Michigan and Houston will play Saturday for a spot in the Sweet 16.
WICHITA, Kan. — For the Michigan and Houston basketball programs, Thursday was the first time either had seen the other team play, excluding glimpses on TV earlier in the year. It would be easy for the teams — or their fans — to have a skewed portrait of Saturday’s NCAA Tournament second round opponent.
Michigan might be under the impression that Houston is a one-man show, at least offensively. Rob Gray scored 39 of his team’s 67 points in a win over San Diego State. The Cougars might think Michigan runs a sloppy, sluggish offense and fouls too much on the other end. The Wolverines had 14 turnovers against 12 assists in a 61-47 grinder over 14 seed Montana.
Neither perception is true.
“I was excited when I got back to the hotel last night,” Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson said Friday, owing to what he’d seen in person at Intrust Bank Arena. “Then I messed up and watched one of (Michigan’s) games in the Big Ten tournament, and I went from being excited to, ‘Oh, no.'”
Moritz Wagner was limited to five points on 1-of-5 shooting Thursday, but the Cougars are aware of his capabilities. Sampson and his players admitted they haven’t faced a player quite like him.
“You don’t know if he’s going to stop and set a screen or if he’s going to slip out of it,” Sampson said. “And when they do, there’s five people behind the three-point line when he does that. And then when they swing it, here comes the drive. And if you’re late with your help, the ball is in the opposite corner, and you’ve got (Isaiah) Livers or (Jordan) Poole or Duncan Robinson, one of those guys, shooting 3s. I mean they’re really, really well put together.”
Michigan’s spacing and offensive rhythm were absent for long stretches against Montana. The Wolverines were under a point per possession — well under, in fact — for the first time since their last loss, on Feb. 6 against Northwestern.
Houston had a similar performance against San Diego State. The Cougars advanced because of strong defense and Gray’s career night. Gray is a dynamic scorer, but his teammates’ struggles were an aberration.
“This is not about just Rob Gray,” John Beilein said Friday. “He’s really good. The other guys didn’t have great games yesterday. But look at their stats…. They’ve got a lot of weapons.”
Michigan, as a team, has made more 3s than Houston, but the Cougars have some prolific outside threats. Corey Davis, Jr. has made 102 3-pointers this season. Armoni Brooks has made 82. Michigan’s leader in that category, Duncan Robinson, has made 70.
“Honestly, all year, that might have been our worst team effort,” Davis said of Thursday’s performance. “We’ve got so many people that can contribute…. We’ve got to come out next game and show what we’re capable of.”
Davis, a 6-foot-1 junior, said he and his teammates recognized early that Gray had “that look in his eye and had no trouble deferring to him. Plus, Davis said, the Cougars missed plenty of open looks.
Michigan did, too, and had some trouble simply getting out of its own way. The long lay-off between games didn’t help, but U-M won’t have that excuse on Saturday.
“We survived,” Beilein said. “We survived the game but I don’t think it gives any credence to ‘now we’re going to play better.’ You might play better, you might not. As you get down now to 32 teams, you’ve got to play well or you’re not going to keep playing.”
