[Westside]

WICHITA, Kan. -- The No. 3-seeded University of Michigan basketball team spotted No. 14 seed Montana 10 points to start the game before they controlled play and eased its way to a 61-47 victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night at Intrust Bank Arena.

Montana started the game on a 10-0 run and sophomore guard Zavier Simpson was saddled with two early fouls. Despite the lead, Montana also found itself in foul trouble as its biggest player, 6-foot-8 forward Jamar Akoh, and its leading scorer, Michael Oguine, were also hit with two fouls apiece before the first 10 minutes had elapsed.

With Simpson on the bench, fifth-year guard Jaaron Simmons was the spark as he connected on all three of his first-half attempts as the Wolverines clawed back to within three, 17-14, with 7:12 to play in the opening session.

Michigan kept up the pressure, as the Wolverines came out of the media timeout and junior guard Charles Matthews brought the Wolverines back to even for the first time at 17, with a runner at the 6:39 mark. Senior Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman gave U-M its first lead with a 3-pointer at the 3:51 mark to make it 22-19; Matthews followed with a layup and slam dunk to give U-M its largest lead of the half, 26-21, en route to a 31-28 halftime advantage.

Michigan kept it going to start the second half, highlighted by a step-back floater from Abudur-Rahkman, a driving layup from Simpson and a backdoor feed from Simpson to Duncan Robinson to build a 44-30 lead with 9:51 to play. Michigan's defense, which has been outstanding throughout the year, stepped up the intensity and held the Grizzlies in check to the tune of 1-of-14 shooting to start the half.

Montana cut the deficit to 47-38 with 5:36 to play, but Robinson answered immediately with a triple from the top of the arc. The Grizzlies again got within nine on two other occasions, the last coming with 2:09 to play at 53-44, but U-M answered each time. Michigan connected on 11-of-14 free throws in the second half (14-of-22 total) to help seal the win.

Matthews led the Wolverines with 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting and registered his fourth double-double that included him tying a career-high with 11 rebounds. Abudur-Rahkman added 11 points.

Montana was led by Oguine and Ahmaad Rorie, who each scored 15 points. Montana was limited to 32.1 percent shooting (18-of-56) on the night.

Michigan advances to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and will play Saturday (9:40 p.m. CT) where it will play a No. 6-seeded Houston team that outlasted 11th-seeded San Diego State, 67-65, on Thursday.

http://mgoblue.com/news/2018/3/16/mens-b...ntana.aspx

[E's Army]

Michigan overcame bad start.

[pjdoug]

Wolverines!