Dusty May talks Michigan’s upset scare vs. Howard as NCAA Tournament game vs. Saint Louis looms

No. 1 seed Michigan earned a 101-80 victory over No. 16 seed Howard in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, but it wasn’t always easy. The Bison had the recipe for an upset in the first half, but the Wolverines weathered the storm and coach Dusty May said it was a good learning experience.

Howard’s hot shooting in the first half, which included 10 3-pointers, helped the underdog hold on. Michigan held a slim 50-46 lead at halftime, and May admitted the possibility of an upset was starting to enter his mind.

“I actually thought, ‘This is how it usually happens,'” May said.

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The Wolverines were able to pull away, outscoring the Bison 51-34 in the second half, and that helped Howard calm down from long range. The Bison knocked down just 4 of 13 3-point attempts in the final 20 minutes.

As nerve-racking as that first half was for Michigan, it may be a good thing in the long run. The Wolverines absorbed an upset punch and survived to tell the tale, but they will have another tricky test in the Round of 32 against a St. Louis team that is coming off a 102-point loss to Georgia.

Anatomy of March Madness turned upside down

When an underdog turns out the lights, the top seed can lose the lead, which becomes a dangerous combination. Just look at what happened to No. 5 seed Wisconsin in its 83-82 loss to No. 12 seed High Point.

The Badgers led by eight points with less than five minutes to play when the Panthers caught fire. High Point star and freshly minted folk hero Chase Johnston went on an incredible 21-12 run as Wisconsin committed two costly turnovers and failed to get key stops on defense.

While it was a good example of what not to do in a potentially upset situation, Michigan got the playbook for surviving an upset earlier in the day when No. 1 seed Duke rallied from behind to beat No. 16 seed Siena..

The Blue Devils trailed the Saints by 13 points, but they kept their composure and came back strong for a 71-65 victory. May said he was impressed with how Duke stuck to its game plan and played as a team.

“I thought Duke handled that anger [bid] with great maturity,” May said. “When things weren’t going well for them, and that’s what we learned from today, they didn’t play one-on-one and try to play the hero. They made energetic plays, and those were the ones that turned the tide. Offensive rebounds. Second and third shots. Maybe a stop that turns into a transition basket.”

The Wolverines did something similar by simply relying on one of their biggest advantages: size in the paint. Morez Johnson Jr., 6-foot-9, finished with a team-leading 21 points. Aday Mara, 7-foot-3, wasn’t far behind with 19 points. Michigan punished Howard very low.

“We did a good job despite their pressure,” May said. “We managed to come into play, especially in the second half, and take advantage of what the match gave us.”

Michigan on alert again?

Perhaps Michigan could take the lessons from Howard’s win and apply them in the second round against Saint. Louis. That’s because the Billikens just lit the KeyBank Center on fire with a 102-77 win over Georgia on Thursday night.

While Howard did much of his damage from beyond the arc, Saint Louis did things a little differently. The Billikens only made nine 3-pointers throughout the game while crushing the Bulldogs inside. Saint Louis scored 54 of its first 67 points – and 66 points overall – in the paint. Led by Robbie Avila, the Billikens have good size. Avila, Brady Dunlap and Paul Otieno are all 6-foot-7 or taller.

This is not to say that St. Louis is incapable of warming up at long range. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. The Billikens are the second-best 3-point shooting team in the country, making 40.1 percent of their attempts and draining an average of 10.9 3-pointers per game.

This means that Saint Louis will be able to beat Michigan in more ways than Howard was. It will still be very difficult for the Billikens to compete with the Wolverines’ imposing trio of Johnson, Mara and Lendeborg, but this could be another relatively close game at halftime.

To reach the Sweet 16, Michigan may have to rely on the same composure it showed against Howard to take down an upset opponent.