Michigan Basketball: 3 keys to Wolverines beating Texas A&M

Michigan basketball will play Texas A&M Thursday night in the Sweet 16, here are three keys to a Wolverines victory.

The Michigan basketball team is back in the Sweet 16 for the second straight season. It’s also the fourth appearance in the last six years for the Wolverines, which puts them in some elite company in college hoops.

Yet, none of that will matter by tip-off time Thursday night in Los Angeles. Michigan basketball, the third-seeded team in the West region, will battle Texas A&M, the seventh-seeded team in the region for a berth in the Elite 8. Both teams are on fire and both have the potential to go a long way.

For starters, the Aggies aren’t your average seven seed. At one point this season, they were ranked in the top five and that was for a reason. Texas A&M has a lot of talent, a lot of height and some serious upside, as you saw against North Carolina.

Robert Williams is an absolute freak inside. The 6-10 sophomore than many see as an NBA first-round pick, averages 10.3 points. 9.3 rebounds and 2.5 blocks. Tyler Davis is the leading scorer (14.6 ppg), followed by Admon Gilder (12.4 ppg) and DJ Hogg (11.2 ppg). TJ Starks, a freshman also averages 10.2 a game.

The Aggies got some good wins early in the year over West Virginia, Penn State, USC and Oklahoma State. They also beat Arkansas, Missouri and Alabama in the SEC. There is nothing flukey about this team or this run.

Michigan is favored by just a few points and that’s because everyone is expecting a battle between two teams hungry to reach the next level. Here are three things UM has to do in order to survive and advance, again.