Michigan
23-12
Tulsa (#11)
20-12
Balanced Attack, Robinson Double-Double Lead U-M Past Tulsa
3/17/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 16, 2016
» Zak Irvin hit a three-pointer with 53 seconds left to put the Wolverines up by two, and Michigan finished the game from the free throw line.
» Duncan Robinson recorded his first double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
» Michigan now faces Notre Dame on Friday (March 18) at 9:40 p.m.
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• Tournament Central | NCAA Bracket
Site: Dayton, Ohio (University of Dayton Arena)
Score: Michigan 67, Tulsa 62
Records: U-M (23-12), Tulsa (20-12)
Attendance: 12,582
Next U-M Event: Friday, March 18 -- vs. Notre Dame - NCAA Tournament First Round (Brooklyn, N.Y.), 9:40 p.m. [ TV: CBS ]
DAYTON, Ohio -- The University of Michigan men's basketball team shook off a poor shooting start to take down the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, 67-62, on Wednesday night (March 16) at the University of Dayton Arena. With the win, the Wolverines advance to the first round of the NCAA Tournament, traveling to Brooklyn, New York, to take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at 9:40 p.m. Friday (March 18). Coverage can be found on CBS.
After taking an eight-point lead into the half, Michigan found itself in a tightly contested battled for much of the second half. Tulsa had a one-point edge with less than four minutes to play, but sophomore guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman hit a huge fall-away jumper to beat the shot clock and give the Wolverines the lead. Two minutes later, freshman forward Moritz Wagner pulled in an offensive board and dunked to put Michigan up three, 59-56.
The Golden Hurricane responded with back-to-back jumpers to re-take the lead, but junior guard Zak Irvin drained a clutch three-pointer to put the Maize and Blue up 62-60 with 53 seconds to play. After a defensive stop, the Wolverines sealed their victory from the stripe.
Junior/sophomore guard Duncan Robinson finished with his first career double-double, scoring 13 points and adding 11 rebounds. Abdur-Rahkman and Irvin co-led the team with 16 points each. Senior guard Derrick Walton Jr. added 12 points.
Michigan started the game by taking a 9-8 lead, with Wagner racking up three early blocks on the defensive end. The Wolverines fell into a shooting slump, however, and a six-minute scoring drought allowed Tulsa to go on an 8-0 run to make it 16-9 at the 9:59 mark.
Thirty seconds later, Irvin checked back into the game after being subbed out and drained a three-pointer to end the drought and give Michigan a spark. With 4:34 remaining in the half, Irvin connected on a mid-range jumper to tie the score at 16-16. A series of defensive stops and scores put the Wolverines back in front. Robinson blocked a shot and took the ball coast to coast for a layup, and then Walton picked his man's pocket and scored in transition to make it 20-16. In all, the Maize and Blue scored 11-straight points and held the Golden Hurricane scoreless over 5:39.
Walton added a pair of three-pointers as time expired in the half, and Michigan went to the break up by eight, 28-20, allowing just four points in the last 10 minutes of the half.
The halftime advantage did not last long. After Abdur-Rahkman scored a layup, Tulsa used a 10-2 run to tie the score at 34-34 with 17 minutes remaining in the game. Abdur-Rahkman continued to pace the Wolverines as the teams began to go back and forth. The scrappy guard scored eight of 10 points for Michigan to help the Wolverines maintain a one-point advantage, 44-43.
Later, junior forward Mark Donnal grabbed a huge offensive rebound and finished a put-back layup to give the Maize and Blue a four-point lead, 53-49, with 6:24 to play.
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67 | 62 |
Michigan at the NCAA Tournament
• Michigan has been selected 26 (22*) times to the NCAA Tournament, but this is U-M's first appearance in the First Four of the tournament.
• Michigan has a 52-23 (44-19*) all-time record in the NCAA Tournament.
• U-M won the program's first and only NCAA championship in 1989, following a dramatic 80-79 overtime win against Seton Hall when Rumeal Robinson made two free throws to secure the title. During the "Shock the World" run, Glen Rice set the NCAA Tournament record for most points in a single tournament with 184 (30.6 ppg).
• Michigan's last appearance in the NCAA Tournament was 2014 when it went all the way to the Elite Eight before being knocked off by a buzzer-beater three-pointer from Kentucky in the regional final.
• In his nine years at Michigan, this is Coach John Beilein's sixth NCAA Tournament appearance with the Wolverines. He has won at least one game in each of the tournament appearances except for the 2012 run that ended in the first round against Ohio, 65-60.
Postgame Notes
• Tonight's 67-62 win over Tulsa marks the first-ever meeting between the two teams in program history. The game featured nine ties and 16 lead changes.
• U-M head coach John Beilein has 189 wins at Michigan, ranking him third all-time. He needs two (2) more to move into second on the Wolverines' all-time coaching list. He trails U-M legendary coaches Johnny Orr (209) and Bill Frieder (191).
• Michigan, with six triples today, continues to set the new single-season program (332) record for three-pointers in a season. U-M topped the previous mark -- 2013-14 -- of 319 (37 games) with Kameron Chatman's dagger in upset win over 10th-ranked Indiana (March 11)
• With 16 points, Muhammad-Ali Abdur Rahkman scored in double digits for the 13th time this season and for the fifth consecutive game.
• Duncan Robinson had his first Michigan double-double and sixth double-double of his collegiate career, grabbing 11 rebounds (a season high) and 13 points.
• Duncan Robinson, with 92 three-point field goals, is just the fifth Wolverine to hit 90, and only one other Wolverine has hit the 100 mark, as Louis Bullock hit 101 in the 1996-97 season.
• Moritz Wagner, who also scored four points, recorded a career high in blocks (4) and in rebounds (8) and tied a season high in steals (1).
• Zak Irvin, with 16 points tonight (1,106 career points), needs just nine points to sit in 40th place for most points ever scored as a Wolverine.
Communications Contact: Tom Wywrot
