Michigan advances to fifth consecutive Sweet 16 with 76-68 upset win over Tennessee

INDIANAPOLIS — No. 11 seed Michigan Wolverines basketball will head to the Sweet 16 for a sixth consecutive season, beating No. 3 seed Tennessee by a final score of 76-68 Saturday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The Maize and Blue will take on the winner of No. 2 seed Villanova and No. 7 seed Ohio State — who play Sunday — next Thursday in San Antonio.

Michigan fifth-year senior guard DeVante’ Jones started after missing last game while in concussion protocol, but he saw just 12 minutes and did not play in the second half due to what was described as an illness.

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First Half

The game started out with a furious pace.

After the Wolverines won the tip, Michigan fifth-year senior point guard Eli Brooks hit a late-shot-clock three to break the scoring open. The Maize and Blue got a stop, before Brooks got an offensive rebound. Fifth-year senior point guard DeVante’ Jones, who missed last game in concussion protocol, found sophomore center Hunter Dickinson for a three at the top of the key that put them up 6-0.

Michigan’s defense was strong in the early going, with Tennessee missing five of its first six shots from the field.

A layup for freshman forward Moussa Diabate gave the Wolverines an 10-2 edge at the 17:03 mark, but Tennessee made a run and answered Michigan’s early momentum. The Volunteers’ freshman guard Jonas Aidoo got to the rim for layup, and junior guard Josiah-Jordan James followed that up with his second and third made mid-range jumpers to make it 10-8 at the under-16 media timeout with 15:34 to play in the first half.

Dickinson hit a three with the assist to Brooks to give Michigan a 15-10 lead, and Brooks made it 17-12 at the 12:30 mark with a stutter-step and then finish on the right side.

Michigan’s defense was stout on the perimeter, only allowing one Tennessee three-point attempt — a miss — in the first eight minutes. The Volunteers were 5-of-15 overall, while Michigan shot 6-of-12 with three turnovers that led to four points off the giveaways.

Tennessee freshman guard Kennedy Chandler stole it from Brooks and finished a dunk at the other end to give the Volunteers their first lead of the game, 18-17, at the 9:36 mark. That marked a 6-0 sputt for the Volunteers.

Michigan sophomore forward Terrance Williams II got the lead right back, though, after Diabate grabbed an offensive rebound and Williams hit a three in the right corner The Wolverines held a 22-20 lead at the media timeout with 7:55 to play in the half.

Chandler tied it up at 22-22, but Dickinson answered two trips later with an and-one (missed free throw) to put Michigan back ahead, 24-22 with six and a half to go. Collins extended the lead to 26-22 with a nifty layup the next time down, then Brooks found Diabate underneath for an easy bucket to make it 28-22 at the 5:20 mark after a 6-0 run.

Chandler hit Tennessee’s first triple of the game on a second-chance opportunity (and following a Michigan turnover) to cut the Volunteers’ deficit to 30-29, which was the score at the under-four media timeout, after Brooks and Diabate missed bunnies on the other end.

Tennessee took its second lead of the game — 31-30 — behind a Chandler pull-up two with just under three minutes to play. Dickinson answered with an 18-footer of his own to give the edge back to the Maize and Blue. Then Tennessee junior guard Santiago Vescovi drained his first three of the contest to make it 34-32, Vols, with under two minutes remaining.

All told, Tennessee went on a 13-2 run to end the stanza, with junior forward Uros Plavsic finishing an and-one dunk at the 39-second mark.

Michigan turned it over four times in the last five minutes of the half, when it trailed 37-32. The Wolverines allowed 12 points off turnovers on nine giveaways and 13 points in transition (many of those points overlapped). Considering there were also two missed free throws, the Maize and Blue certainly had some self-inflicted wounds.

Chandler was the star of the first half, with nine points and seven assists. Dickinson poured in 12 for Michigan, while Diabate added eight and Brooks five. The Wolverines shot 45 percent from the field to Tennessee’s 41-percent mark.

Second Half

Michigan established Dickinson to start the second half, and he put the Wolverines within three points on their first possession. Plavsic fouled Michigan’s big man a couple trips later, and Dickinson made both his dunk and free throw to make it 39-37, Vols still in the lead. Dickinson scored Michigan’s first nine points of the half.

A transition three from Brooks off a feed from freshman guard Frankie Collins cut the Tennessee edge to 45-44 with 16 minutes to play. One made free throw from Diabate tied the game at 45-45 with 15:03 remaining.

Dickinson’s three put Michigan ahead for the first time in the second half, 50-49 at the 13:51 mark. The two teams traded buckets, with a Brooks pull-up jumper making it 52-51 Michigan.

Tennessee battled back and began building a lead after a 6-2 spurt, with a layup by Chandler making it 57-54 with 10:24 to go. Michigan head coach Juwan Howard called a timeout. Chandler made it six straight Tennessee points with another layup at 9:40.

Michigan’s defense was solid in the first half, but it slipped a bit in the second stanza. Through 11 minutes of action, Tennessee shot 10-of-16 from the field and scored 20 points in the paint. The Volunteers’ guards were getting in the lane, and the bigs had a few nice finishes.

James hit one free throw to open the Tennessee lead back up to six points, 60-54 with eight and a half minutes to go. That marked a 7-0 Volunteer run. The Wolverines hadn’t scored in over three and a half minutes when the under-eight media timeout came at 7:57, and the offensive sets looked a bit disjointed.

A personal 4-0 run from Brooks cut into the Tennessee advantage, making it 60-58. A few possessions later and with five minutes to go, Williams put back a missed three by Collins to tie it up at 60-60. Brooks finished a layup through traffic, drew contact and got fouled for an and-one. His made free throw gave Michigan a 64-62 lead with 3:21 to go.

Williams continued to add a spark for the Maize and Blue, with two made free throws on a one-and-one situation to give Michigan a 68-64 edge with 2:09 to go.

The Wolverines forced a shot-clock violation on their defensive possession and got the ball back. Brooks was trapped in the corner on the inbounds and called a timeout with 1:35 remaining. After the timeout, he still had trouble and stepped on the baseline with two defenders on him, turning it over.

Tennessee scored, but Brooks hit a running hook shot from the right side with 53 seconds to go to make it 70-66. He made two free throws after a defensive stop to make it 72-66. Tennessee forward John Fulkerson had an and-one tip in with 25.7 seconds to go, but he missed the free throw. Diabate was fouled with 23 seconds left and a 72-68 edge.

Another stop led to two made free throws by Dickinson, and the Michigan crowd went wild with their team up 76-68. That was the final score as Dickinson fired the ball straight up in the air as the buzzer sounded.

Michigan was led by 27 points from Dickinson and 23 from Brooks — a combined 33 of those came in the second half. Michigan will play in its fifth consecutive Sweet 16.