabama leads 38-33.
Wolverines close the gap, still trail by a point halfway through the first half
Lendeborg is doing it all for the Wolverines so far, hitting the first three and making the first two free throws for Michigan in this game during his own 5-0 scoring run. The team goes on a 7-0 run out of the timeout to tie the game, then Trey McKenney’s three gives the Wolverines their first lead of the night at 14-13. The Crimson Tide go cold from deep as they miss five consecutive shots before hitting one, but the Wolverines are currently 3-for-7 overall and are now down 18-17 as another TV timeout is taken with 10:59 left in this first half.
Crimson Tide start hot from deep, Wolverines start cold as they trail early in first half
Alabama starts off by letting it fly from 3-point range, just as they’ve done all season and in the tournament, starting 3-for-5 from deep. Aiden Sherrell is responsible for two of those made threes. Yaxel Lendeborg gets the first Wolverine bucket on a layup, one of just two shots made by Michigan so far as the first TV timeout is called with 15:48 left in the first half. Michigan is down 11-4 after an 8-0 run by the Crimson Tide.
NCAA Tournament
NO. 1 MICHIGAN VS. NO. 4 ALABAMA
What: Sweet 16 NCAA Tournament game
When: Friday, 7:50 p.m.
Where: United Center, Chicago
TV: TBS/TruTV
Records: Michigan 33-3, Alabama 25-9
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Recap: Wolverines dominate in second half, move on to Elite Eight
Reporting by Kameron Goodwill, Special to The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
