Michigan basketball shocks Texas A&M with big second half to advance to Sweet 16

It's survive and advance season and both the Michigan Wolverines and Texas A&M Aggies both did just that in the Round of 64 in the NCAA Tournament. Now in the Round of 32, the winner would get a chance to move onto Atlanta to play in the Sweet 16.

It was a tale of the 5-seed Wolverines against the 4-seed Aggies, and both teams came into the game relatively even, although Texas A&M was ranked ahead of Michigan by seven places according to KenPom. While there wasn't huge scoring from any of the Wolverines in the first-round game against UC San Diego, everyone who got into the game got on the board. And this was the type of game where the maize and blue would need that kind of effort.

First Half

Michigan got things rolling early with shots made by Tre Donaldson and Vlad Goldin, jumping out to a 4-0 lead. The Wolverines kept trying to hit from downtown to no avail, allowing Texas A&M to keep things close in the early going, despite the maize and blue outshooting the Aggies to start the contest.

After Rubin Jones had an early turnover, Will Tschetter came in and got an early foul. Another turnover for the Wolverines, and Texas A&M had a 7-6 lead just over 16 minutes remaining in the first half. The maize and blue came out of the under-16 media timeout still struggling to figure out the TAMU defense, shooting just 30% from the floor, and 0-fer from 3. Finally, Vlad Goldin broke the scoreless streak, hitting a jumper, getting fouled in the process, and nailing the and-one to put Michigan up by two. The Aggies quickly responded in kind, with Tschetter picking up his second foul of the game. TAMU forward Solomon Washington hit the foul shot to put the Aggies back up by one. Going to the line moments later, Donaldson hit the back end to tie the game back up at 10-all.

The Wolverines started finally getting some momentum from there, with the defense stymying the Aggies on one end, while freshman LJ Cason hit the team's first 3 before Danny Wolf got a layup on the ensuing possession to go up five.

After a Wolf dunk put Michigan up by seven, Aggies forward Anderson Garcia hit his team's first longball to cut the lead to three. Garcia hit another to tie the game at 17 with 11:33 remaining in the first half.

Goldin hit one of two free throws coming out of the under-12 timeout and though the defense held on the other end, the All-Big Ten center had his second turnover of the game coming back on offense. Michigan was on a three-plus minute scoring drought when Texas A&M took another one-point lead. The Aggies extended the Wolverines' scoreless period while hitting a layup on the other end to take a three-point lead -- the largest for TAMU in the game to this point.

The good news for the Wolverines, however, was that Texas A&M was being called for a lot more fouls and Michigan found itself in the bonus with just under nine minutes remaining in the first half. Donaldson hit the front end to cut the deficit to two, momentarily, and Michigan's scoring drought from the floor was now up above four minutes. A made jumper by TAMU pushed the lead to four while Nimari Burnett committed Michigan's fifth turnover. Holding strong on defense, Rubin Jones finally got Michigan on the board after nearly five minutes without scoring, and it (again momentarily) was a two-point game.

The teams traded layups, oscillating between a two-to-four-point TAMU advantage until the under-eight media timeout. Aggies reserve Pharrel Payne hit two free throws to extend the lead to six points. But Rubin Jones quickly hit a 3 on the other end to erase half that deficit. Roddy Gayle Jr. finally got on the board on the ensuing possession with a dunk, cutting the deficit to just one. After Texas A&M hit a jumper on the other end, Gayle stayed hot, hitting a 3 to tie the game at 31-all. However, Anderson Garcia (who hit all of TAMU's deep shots to this point) returned the favor two possessions later to put the Aggies back up by three. Goldin hit a floater to cut the deficit back to one at the under-four timeout.

Coming out of the under-four, Goldin hit two free throws to put Michigan up by one and then had a block on the other end. But moments later, he got his second foul with just under 90 seconds remaining in the first half -- though the Wolverines had a foul to give.

But with under a minute remaining, the Aggies hit a 3 and a jumper, while Michigan went scoreless, to go up by four. It was another two-minute scoring drought and the Wolverines went to the locker room, down 39-34.

First half thoughts

Michigan needed better shooting than it was getting, hitting 36% of its shots from the floor. Texas A&M had been lauded for its rebounding prowess coming into the game, and the Wolverines did a good job of negating that with a one-rebound advantage and with both teams tied with nine offensive rebounds. The disparity certainly came via turnovers, and though Michigan wasn't nearly as careless as it can be, it did have five turnovers, which the Aggies converted into six points. Additionally, TAMU had a big advantage with 22 bench points to Michigan's eight. The Wolverines' inability to hit layups (they were 4-for-10 to A&M's 2-for-5) cost them.

The only Wolverines to not score in the first half were Nimari Burnett and Will Tschetter. Vlad Goldin led the team with 12 points. He was the only Michigan player in double digits.

Second half

The second half opened with a fortuitous beginning for the maize and blue with Texas A&M turning the ball over for the second time all game and Danny Wolf hitting a J to pull within two. But Anderson Garcia hit a jumper, Michigan turned the ball over, and then Wade Taylor made a shot to push the Aggies back up six. Taylor stayed hot, scoring another layup, while Tre Donaldson committed the Wolverines' seventh turnover. Cason stopped the bleeding on a TAMU 6-0 run with a floater in the key, cutting the Aggie lead back to just six. However, Jace Carter hit a 3, and the A&M lead ballooned to a game-high nine points.

Danny Wolf got a putback on a Gayle attempted layup to cut the A&M lead to seven at the under-16 timeout, 48-41 Texas A&M. But coming out of the timeout, C.J. Wilcher hit a 3, and now the Wolverines were down 10.

From there, the teams traded, and the game oscillated between an A&M eight-point and 10-point lead. Gayle, however, cut it to seven, hitting a 3 on the other end with 13:47 remaining. It was short-lived, though, with Payne being fouled on a made shot, giving him the and-one. Wolf returned the favor, and it was back to seven. Michigan had made four of its last four shots, but it would need to stiffen up defensively to get back into the game.

A block by Goldin led to LJ Cason being sent to the foul line on the other end. He drained both shots, and the Wolverines were back within five. But Cason committed a foul on defense, and A&M hit one of two to make it a six-point game. Cason made a layup on the ensuing possession to cut it to four, and Wolf worked defensively, with his second block of the game, leading to a shot clock violation to get the Wolverines the ball back after the under-12 media timeout.

Coming out of the timeout, Cason turned the ball over, but Rubin Jones got a steal on the other end and Cason was fouled, though he missed the front end of the one-and-one. Payne had a big alley-oop to put A&M back up by six. But the Wolverines had a big opportunity with a then-scoreless Will Tschetter being fouled attempting a 3. He missed the front end but made the last two, and the maize and blue were down by four with 10:36 remaining.

Gayle was fouled on a rebound defensively, and Michigan was in the bonus, and he made the most of it to cut the deficit to two. A Jones foul allowed A&M to get to the line and push the lead back to six, however, with 9:14 remaining.

Remaining hot from the floor, Gayle hit a 3 to cut it back to three. After a defensive stand, he made a layup, and it was suddenly a one-point game for the first time since the first half. However, Taylor hit a 3 of his own, and the A&M lead was back to four at the under-eight timeout.

Gayle stayed hot coming out of the timeout, hitting yet another 3 to cut the game to one. He was fouled on the other end and hit both free throws to get Michigan's first lead since there were just over two minutes remaining in the first half. His 22 points at the point were a career-high. Payne had an offensive foul, giving the ball right back to the Wolverines, and Goldin capitalized, with a layup to put Michigan back up by three. With just over five minutes remaining, Goldin got his fourth foul, and A&M went to the line and missed two free throws, giving Michigan an opportunity to further extend the lead. Goldin hit a floater to put the maize and blue up five. It was a 14-3 run for the Wolverines while the Aggies were on a three-minute scoring drought.

After draining two free throws to cut Michigan's lead to three, A&M put Vlad Goldin on the line and he extended it back to five. After holding the Aggies on the other end, Donaldson missed the 3 attempt, but Goldin got a layup before A&M attempted another missed 3. Donaldson got a layup on the other end and the Wolverines had a game-high nine-point lead with 3:37 remaining in the game.

Now both teams were in the double bonus and the game was starting to slow down. Texas A&M was on a five-minute field goal drought, having made just one of the last seven shots whereas Michigan went four-for-five in the same stretch.

There was 2:21 left and Michigan put the Aggies back on the line. Washington hit both, and it was a seven-point advantage, Wolverines. Gayle missed a layup on the other end while Zhuric Phelps cut the Michigan lead to five with 2:07 remaining. Now the maize and blue had missed their last four shots from the flour and needed to find some quick offense to keep the game in their favor. Goldin missed a layup and Jones had what looked like a putback, but it went to review for goaltending. The officials upheld it as a goaltend, so the Wolverines remained up five. Donaldson fouled on the other end putting A&M on the line, and it was suddenly a three-point game with 89 seconds left. The Aggies answered the 9-0 run by the Wolverines with a 6-0 run of their own.

Donaldson made up for his foul by hitting a left-handed underhand shot to put Michigan back up by five with 59 seconds remaining. A&M star, Taylor, very narrowly missed a 3 as it rattled in and out and Wilcher put Gayle on the line, where he hit both shots to put Michigan up by seven with 46 seconds left.

With 30 seconds left, Jones was sent to the line where he hit two free throws to put the Wolverines back up by nine. Coming the other way, Roddy Gayle got a steal and put Michigan up 11 with 24 seconds left. Michigan hung on to beat Texas A&M, 91-79.

What's next?

With the win, Michigan basketball will get much of the week off before heading to Atlanta to face the winner of Auburn and Creighton in the Sweet 16.

This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Big second half propels Michigan past Texas A&M in NCAA Tournament

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Michigan basketball shocks Texas A&M with big second half to advance to Sweet 16

First Half

First half thoughts

Second half

What's next?

Topics

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