Michigan Basketball: 3 Keys to avoiding a first-round upset

Crazy things happen in the NCAA Tournament. That’s why it’s called March Madness and Michigan basketball should have paid close attention so it doesn’t succumb to the same fate as Ohio State.

The Buckeyes were a No. 2 seed but were probably just slotted a few spots ahead of the Wolverines in the overall seeding. But after a loss to 15th-seeded Oral Roberts, the Buckeyes are heading home.

It’s something that some Michigan basketball fans might enjoy, however, if the Wolverines have a similar issue with Texas Southern, it won’t be a laughing matter.

And before you say that can’t happen, just ask Virginia, which lost as a one to a No. 16 seed just a few years ago.

Ohio State isn’t the only team that didn’t come out shining. Purdue was knocked out by North Texas (13 need) and it just goes to show that survive and advance isn’t just a slogan.

Here are three things Michigan needs to do on Saturday to avoid the fate of the Buckeyes and Boilermakers.

Be mentally ready

This isn’t to say that Ohio State wasn’t ready to play against Oral Roberts, but 16 turnovers doomed Ohio State, as did Oral Roberts knocking down 11 3-pointers.

The 3-point shot can be the great equalizer in the Big Dance and Ohio State was outscored by 18 points from beyond the arc. The Buckeyes also lost the turnover battle 16-6.

Oral Roberts played great, but if Ohio State wins the turnover battle, the 3-point difference probably doesn’t hurt them as much as OSU still finds a way.

Texas Southern has already played and won a game in this tournament. Michigan basketball is adjusting without Isaiah Livers, one of its 2-3 best players and that could still be a work in progress.

The Wolverines can’t afford turnovers and mistakes that allow their opponent to hang around. As Ohio State learned, the kind of thing can cost you.

Execute on the boards

Texas Southern is a team that’s pretty good at crashing the offensive boards. That might be harder to do against Michigan basketball, which is one of the better defensive rebounding teams in the country, but hey, not a lot of people probably thought Oral Roberts would out-shoot Ohio State.

The Tigers led their conference in offensive rebounding and ranked 39th in offensive boards nationally, as well as fifth in rebounding overall.

Again, doing that against a team with Hunter Dickinson and even Brandon Johns (starting for Livers) and Franz Wagner will be tough, but rebounding is about effort, so the Wolverines have to be ready.

Foul trouble

Another thing that could hurt the Wolverines, especially against Texas Southern is foul trouble. Five fouls can happen quickly and if you take away someone like Hunter Dickinson, it could totally change the game.

Michigan basketball is fortunate to have Austin Davis, Terrance Williams and Chaundee Brown off the bench, but the 7-foot-2 Dickinson is a big advantage for the Wolverines and he needs to be on the floor as much as possible in the NCAA Tournament.

And outside of avoiding an awful shooting day, which Ohio State had from deep, the biggest way to avoid an upset is to keep Dickinson out of foul trouble and letting him dominate down low.