The Michigan Wolverines thrashed the Virginia Commonwealth Rams, 78-53, on Saturday afternoon in a third-round NCAA Tournament matchup between the No. 4 and No. 5-seeded teams in the South Region, played at the Palace of Auburn Hills. The impressive victory advanced the Wolverines into the postseason tourney's "Sweet 16."
Trey Burke showed no ill effects from the big fall he took in Michigan's second-round triumph over South Dakota State on Thursday. The sophomore point guard and Big Ten Player of the Year accounted for 18 points and 7 assists, and used his ball-handling skills to help break the full-court pressure the Rams employed in the contest.
U-M went into the halftime break up 15 points, 38-23. VCU began strong in the second stanza, but freshman Maize and Blue forward Mitch McGary soon after asserted his dominance on the glass and finished with 14 rebounds. Four of Michigan's five starters scored in double figures. In addition to Burke, junior guard Tim Hardaway Jr. and freshman forward Glenn Robinson III each had 14 points, while McGary led all scorers with 21 points, a career high.
Michigan, 28-7 overall this season, will next take on the winner of the Kansas/North Carolina meeting, slated for 5:15 p.m. ET on Sunday. Sweet 16 contests will be played March 28-29, and while tipoff times are still to be determined, Michigan's game will be on Friday, in Arlington, Texas.
Read more about the win over VCU on U-M's official athletic website, MGoBlue.com, which has an NCAA Tournament 2013 Central page that is filled with information about the team and individual players, news updates, and more.
Track the Michigan men's basketball team through "March Madness®" on Facebook and Twitter, as well as on the Men's Basketball Division I pages of the NCAA website.
Comments