Alabama was a heavy underdog in their regional semifinal matchup against Michigan, and like most of this tournament the chalk held as the Wolverines advanced by a score of 90-77.
Things started out about as well as you could hope. Aiden Sherrell opened up the scoring with a three, and a few minutes later hit another to put the Tide up 11-4 headed into the first media timeout. For whatever reason, Alabama looked like the fresher team in the opening minutes.
As you’d expect, that kind of prosperity didn’t
last for long against a team of this caliber. Michigan promptly went on a 7-0 run to tie things up, setting up a back and forth affair into the second media timeout with Alabama leading 18-17. The story of the game to that point was Alabama’s aggressiveness on defense, having forced 4 turnovers including two steals in the first nine minutes.
These two teams just kept coming at each other. Play didn’t stop for the “under 8” timeout until five minutes were left in the half, and Alabama led 38-33. The pace of play was just as frenetic as Alabama loves it to be, and Michigan’s bigger wings looked lost trying to chase Alabama’s backcourt around the perimeter. Alabama was getting wide open threes basically any time they wanted, and fortunately they were falling. On the other end, Big Ten Player of the Year Yaxel Lendeborg was carrying the Wolverines and Alabama had few answers.
Unfortunately, Alabama hit a cold shooting spell late in the half which allowed Michigan to get some transition opportunities and went a 14-3 run for a brief six point lead, but Labaron Philon took over for a personal 8-0 run to give Alabama a 49-47 lead at the half. Philon didn’t shoot it particularly well from the field but did lead all scorers with 19 points thanks to 6-6 from the free throw line. Latrell Wrightsell added 10 and Aiden Sherrell 8.
On Michigan’s side, freshman Trey McKinney heated up late in the half to match Lendeborg with 12 points. Amazingly, Alabama led in the game despite Michigan hitting 53%. The most surprising stat of the half was Alabama nearly matching Michigan on the boards, 21-20. Alabama won the turnover battle 6-3 and picked up a six-point margin on the free throw line by making all 10 of their opportunities.
Michigan started strong out of the locker room, forcing a timeout from Nate Oats after a 7-2 run to open the half. One notable adjustment from Michigan was a concerted effort to take away the corner three, as Wrightsell was blocked twice by two different players in the first two minutes. Alabama also got sloppy with the basketball early in the half, with four turnovers in the first eight minutes of action.
That was bad news against this Michigan squad. Lendeborg took over and they stayed hot from three. With twelve minutes left, they had opened up a 70-60 lead and looked well on their way to another blowout win. Alabama’s luck on the boards against the much bigger Wolverines had also run out. Michigan came out of the locker room looking to slow the pace and impose their will physically, and they executed the plan masterfully.
Alabama’s path to victory in this game was very narrow: do better than expected on the glass, make Michigan run, and hit a boatload of threes. They did those things reasonably well in the first half, but punching above their weight for a full 40 minutes just proved too much. There is certainly no shame in losing to this bunch, but you would have hoped for a more competitive effort in the second half. Philon did all he could, putting up 35 of Alabama’s 77 points.
Nate Oats will now have to overhaul his roster once again, but that’s part and parcel for big time college basketball these days. You can bet that he will do everything possible to add some additional size to the roster. Had Collins Onyejiaka and Keitenn Bristow managed to stay healthy, perhaps they would have made an impact. Noah Williamson was just a miss, and that turned out to be a significant blow to Alabama’s chances.
Regardless, four consecutive Sweet Sixteen appearances is something to celebrate.
Roll Tide.
