Michigan Basketball: How the Wolverines reached the Final Four

LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 24: The Michigan Wolverines celebrates with the regional championship trophy after defeating the Florida State Seminoles in the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament West Regional Final at Staples Center on March 24, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. The Michigan Wolverines defeated the Florida State Seminoles 58-54. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

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LOS ANGELES, CA – MARCH 24: Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman /

How Michigan performed in the NCAA Tournament (game by game)

Montana

They may have been a 14 seed, but the Big Sky champs were by no means ever going to be an easy win. The two-week layoff seemed to have had an impact early on in the game. Clearly, the team sensed it, and upped the team’s defense, limiting the Grizzlies scoring for a 61-47 win.

Houston

The Cougars were in this game the entire time, thanks to senior Rob Gray Jr. But a pair of missed free throws by Houston, combined with an unbelievable shot by Jordan Poole allowed the Wolverines to survive with a 64-63 win.

Texas A&M

The Aggies from a talent standpoint might be better than Michigan. But they have been inconsistent since the start of SEC play and can make mistakes. The Wolverines capitalized on the early mistakes to roar out to an early double-digit lead. Once the three-pointers started falling, Texas A&M had no fight left. The 99-72 final still doesn’t say enough how one-sided it really was.

Florida State

Next to Michigan, the three best teams in the West Region were Xavier, Gonzaga, and North Carolina. But instead, it was Florida State, whose 12 man rotation filled with size and athleticism bothered teams.

It actually bothered Michigan as well throughout the night. But the Wolverines did the same to the Seminoles and did just enough to win the region with a 58-54 win. We’ll never know if they would’ve beaten the top teams, but that’s not Michigan’s problem now.

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