Michigan Hangs On to Beat Clemson 62-59

It took Michigan 11 years to make it back to the NCAA tournament, but the wait was worth it.

Michigan defeated Clemson 62-59 to advance to the second round of the big dance, where they will play #2-seeded Oklahoma. The Wolverines held a close lead after one half of play last night before going on a big run to start the second half. Just like that, Michigan’s lead rose to double digits and it looked like they were going to win this game pretty easily. But what fun would that be? Clemson came storming back and had a chance to tie the game at the buzzer, but thankfully that did not happen.

Coming into this game, I thought Michigan could win (I did pick them, after all), but I was concerned with Clemson’s full-court press. Michigan handled the press well the few times they faced it during the regular season, but it was going to be different playing a team that pressed for all 40 minutes. At the start of the game, that was evident. Although Michigan didn’t turn the ball over because of the full-court press until the later stages of the second half, it was definitely slowing down the flow of the offense. Not only was the press making it tough for Michigan to get the ball up the court, but it also gave them less time to get their offense set.

As the first half slowly progressed, Michigan slowly started to have less and less trouble with the press. The offense was running fairly smoothly, and Manny Harris was playing great. Even better, Clemson was struggling with its shot and was really only scoring on dunks and uncontested layups. Even the latter was no walk in the park, as a Clemson player actually missed a wide open layup. Due to Clemson’s offensive struggles, Michigan took a 27-24 lead into halftime.

The start of the second half was more of the same for Clemson, but Michigan played much better. Shots were falling, turnovers were being created, and in general Michigan was playing like the better team. Clemson was clearly frustrated, and Terrence Oglesby, a usually good three-point shooter who was struggling, lost his cool and intentionally elbowed Stu Douglass in the face. Douglass was grabbing at Oglesby’s jersey, and coming off of a screen Oglesby hit him right in the face. An intentional foul was called, and referees ejected him after taking a look at a replay of what happened.

With everything going Michigan’s way, the lead rose all the way up to 16 points before Clemson finally regained its composure and started to make a comeback. The game’s flow was killed by a pair of injuries (a Clemson player was inadvertently whacked in the face and Manny Harris had a head-to-head collision with a Clemson player), though, allowing the Tigers to slow things down and get back in the game. Clemson got within 8 points with around eight minutes left in the game, but Michigan went on another run and increased the lead up to 15 points over the next three or so minutes.

At this point in the game, Michigan could have put the nail in Clemson’s coffin. Stu Douglass ran down the court and shot a transition three-pointer that was no good. Had the shot fallen, Michigan would have been up by 18. Instead, Clemson went on a huge run and made this very interesting. The Tigers knocked down back-to-back-to-back threes, cutting the lead all the way down to only 6 points.

Michigan’s scoring drought continued (it ended up being five or so minutes long), and Clemson suddenly only trailed by a single point. This is when Manny Harris stepped up and finally got Michigan a basket. He drove to the hoop, was fouled, and made the basket to put Michigan ahead by 3 points. Harris tacked on the free throw to make it a 4-point game with less than 40 seconds left to play. Clemson went down the court and quickly made a layup, making this a one-possession game. Zack Novak was then fouled with 13 seconds left on the clock.

Novak missed the first free throw, increasing the anxiety for all Michigan fans. He did make the second, though, forcing Clemson to shoot a three-pointer if it wanted to send the game to overtime. The Tigers took the ball down the floor and got a three-pointer off from the corner, but David Merritt played outstanding defense and had a hand right in the shooter’s face. The three was an air ball, and Stu Douglass came away with it under the hoop as the buzzer sounded. Despite not scoring for a five minute span in the last part of the second half, Michigan walked away with a 62-59 victory. It certainly wasn’t pretty down the stretch, but all that matters is that Michigan’s schedule has at least one more game on it.

Oklahoma rolled over Morgan State by a score of 82-54 to move on to the second round. The Sooners will play Michigan tomorrow at 5:50 p.m. ET in Kansas City. Prior to yesterday, I predicted that OU would beat Michigan in the second round of the tournament, and I still feel that way right now. Even so, I would not be surprised if Michigan pulled off an upset. My feeling going into tomorrow’s game is very similar to the one I had prior to the Connecticut game. I figured Michigan would get dominated by UConn’s center, Hasheem Thabeet, and would lose in blowout fashion. While Thabeet did put up good stats, Michigan managed to contain him enough to the point where they led for a good part of the game and had UConn on the ropes. I’m not necessarily saying that will happen when Michigan matches up against Blake Griffin and the Sooners tomorrow, but I think the Wolverines can give Oklahoma some matchup problems and make it a close game.

Regardless of what happens on Saturday, you have to give it up for this team. The fact that I am talking about Michigan’s second-round game in the NCAA tournament is still shocking and sort of hasn’t even sunk in yet. Prior to the season, I figured this team would end up in the NIT at best. That is what the next step in the rebuilding plan called for following a season with more losses than any other in school history. Rather than wait until year three of the Beilein era to make the big dance, though, this team shocked everyone and got an NCAA tournament bid this season. On top of that, they won their opener and are now one win away from the Sweet 16. It’s tough to describe how amazing this turnaround is.

Anyways, tip off for tomorrow’s game against the Sooners is set for 5:50 p.m. ET. The game can be viewed on CBS and on March Madness on Demand. Also, don’t forget that the hockey team plays Alaska in the CCHA semifinals tonight at 8:05 p.m. on the Big Ten Network. If Michigan wins, they will advance to the CCHA finals on Saturday night. Saturday is certainly shaping up to be quite the day of Michigan sports.