Wolverines to Battle No. 15 Seed Montana in NCAA Opener

» Michigan was given the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament's West Regional and will face No. 15 seed Montana in the first round for a second straight season.
» The Wolverines defeated Montana, 61-47, in the Maize and Blue's opening game of the 2018 NCAA Tournament in Wichita, Kansas.
» U-M's selection is its fourth straight and marks the ninth time in John Beilein's 12 seasons in Ann Arbor.
» Michigan has advanced to at least the Sweet 16 in its last two NCAA Tournaments, reaching the title game last season.

NEXT GAME
Thursday, March 21 -- vs. #15 seed Montana, 8:15 p.m. CDT (TNT)
Saturday, March 23 -- vs. #7 seed Nevada/#10 seed Florida -- if advance

The eighth-ranked University of Michigan men's basketball team (28-6, 15-5) head to Des Moines, Iowa, for the 2019 NCAA Tournament first round, squaring off Big Sky champion Montana (26-8, 16-4) for the second straight year. In a TNT broadcast, tipoff is scheduled for 8:15 p.m. CDT with Kevin Harlan (play-by-play), Reggie Miller & Dan Bonner (analysts) and Dana Jacobson (sideline) on the call.

Michigan at the NCAA Tournament

• Michigan was selected to its 28th (24th*) NCAA Tournament.
• Michigan has a 59-27 (51-23*) all-time record in the NCAA Tournament.
• Michigan has made seven (five*) national championship appearances -- 1965, 1976, 1989, 1992*, 1993*, 2013 and 2018.
• Michigan is 1-6 (1-4*) all-time in the national title game.
• Michigan is 7-1 (5-1*) all-time in national semifinal games and owns the best winning percentage, .875, of any school to play in at least five games.
• Michigan 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 has eight (six*) Final Four appearances
• Michigan has national title game appearances under four different head coaches -- Dave Strack (1965 vs. UCLA); Johnny Orr (1976 vs. Indiana); Steve Fisher (1989 vs. Seton Hall; 1992 vs. Duke and 1993 vs. North Carolina) and John Beilein (2013, vs. Louisville and 2018 vs. Villanova).
• Michigan has 14 (13*) Elite Eight appearances.
• Michigan has 15 (14*) Sweet 16 appearances.
• Michigan has earned a No. 1 seeding on two occasions -- 1985 and 1993*
• Michigan has earned a No. 2 seed on two occasions -- 1986 and 2014, prior to this season.

A Little About Montana

• The regular-season and tournament champions from the Big Sky, Montana enters the NCAA Tournament with a 26-8 overall record, 16-4 in the Big Sky, and defeated Eastern Washington, 68-62, in the Big Sky Tournament championship game.
• The Grizzlies have two First Team All-Big Sky honorees in fifth-year guard Ahmaad Rorie and junior guard Sayeed Pridgett. Rorie is averaging 15.1 points and 4.0 assists per game. Pridgett adds 15.0 points per contest and ranks 19th in the country in field goal percentage, shooting 61.0 percent.
• Senior guard Michael Oguine was named to the All-Big Sky Third Team after averaging 13.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest. Montana's redshirt junior guard Kendal Manuel was named the Big Sky's Top Reserve as he adds 8.9 points per contest from off the bench.
• Montana's leading scorer and rebounder, fifth-year senior forward Jamar Akoh, has played just 15 games this season due to injury. Akoh is averaging 15.5 points and 8.7 rebounds per game.
• The Grizzlies rank eighth in the nation in field goal percentage, shooting 49.7 percent as a team. Rorie ranks 36th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.58.
• A former player at Montana, Travis DeCuire is in his fifth season as head coach of the Grizzlies. DeCuire returned to his alma mater following six seasons as an assistant at Cal.

A Little About Nevada

• The co-champions of the Mountain West Conference, Nevada enters the NCAA Tournament with a 29-4 overall record and a 15-3 mark in league play. The Wolf Pack fell in the Mountain West Conference Tournament semifinals, 65-56, to San Diego State.
• Senior forward Jordan Caroline and senior guard Caleb Martin were both named to the Mountain West First Team by both the league coaches and media. Martin leads Nevada in scoring at 19.2 points per game, while Caroline averages 17.3 points and a team-high 9.6 rebounds per contest. Caroline has 18 double-doubles this season, which ranks 13th nationally.
• Senior guard Cody Martin was named to the All-Mountain West Second Team by the media and third team by coaches. Martin is Nevada third-leading scorer at 11.7 points per contest.
• Caroline, Caleb Martin and Cody Martin were all named to the Mountain West All-Defense Team, selected by the conference coaches.
• Nevada ranks 25th in the country in scoring offense, averaging 80.7 points per game, and 21st in turnover margin at +3.4.
• Eric Musselman is in his fourth season as head coach at Nevada. Musselman joined the Wolf Pack following one season as an assistant at LSU. Musselman has had numerous stops in professional basketball, including as head coach of the Golden State Warriors (2002-04) and Sacramento Kings (2006-07).

A Little About Florida

• The Gators enter the NCAA Tournament with a 19-15 overall record, including a 9-9 mark in Southeastern Conference play, finishing eighth in the league. Florida fell to Auburn, 65-62, in the SEC Tournament semifinals.
• Senior guard KeVaughn Allen is the lone Gator averaging in double figures at 12.0 points per contest. Allen is also an 89.2 percent free throw shooter, 10th-best in the nation.
• The Gators have six players averaging between eight and 10 points per game: Noah Locke (9.6), Jalen Hudson (9.0), Kevarrius Hayes (8.1), Keyontae Johnson (8.1) and Andrew Nembhard (8.1).
• Freshman guard Andrew Nembhard was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team. Nembhard is averaging 8.1 points per game and has started all 34 games for the Gators. Nembhard is 30th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.62) and 45th in assists per game (5.3).
• Florida is ranked 21st in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 63.6 points per game.
• Mike White is in his fourth season as head coach, White came to Florida following four seasons as head coach at Louisiana Tech.

These are Just Cool Stuff

• Zavier Simpson has not missed a game in three seasons -- a streak of 113 straight.
• Jon Teske has not missed a game in two seasons -- a streak of 75 straight.
• With 10-plus assists in five of his last eight games, Simpson has vaulted himself up U-M's all-time leaders becoming the 10th Wolverine to surpass 400 career assists. He currently ranks ninth all-time with 411 career assists.
• Simpson's seven games of 10-plus assists this season ties the program record of seven held by Darius Morris in 2010-11. Simpson's 224 total assists this season is 36 away from reaching Trey Burke's program record of 260 (2012-13).
• Simpson is third in the nation for assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.6 (224A to 63 TOs).
• Charles Matthews (903) needs 97 more points to become the 55th Wolverine to score 1,000 career points.
• Jordan Poole (110) is the 27th Wolverine to make 100-plus three-pointers in a career.
• Jon Teske leads U-M with eight double-doubles, while Zavier Simpson is second with five.
• Ignas Brazdeikis leads U-M with 15.1 points per game. The last Wolverine freshman to lead the team in scoring was Trey Burke, who scored 14.8 points per game in the 2012-13 season.
• Brazdeikis has scored in double figures over his last nine games and leads U-M with 29 double-figure games -- including 10 20-plus point outings.

What Happened in the Big Ten Tournament

• After wins over Iowa (74-53) and Minnesota (76-49), Michigan advance to its third straight Big Ten Tournament championship game and set the tournament record for most consecutive wins (10). Unfortunately, U-M's streak was snapped with a loss to Michigan State (65-60).
• Zavier Simpson and Ignas Brazdeikis were named Big Ten All-Tournament team for their efforts in Chicago. Simpson averaged a double-double with 10.3 points and 10.0 assists per game. Brazdeikis shot 50 percent from the floor -- scoring 15.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and seven three-pointers in the three games.
• In his three Big Ten Tournament games, Zavier Simpson had 30 assists (10.0 apg) and just two turnovers. Simpson had two double-digit assist contests in the tournament averaging 10.3 points.
• Isaiah Livers averaged 14.0 points per game in his three games off the bench. He shot 60 percent (17-for-25) from the floor and 63.6 percent (7-for-11) from beyond the arc.