Trey Burke scored 26 points and dished out eight assists (MGoBlue.com)

After coming off a brutal four-game stretch that included three road losses to top-25 teams, the Michigan Wolverines returned home last week Sunday looking flat and uninspired against the lowly Penn State Nittany Lions. For nearly the entire game, the winless Lions traded punches with the mighty Wolverines, getting into the lane seemingly at will, making timely three-pointers, and forcing Michigan to play much harder than they had apparently planned after trailing throughout the first half. The Maize and Blue never led by more than nine points in a way-too-close 79-71 squeaker that afternoon.

Fast forward one week, a week that Michigan got to rest up during and focus on defense, which has been their Achilles’ heel so far. Illinois entered today’s game as the winners of five straight, including huge victories over Indiana at home and at Minnesota. First-year head coach John Groce’s team was coming together after struggling through the early part of their Big Ten schedule, opening conference play losing seven of their first nine games.

Certainly if Michigan played like they had last week, the Fighting Illini wouldn’t let a golden opportunity slip away as Penn State did, and for the first half again, the tide seemed to be crashing that way. The Wolverines plodded through 20 minutes missing box outs, losing out on loose balls, and overall playing very sloppy basketball, and they paid the consequences. Allowing a team like Illinois to rebound nearly half of their misses and turning the ball over six times led to a 31-28 deficit for the home squad at Crisler Center; granted, the lead was aided by a buzzer-beating three-pointer off the glass from Brandon Paul and a couple circus threes to start the game that gave Illinois an eight-point lead early, but Michigan was again playing below par.

Was this what Michigan had become? After running scathe-free through the non-conference schedule and grabbing the nation’s top ranking briefly in January, were the Wolverines finally showing their true colors? Or were those three losses simply a case of running into great teams playing well on their home floors?

All these questions loomed before Michigan inbounded to start the second half. By the time the final buzzer had rung, Michigan had answered.

Four minutes into the second half, John Beilein’s team raced out to a five-point lead and never looked back, sending Illinois a message that not just any team can travel to Ann Arbor and board the bus home with smiles on their faces.

Trey Burke wasn’t going to let former Ohio coach John Groce beat him again after the heartbreaker in the Tournament last year, scoring 19 points and dishing out four assists for good measure in the second half.

Brady Hoke liked what he saw while hosting a big recruiting weekend (MGoBlue.com)

Glenn Robinson III wasn’t going to let the doubters continue to run their mouths after his play was widely questioned in Michigan’s rough stretch a couple weeks back, throwing down two huge dunks to open the half on his way to scoring 10 points overall.

Perhaps most of all, Caris LeVert wasn’t going to let Groce forget about him after signing him at Ohio and bolting to Illinois in the offseason, draining two monster threes and two more free throws after the break.

Offense has never really been a problem for this team, and they showed that again today. The difference was on the other end of the court, where Michigan constantly hounded Illinois ball-handlers, deflecting all sorts of balls and forcing bad passes and worse shots throughout the second half.

Illinois struggled to respond to the pressure and to the noise in the building, turning the ball over 13 times while only making 41.2 percent of their shots. Groce’s looks of encouragement early on slowly shifted to helplessness as Michigan proved to be lethally efficient from the field, making 51 percent of their own attempts from the field.

It seemed that the week off paid huge dividends for all of Michigan’s players, as they were noticeably quicker and more alert on defense, often double-teaming Tracy Abrams, Joseph Bertrand, and D.J. Richardson out to the half court line and recovering very well from there.

With such an arduous run of games now in the rearview mirror, the Wolverines did exactly what they had to today, holding serve convincingly at home against one of the hotter teams in the country. With Burke continuing to run the show so effectively, finishing the afternoon with 26 points, eight assists, and only one turnover, Michigan is elite. A healthy Jordan Morgan will continue to help the team improve after flexing his muscle to shore up the rebounding department in the second half, and a timely Tim Hardaway, Jr. should be the vocal and intense leader that can also fill up the stat sheet for the Maize and Blue down the stretch.

Performances like this one suggest that Michigan will be a tough team to bring down in March, and while every team will certainly have weaker areas, the defensive showing today must be extremely encouraging. Any questions?

#7 Michigan vs Illinois
Sunday, Feb. 24 | 1pm ET | ESPN
22-4 (9-4)	Record	20-8 (7-7)
Slippery Rock 100-62 IUPUI 91-54 Cleveland State 77-47 Pittsburgh 67-62 Kansas State 71-57 NC State 79-72 Bradley 74-66 W. Michigan 73-41 Arkansas 80-67 Binghamton 67-39 West Virginia 81-66 E. Michigan 93-54 C. Michigan 88-73 Northwestern 94-66 Iowa 95-67 Nebraska 62-47 #9 Minnesota 83-75 Purdue 68-53 Illinois 74-60 Northwestern 68-46 #10 Ohio State 76-74 OT Penn State 79-71	Wins	Colgate 75-55 St. Francis NY 89-64 Hawaii 78-77 OT USC 94-64 Chaminade 84-61 Butler 78-61 Gardner-Webb 63-62 Georgia Tech 75-62 W. Carolina 72-64 #10 Gonzaga 85-74 Norfolk State 64-54 E. Kentucky 66-53 Auburn 81-79 #8 Ohio State 74-55 Nebraska 71-51 #1 Indiana 74-72 #18 Minnesota 57-53 Purdue 79-59 Northwestern 62-41 Penn State 64-59
#15 Ohio State 56-53 #3 Indiana 73-81 Wisconsin 62-65 OT #8 Michigan State 52-75	Losses	#12 Missouri 73-82 Purdue 61-68 #8 Minnesota 67-84 Wisconsin 51-74 Northwestern 54-68 #2 Michigan 60-74 #13 Michigan State 75-80 Wisconsin 68-74
76.2	Points Per Game	71.2
61.4	Scoring Defense	65.1
739-for-1,498 (49.3%)	Field Goal %	699-for-1,634 (42.8%)
609-for-1,459 (41.7%)	Def. Field Goal %	634-for-1,508 (42.0%)
210-for-524 (40.1%)	3-point %	222-for-671 (33.1%)
170-for-529 (32.1%)	Def. 3-point %	183-for-532 (34.4%)
292-for-413 (70.7%)	Free Throw %	374-for-522 (71.6%)
11.2	FT Made/Game	13.4
35.8	Rebounds Per Game	34.2
30.6	Opp. Reb. Per Game	34.8
14.8	Assists Per Game	10.8
9.5	Turnovers Per Game	11.6
5.6	Steals Per Game	7.2
2.7	Blocks Per Game	4.0
G – Trey Burke (18.6) G – Tim Hardaway Jr. (15.2)	Leading Scorer	G – Brandon Paul (16.4) G – DJ Richardson (12.9)
F – Mitch McGary (5.9) F – Glenn Robinson III (5.6)	Leading Rebounder	G – Joseph Bertrand (4.5) F – Nnanna Egwu (4.5)

At this point in the season for the past three or four years, Michigan has faced must-win games down the stretch in order to secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament. This year, there’s no question the Wolverines will get in; the question is whether the Wolverines will win the Big Ten and finish well enough to earn a No. 1 seed. On Sunday, a team comes to town in the very position Michigan is happy not to be in this season.

Illinois has enough quality wins to earn a bid to the big dance, but the Illini can’t afford to slip up down the stretch. The rough spell in January that saw Illinois lose six of seven – and eight of eleven from Dec. 22 to Feb. 3 – nearly wiped out the Illini’s chances. But that all changed when a beautifully executed inbounds play at the buzzer shocked No. 1 Indiana. It sparked a string of five straight wins and the Illini now find themselves as the hottest team in the Big Ten.

John Groce’s squad comes to Ann Arbor looking to avenge a 74-60 loss to the Wolverines in Champagne on Jan. 27. That win propelled Michigan to the No.1 national ranking, but it also came at a cost, as Michigan lost Jordan Morgan to an ankle injury. He hasn’t been 100 percent since then and Michigan has gone just 3-3 since then.

Illinois surrendered 15 turnovers in the first meeting and Michigan dominated the paint with 42 points, even without Morgan for much of the game. You can bet Groce will aim to prevent that again, especially given the struggles that Michigan’s freshmen Nik Stauskas and Glenn Robinson III have faced over the past few weeks. The two had good games against the Illini last time out, scoring 14 points and 12 points, respectively, but have not fared well during Michigan’s rough patch, and Groce will want to force them to beat his Illini.

Star guard Brandon Paul has had his own share of troubles as of late, scoring 10, three, and eight points against Minnesota, Purdue, and Northwestern. He shot just 6-of-22 in those three games, but the Illini won all three. That’s a good sign for Groce because it means others are stepping up – most notably D.J. Richardson. The senior guard has averaged 17.3 points per game over the last nine and 18 points during the five-game winning streak while shooting 46 percent.

As a team, Illinois shoots just under 43 percent from the field and 33.1 percent from three. The good thing for Michigan is that the Illini have the conference’s second worst scoring defense, ahead of only Penn State, the third-worst field goal percentage defense, and the second worst three-point percentage defense, so Michigan should be able to score often. Illinois is also not a great rebounding team, so the Wolverines won’t be overmatched on the boards like they were against Michigan State.

Michigan is still struggling to regain the top form that carried it through the first half of the season, while Illinois is soaring with momentum. The home crowd will benefit Michigan, but as the Wolverines saw with Penn State last Sunday, they can’t sleep on anyone. Expect a dog-fight to the end and a great guard battle between the combos of Trey Burke-Tim Hardaway Jr. and Paul-Richardson. Michigan’s ability to score inside should determine the outcome. Prediction: Michigan 77 – Illinois 73

Nik Stauskas torched Illinois for 16 points (Joe Robbins, Getty Images)

Staring down the number one national ranking for the second Sunday in three weeks, Michigan needed a Big Ten road win over Illinois. And the Wolverines did just that with a 74-60 win in Champaign on Sunday evening.

Illinois started the game exactly the way head coach John Groce wanted them to – with a statement dunk. But it was the only statement the Illini would make the rest of the night. Michigan took its first lead out of the under-16 timeout on a Trey Burke jumper that ignited a 9-0 run over the next four-plus minutes. Illinois kept it close for the remainder of the first half, but Burke hit a step-back jumper with four seconds left to give Michigan a 35-27 halftime lead.

In the second, Illinois made a point to go right at Michigan to get the big men in foul trouble. They were able to pull within four at 41-37, but that was as close as they would get. The Michigan lead grew to as many as 18 at 70-52 with just over four minutes to play and the Wolverines cruised to the 14-point victory.

Despite losing Jordan Morgan to a sprained ankle early on, the Wolverines got solid inside production by committee from Mitch McGary, Jon Horford, and Max Bielfeldt. The trio combined for 17 points and 14 rebounds.

Like usual, Burke led all scorers with 19 points. He also added five rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Nik Stauskas scored 16 on 7-of-11 shooting, while Tim Hardaway Jr. added 12. Glenn Robinson III also finished in double figures with 10 points, and led the Wolverines with seven boards.

As a team, Michigan shot 52.5 percent from the field while holding Illinois to 37.1. The Illini chucked up 26 three-pointers and hit just six of them.

With Duke’s blowout loss to Miami earlier this week, Michigan is likely to move up to No. 1 in the national rankings. Following the game, John Beilein was asked what it would mean and he responded that a year from now, no one will remember who was No. 1 at the end of January. But rest assured Michigan fans would, as most of the players on the team weren’t even alive the last time Michigan held the top spot, in the 1992-93 season.

The Wolverines return home to host Northwestern on Wednesday night and visit Indiana on Saturday for what should determine the Big Ten frontrunner.

#2 Michigan at Illinois
Sunday, Jan. 27 | 6pm ET | Big Ten Network
18-1 (5-1)	Record	15-5 (2-4)
Slippery Rock 100-62 IUPUI 91-54 Cleveland State 77-47 Pittsburgh 67-62 Kansas State 71-57 NC State 79-72 Bradley 74-66 W. Michigan 73-41 Arkansas 80-67 Binghamton 67-39 West Virginia 81-66 E. Michigan 93-54 C. Michigan 88-73 Northwestern 94-66 Iowa 95-67 Nebraska 62-47 #9 Minnesota 83-75 Purdue 68-53	Wins	Colgate 75-55 St. Francis NY 89-64 Hawaii 78-77 OT USC 94-64 Chaminade 84-61 Butler 78-61 Gardner-Webb 63-62 Georgia Tech 75-62 W. Carolina 72-64 #10 Gonzaga 85-74 Norfolk State 64-54 E. Kentucky 66-53 Auburn 81-79 #8 Ohio State 74-55 Nebraska 71-51
#15 Ohio State 56-53	Losses	#12 Missouri 72-83 Purdue 61-68 #8 Minnesota 67-84 Wisconsin 51-74 Northwestern 54-68
78.7	Points Per Game	72.8
59.2	Scoring Defense	65.6
553-for-1,087 (50.9%)	Field Goal %	507-for-1,175 (43.1%)
431-for-1,062 (40.6%)	Def. Field Goal %	459-for-1,107 (41.5%)
161-for-392 (41.1%)	3-point %	165-for-491 (33.6%)
123-for-388 (31.7%)	Def. 3-point %	135-for-393 (34.4%)
229-for-321 (71.3%)	Free Throw %	276-for-387 (66.9%)
12.1	FT Made/Game	13.8
37.1	Rebounds Per Game	35.3
28.8	Opp. Reb. Per Game	34.8
15.7	Assists Per Game	10.9
9.7	Turnovers Per Game	12.3
5.5	Steals Per Game	7.9
2.9	Blocks Per Game	4.8
G – Trey Burke (17.8) G – Tim Hardaway Jr. (16.2)	Leading Scorer	G – Brandon Paul (18.0) G – D.J. Richardson (11.8)
F – Glenn Robinson (5.9) F – Mitch McGary (5.6)	Leading Rebounder	G – Brandon Paul (4.8) G – Joseph Bertrand (4.7)

Two Sundays ago, the Michigan Wolverines found themselves on the road facing a hostile crowd in the Big Ten. A win in that game against Ohio State would have secured the top national ranking in that Monday’s polls after the number one team in the country, Duke, fell to North Carolina State the day prior.

Tonight, Michigan finds itself in an almost identical position as the Maize and Blue travel to Champaign to take on the Fighting Illini (6pm on BTN) with number one on the line after Duke was trounced by Miami on Wednesday.

Illinois got off to a hot start this season with new head coach John Groce leading the ship, and Groce certainly had the Wolverines’ number last year after coaching his then-squad, the Ohio Bobcats, to a first-round upset in the NCAA Tournament. Here are a few quick keys to the game for Michigan as they battle with plenty on the line:

1. Defense, Defense, Defense: In Thursday’s win over Purdue, Michigan again struggled on the defensive end of the court, allowing the poor-shooting Boilermakers to take a one-point lead into halftime after leaving countless players wide open from downtown. Illinois’s offensive profile is very similar to Purdue’s in that the guards will account for the vast majority of the shooting and scoring and they are not afraid to let it fly from deep. Senior Brandon Paul is the star for the Illini, scoring 18 points per game on slightly more than 13 shot attempts, half of which are from downtown, where he makes just 34.1 percent of his looks. Backcourt mate and fellow senior D.J. Richardson has surprisingly shot more threes this year than Paul with a ridiculous 141 attempts (to Paul’s 132), which comes out to more than seven bombs per game. Unfortunately for Groce, Richardson is really struggling from deep, making fewer than one in every three heaves, and his 37.4 percent connection on all shots is downright cringe-worthy. The third amigo in the backcourt is sophomore Tracy Abrams, who scores 11.4 points per game and leads the team with 3.2 dimes a night while shooting a horrendous 28.3 percent from deep and turning the ball over nearly three times a game as well.This Illinois team is certainly not going to scare anyone off with their 43.1 percent and 33.6 percent marks from the field and three, respectively, and they settle for far too many triples for their own good, but when they do get hot, they become very dangerous very fast. In wins versus Butler, at Gonzaga, and over Ohio State at home, Illinois shot 48 percent or better from the field all three times and 40 percent or better from long range twice on at least 25 attempts. In their five losses, however, Illinois only shot better than 36 percent from the field once (38.8% against Northwestern) and shot worse than 15 percent from downtown three times. It’s obviously very difficult to defend a team that doesn’t miss, but Illinois is not that team. Michigan needs to focus on closing out hard and getting a hand in the face of every shooter.


Brandon Paul averaged 18 points in two games against Michigan last season (Michael Hickey, Getty Images)

1. Box Out: When a team starts the season winning 18 of their first 19 games, there is never much to harp on, and rebounding the basketball has certainly not been an issue so far for this Wolverine squad. The Illinois team will present a slightly different challenge in that category, however, as nearly half (48.8%) of their misses on the season are threes, which can clang off the rim and end up anywhere. John Beilein will certainly stress boxing out in this game so that all of Illinois’s rebounding options are covered, and man defense should be played almost exclusively. One thing the Orange and Blue do very well is rebound as a team. None of their players particularly stand out in cleaning up the glass, but they rarely get beat on the boards and seven different players average between 3.5 and five rebounds per game, not unlike the Wolverines and their rebound-by-committee outlook.

1. Quiet the Crowd Early: Michigan only has one loss so far this season. That loss was on the road, in the Big Ten, and played with a raucous home crowd yelling as loud as possible in hopes of upsetting one of the best teams in the country. As you may recall, the Wolverines struggled to get out of the gates in that game, ceding a 20-plus point deficit early on and letting the crowd play too big a role. By the time Michigan finally caught Ohio State in the second half, they had spent too much energy to complete the comeback. Tonight, the Orange Krush will be giving everything they have to help propel their team to a huge upset, but if Michigan can get out to a hot start, which they have failed to do in recent games, the crowd should largely be taken out of the equation. If Michigan enters the break down, like they did against Purdue, their chances of being best in the country come Monday will be in severe danger.

Prediction: While this is certainly a young Michigan basketball team, they have already gained a bevy of invaluable experience and should rely upon their memory of that Ohio State game to help them get out on the right foot and run away from the home team in the second half, as opposed to catching up to them. The Wolverines simply have too much talent for Ilinois to handle, and Beilein is certainly not going to let Groce hand him a tough loss two seasons in a row. Trey Burke shows Brandon Paul who is boss in the Big Ten as Michigan rolls, 73-62.

(4) Michigan v. (13) Ohio
	NCAA Tournament
Friday, March 16 – 7:20pm EST – TNT – Nashville, Tenn.
24-9 (13-5)	Record	27-7 (11-5)
Ferris State 59-33 Towson 64-47 W. Illinois 59-55 #8 Memphis 73-61 UCLA 79-63 Iowa State 79-66 Oakland 90-80 Ark. Pine-Bluff 63-50 Alabama A&M 87-57 Bradley 77-66 Penn State 71-53 Minnesota 61-56 #16 Wisconsin 59-41 Northwestern 66-64 OT #9 Michigan St. 60-59 Purdue 66-64 #20 Indiana 68-56 Nebraska 62-46 Illinois 70-61 #6 Ohio State 56-51 Northwestern 67-55 OT Illinois 72-61 Penn State 71-65 Minnesota 73-69 OT	Wins	Tenn.-Martin 74-65 Lamar 85-78 OT Ark. State 69-54 Marshall 70-68 Morgan State 61-53 Oakland 84-82 Portland 72-54 Marietta 88-54 Wright State 82-54 N. Iowa 76-59 N. C. A&T 82-66 Kennesaw 71-63 Buffalo 60-52 Kent State 87-65 Miami Ohio 69-65 W. Michigan 56-51 Ball State 59-55 N. Illinois 67-58 C. Michigan 68-42 Bowling Green 72-59 UNCA 81-62 Buffalo 88-77 Akron 85-61 Miami Ohio 63-54 Toledo 65-57 Buffalo 77-74 Akron 64-63
#6 Duke 75-82 Virginia 58-70 #11 Indiana 71-73 Iowa 59-75 Arkansas 64-66 #3 Ohio State 49-64 #10 Michigan St. 54-64 Purdue 75-61 #7 Ohio State 55-77	Losses	#7 Louisville 54-59 Rob. Morris 67-70 Bowling Green 57-67 Akron 63-68 Toledo 73-77 E. Michigan 55-68 Kent State 61-68
66.5	Points Per Game	70.7
61.4	Scoring Defense	62.4
786-for-1,723 (45.6%)	Field Goal %	839-for-1,954 (42.9%)
734-for-1,725 (42.6%)	Def. Field Goal %	707-for-1,717 (41.2%)
269-for-765 (35.2%)	3-point %	251-for-743 (33.8%)
197-for-572 (34.4%)	Def. 3-point %	182-for-614 (29.6%)
354-for-492 (72.0%)	Free Throw %	476-for-699 (68.1%)
10.7	Free Throws Made/Game	14.0
30.8	Rebounds Per Game	34.8
31.8	Opp. Rebounds Per Game	34.6
12.7	Assists Per Game	13.2
10.9	Turnovers Per Game	13.2
5.0	Steals Per Game	9.4
2.2	Blocks Per Game	2.9
G – Trey Burke (14.8) G – Tim Hardaway (14.6)	Leading Scorer	G – D.J. Cooper (14.6) G – Walter Offutt (11.7)
F – Jordan Morgan (5.5) F – Evan Smotrycz (4.8)	Leading Rebounder	F – Reggie Keely (5.1) F – Ivo Baltic (5.1)

The last time out, Michigan laid an egg against Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals, falling 77-55. This time, the Wolverines face the other Ohio, Ohio University. Much has been made of Michigan referring to the Buckeyes as simply “Ohio” and the fact that tonight Michigan faces the actual Ohio, but the fact remains that despite the Bobcats being the ‘other’ Ohio, this won’t be a cakewalk.

Head coach John Groce happens to hail from my alma mater, Taylor University, a tiny school in the middle of nowhere Indiana and knows a thing or two about coaching. His mentor, Paul Patterson, is the winningest coach in the state of Indiana and preaches a disciplined, defense-oriented, motion-based approach. For a school with just 2,000 students, he has quite the coaching tree. In fact, Michigan assistant Jeff Meyer is also a Taylor alum. Groce has turned the Bobcats into a perennial NCAA Tournament contender and is on the verge of landing a major conference head coaching job.

The Bobcats have the best defense in the MAC, force a lot of turnovers, and loves to push in transition. Defensively, they love to hedge the high ball screen, which is a staple of the Michigan offense. Akron was able to exploit it fairly well and the good news for Michigan is the guys doing the hedging aren’t quite at the level of those from Purdue or Ohio State that caused Michigan fits late in the season.

Ohio is led by junior point guard D.J. Cooper who averages 14.6 points. He’s the guy who creates everything for the Bobcats, will shoot from anywhere at any time, and loves to penetrate. He’ll be a tough matchup for Michigan’s guards.

The good thing is Ohio isn’t a great shooting team, especially from outside. Their overall field goal percentage ranks 201st nationally and three-point percentage ranks 197th. The sharp-shooter is sophomore guard Nick Kellogg, the son of former Buckeye star Clark Kellogg. He shoots 41.8 percent, having connected on 77-of-184. To put that in perspective, Michigan’s leading three-point shooter in terms of makes is Trey Burke who has hit 55. Tim Hardaway Jr has attempted 181 but hit just 51. If there’s one guy to guard tight, it’s Kellogg. He has only made 21 non-three-pointers all season so he’s not a threat inside the arc.

The second leading scorer behind Cooper is 6’3″ guard Walter Offutt, an Ohio State transfer who averages 11.7 points per game. He’s more of a slasher than Kellogg and has the ability to fill it up. He has a season high of 23 points against Buffalo last month. In the MAC championship game against Akron, however, he scored just two after getting in early foul trouble.

On the inside, Ohio relies on 6’8″ junior forwards Ivo Baltic and Reggie Keely. Baltic is similar to Evan Smotrycz in that he’s flexible enough to shoot the midrange jumper, drive, or post up.  He averages nine points per game, but has scored more than eight points just four times in the last 15 games. Keely is active and physical, averaging 9.2 points and 5.1 rebounds a game.

Overall, Ohio is a small team like Michigan that relies on forcing turnovers, scoring in transition, and creating bad shots. Opponents shoot just 29.6 percent from downtown against the Bobcats, although Akron hit 9-of-12 in the MAC championship.

Michigan doesn’t turn the ball over a lot – fourth in the Big Ten in turnovers per game – and should be able to control the temp of the game. Ohio sometimes gets overaggressive on the hedge, so look for Michigan to have a plan in place to exploit that. In the MAC title game, Akron was able to do a good job of beating the hedge and kicking it out to open shooters.

When it comes down to it, if Michigan takes care of the ball, it will win. If it gets into a running match and if Burke struggles like he did against Ohio State, it will be ripe for an upset. I think the former will happen and Michigan will win by eight or ten.

Michigan has won its opening round game in each of its last three trips to the NCAA Tournament. In 1998, Michigan beat Davidson 80-61 before falling to UCLA; in 2009, Michigan beat Clemson 62-59 before falling to Oklahoma; and last season, Michigan beat Tennessee 75-45 before falling to Duke. In fact, Michigan has won at least one game in 19 of its 22 trips all-time to the Big Dance. This year should be no different.