Michigan's season reaches bitter end in loss to top-seeded Auburn Tigers

ATLANTA – The Michigan Wolverines‘ debut season under head coach Dusty May has ended after a 78-65 loss to the top overall seed Auburn in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament. U-M finished the year 27-10 with a second-place finish in the Big Ten, along with a conference tournament crown and Sweet Sixteen appearance.

The Wolverines went into the half down 30-29, and at one point led 48-39 with 12 minutes to go. Auburn completely took over from there, flexing its muscle as the top-ranked team in the tournament. The Tigers will play No. 2 seed Michigan State at 5:05 p.m. on Sunday with a trip to the Final Four on the line.

Here’s the blow-by-blow scoring recap from Friday night’s game at State Farm Arena.

First half

Auburn won the opening tip to kick things off in Atlanta. Denver Jones started the Tigers’ scoring with a three-pointer at 18:33 for an early 3-0 deficit to start the game. Tre Donaldson scored first for Michigan against his former team, hitting a three at 17:37 to tie the game. Nimari Burnett briefly gave U-M a 5-3 lead on a layup at 17:05 before Auburn star Johni Broome hit a triple to put the Tigers back ahead 6-5 at 16:42. Jones would get to the rim for a layup at 16:25 to give the Tigers an 8-5 lead it would hold at the under-16 media timeout (15:52).

Auburn center Dylan Cardwell split a pair of free throws out of the TV timeout, answered six seconds later by a pair of makes from Michigan’s Rubin Jones form the line, cutting the lead to 9-7. Danny Wolf added a layup at the 15:29 mark to tie the game at 9-all. Broome answered with a paint jumper at 15:09 to take the lead back for Auburn before Wolf hit a basket 24 seconds later to tie the game back up at 11-11. Another Broome basket put Auburn ahead 13-11 at the 13:54 mark, answered by Vladislav Goldin at 12:28 to tie things back up. The game would sit at 13-13 at the under-12 media timeout (11:54).

Donaldson gave Michigan the lead back at 15-13 with a paint shot at 11:09, followed by a 3-0 scoring run from Taahad Pettiford to put the Tigers back ahead 16-15 at the 10:47 mark. Wolf hit a three at the 10-minute park to put U-M up 18-16, followed up 43 seconds later from an Auburn three from Kelly. Wolf gave Michigan the lead back on a layup at the 8:50 mark before a Pettiford score at 8:09 helped the Tigers take the lead at 21-20, which it would hold at the under-8 media timeout.

Michigan took the lead back on a Wolf dunk at 7:04, followed by a pair of Jones free throws at 6:43 to take a 24-21 lead. Jones got the Tigers back to within 1 after a layup at the 5:49 mark, answered 27 seconds later by a triple from Burnett to put the Wolverines ahead 27-23. Chad Baker-Mazara mhit a shot in the paint at 4:03 left to bring the score to 27-25, Michigan, which is where the game would stand at the final media timeout of the first half.

Auburn’s Chaney Johnson hit a jumper at the 3:11 mark to tie the game at 27-all, and replied 17 seconds later with a layup from Roddy Gayle Jr. to go back up 29-27. The Tigers would score the final three points of the half on a free throw and a jumper from Broome, heading into the locker room up 30-29.

HALFTIME: Auburn 30, Michigan 29

Second half

The final 20 minutes saw Wolf get the scoring started for Michigan, hitting a triple at 19:09 to put the Wolverines ahead 32-30. Broome hit a layup to re-tie the game at 18:28 before a 3-0 run from Burnett to put the Wolverines back ahead 35-32 with 17:06 to go. Broome hit a jumper at the 16:30 mark to pull the Tigers within one at 35-34, which is where the game would be at the under-16 media timeout (15:47).

Goldin hit a pair of free throws for Michigan out of the break, pushing their lead back up to 37-34. Broome kept his scoring touch going with a layup to trim the U-M lead to one before a 5-0 Michigan run thanks to a Wolf paint jumper and an and-1 from Gayle stretched the lead to 42-36 in favor of the Wolverines. Broome had an and-1 of his own at the other end at 14:31, cutting the Auburn disadvantage to 42-39. The Wolverines answered with a 6-0 run on a pair of buckets from Wolf and two free throws from Will Tschetter, taking a 9-point lead at 48-39 with 12:26 remaining. Pettiford hit a three at the other end to cut the lead to 48-42, which is where the game would sit at the 11:57 mark and under-12 timeout.

That shot would spark a 20-2 scoring run for the Tigers, who flexed their muscle over the next few minutes as Michigan fouled and turned the ball over. The Tigers swung the game completely from a 9-point deficit to a 9-point lead with 7:27 to go. Goldin helped get Michigan a little closer on a made shot in the paint and a foul shot, narrowing the deficit to 6 points at 59-53 with 6:51 remaining.

Pettiford hit a layup with 6:24 to go to push Auburn’s advantage back to 8 points, followed by a Goldin free throw at 5:59. Pettiford went on a 6-0 run over the next 45 seconds thanks to a three, a jumper and a free throw made to extend the lead to a 13 points at 67-54 with 4:35 to go. Goldin hit a pair of free throws to trim the lead to 11 at 4:22 before a Johnson dunk and Broome free throw. LJ Cason made a pair of free throws at 1:55 to go to bring the Auburn lead down to 70-58. Gayle hit a pair of free throws at 1:21 to trim the lead to 70-60.

The game and season would end with a 78-65 Auburn victory.

FINAL: Auburn 78, Michigan 65

Michigan vs. Auburn final box score