Michigan advances to NCAA Tournament's round of 32 with 75-63 win over Colorado State

No. 11 seed Michigan Wolverines basketball topped No. 6 seed Colorado State, 75-63, after trailing by as many as 15 points in the first half and allowing 12 made threes. The Maize and Blue will take on the winner of No. 3 seed Tennessee and No. 14 seed Longwood.

The Maize and Blue were without fifth-year senior point guard DeVante’ Jones, who is in concussion protocol and did not travel with the team.

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First Half

Michigan won the tip but failed to score on its first two possessions, with freshman forward Moussa Diabate missing a shot and turning it over. Colorado State forward Dischon Thomas hit a pick-and-pop three at the top of the key to open up the scoring, before U-M sophomore forward Hunter Dickinson answered with a layup to put the Wolverines on the board.

Michigan fifth-year senior guard Eli Brooks drove right, finished, was fouled and made the free throw to tie it at 5-5 with 17:44 left in the first half.

Thomas’ was the first of three triples the Rams hit on Dickinson and four overall. Guard Isaiah Stevens nailed a pair from deep, while Thomas drained another. Colorado State led Michigan at the media timeout at the 14:16 mark, 14-9. All told, the Rams hit four of their first six three-pointers. Michigan, meanwhile, was 4-of-9 from the field and 0-of-3 from long range at that point.

Colorado State was beating Michigan up on the offensive glass, with five offensive rebounds in the first nine minutes. The Rams only had two second-chance points, though, and Michigan tightened up its defense after the first media timeout. Colorado State made just one of its next seven shots between that point and the media timeout at 11:12. Michigan also had a cold stretch, and the score was 16-11. Dickinson and Stevens each had six points to lead their respective teams.

Turnovers plagued Michigan in the early going, with six in the first 10 minutes of action.

Freshman guard Kobe Bufkin missed a layup in transition and Colorado State answered with a fast-break bucket of its own to make it 18-11 at the 9:44 mark. Then Michigan’s turnover woes continued, with two more including one that led to a runout dunk for CSU wing Chandler Jacobs to make it 20-13 with 7:16 to go in the half. Howard called timeout after the slam. The Rams had eight points off turnovers, plus the two after the missed layup, making the Wolverines pay for their mistakes.

Diabate picked up his second foul when battling for an offensive rebound at the 6:47 mark, forcing him to come out of the game.

Colorado State forward David Roddy hit a three from the top of the key, then Thomas nailed one from the right wing after another empty possession from Michigan to give the Rams their largest lead to that point, 28-13 with five minutes to go in the first stanza.

Freshman guard Frankie Collins broke Michigan’s scoring drought of just over five minutes with an and-one layup. After making the free throw, he got an on-ball steal and dunked it on the run out. He singlehandedly cut the deficit to 10 points, 28-18.

Colorado State got hot from beyond the arc once again, hitting two threes — one from Thomas, one from guard Kendle Moore — to extend the lead, before Dickinson responded with an easy finish in the middle of the lane. CSU head coach Niko Medved called timeout with 2:02 left and a 34-24 edge.

Dickinson got to the middle of the floor and finished twice, while Brooks made one of his two free throws at the end of the half to put the Wolverines within seven at the break, 36-29. Thomas, who was 4-of-5 from three-point range, and Dickinson led their respective teams in scoring with 12 points a piece.

Michigan scored 22 of its 29 points in the paint, plus six free throws, while Colorado State scored 24 of its 36 points from three-pointers. With Michigan having the size advantage and the Rams holding the edge in quickness and having more shooters, that’s about what was expected. The difference, though, was Michigan’s nine first-half turnovers and the Rams’ 11 points off of those.

Second Half

Michigan went with zone on its first defensive possession of the half, and Roddy took freshman wing Caleb Houstan in the middle and scored over him. Dickinson answered with a two, Michigan got a stop and Brooks was fouled, making both free throws, to cut the deficit to five, 38-33 with 18:19 to go. After that, Dickinson notched a steal, and Collins finished a layup in transition to mark a 6-0 run in under a minute. Medved called timeout with the score 38-35 at the 18:01 mark.

Moore hit a three, but a rare triple by Collins got it back to a three-point game, 41-38, with 17:06 to go.

Houstan hit a three in transition off a feed from Brooks to pull Michigan within one point, 44-43, with 13:14 left. After not making a triple in the first half, the Wolverines connected on their first two attempts of the second stanza.

Houstan pulled a heat-check three from the same corner and gave the Wolverines their first lead of the game, 50-49 at the 10:30 mark, before getting free for another from the right side that gave Michigan a four-point advantage, 53-49 with 9:47 to go. Medved called timeout after Houstan’s third triple of the afternoon.

Michigan held even while Dickinson and Collins took quick breathers. The Wolverines opened up their biggest lead with a Brooks layup with 7:16 remaining, but Roddy scored over Johns on the other end to make it 57-54, at the media timeout with 6:27 to play.

The Wolverines got Dickinson a left-side post touch right out of the timeout. He turned baseline and had a double team in his face but finished with an and-one and made the free throw to give the Wolverines their largest lead at that point, 60-54.

Then Michigan held a seven-point edge with a layup through traffic by Collins, before CSU guard Jalen Lake nailed a three to bring the Rams back within four, 62-58 at the 5:04 mark. Medved called timeout after his team scored.

Dickinson was fouled by Roddy (his third personal) on the ground and went to the line for a one-and-one with 3:37 left. He gave Michigan a 66-58 lead. The Wolverines got a stop, with Brooks corralling the rebound, and the fifth-year senior was fouled. That marked Stevens’ fifth foul, ending his afternoon. Brooks missed the front end, though.

Colorado State didn’t have enough to pull off a late comeback, making just one of its seven field goal attempts after the four-minute mark, and Michigan connected on its late free throws.

Dickinson led the Wolverines with 21 points, while Brooks had 16, Collins poured in 14 and Houstan had 13.