Michigan rolls over Florida St.
INDIANAPOLIS — What was touted as the marquee matchup in the Sweet 16 turned into a dud.
For everyone but Michigan, that is.
Seven-foot-1 freshman Hunter Dickinson scored 14 points with eight rebounds and the top-seeded Wolverines took the inside route to the
Elite Eight, pounding away in the paint Sunday for a 76-58 takedown of surprisingly helpless Florida State.
Franz Wagner had 13 points and 10 rebounds for Michigan. The Wolverines scored their first 30 points of the second half from close range to turn this game into a blowout and lead coach Juwan Howard and Co. to a victory in the only “chalk” meeting between a 1 and 4 seed of the second weekend.
Michigan (23-4) moved to a regional final for the first time since 2018 under John Beilein, whose departure a year later led to Howard’s hiring.
Michigan decimated Florida
State’s inside defense. The evening’s most telling stat came on points in the paint: Michigan 50, Florida State 28.
“We basically knew how they were going to play us all game with fronting the post and switching everything,” Wagner said. “We knew what to expect and did that in practice. And I think we did a really good job of not allowing them to speed us up.”
The Wolverines created havoc on the other end, too.
They forced Florida State so off the mark that the Seminoles didn’t score their 20th point until M.J. Walker (10 points) hit a jumper with 27 seconds left in the first half.
UCLA 88, ALABAMA 78
Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 17 points, hitting two big jumpers early in overtime, and No. 11 seed UCLA held on after Alabama’s Alex Reese drained a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of regulation to beat the second-seeded Crimson Tide in a Sweet 16 showdown Sunday night.
With star guard Johnny Juzang fouled out, Jaquez and David Singleton took control in overtime. Jaquez curled in a jumper to make it 74-68, then drilled a 3-pointer to make it 77-70 moments later. Singleton’s free throws made it 79-70 with under a minute to go, and all UCLA (21-9) had to do was put the game away from the foul line.
After beating Michigan State in overtime just to escape the First Four, the unheralded Bruins are headed to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2008. They’ll face top-seeded Michigan on Tuesday night for a spot in the Final Four.
UCLA thought it had the game won in regulation when Cody Riley’s layup made it 63-62 with 14 seconds left, and Herbert Jones missed both of his attempts with six seconds left.
Singleton was fouled and made two free throws for UCLA, pushing the lead to 65-62 with four seconds to go. But that still gave the Crimson Tide enough time to find Reese, whose tying 3-pointer splashed just before the buzzer.