Michigan basketball was treated unfairly by the NCAA tournament selection committee. The Wolverines deserved a better seed after winning the Big Ten championship.
Making matters worse, Michigan basketball drew the best 12 seed in the NCAA tournament, UC San Diego. The Tritons should have been seeded much higher, but it is what it is.
Dusty May has the exact right attitude. Michigan has to focus on what it can control. He did say his team might have an extra "edge" which would be perfect. Don't rest on your laurels.
Still, UC San Diego is a trendy upset pick. Seth Davis said on the air on CBS during the selection show that the Tritons would beat Michgan and reach the Sweet 16.
The Tritons have an exceptional player in Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones who is scoring 19.5 points per game. They shoot lights out from deep and force a bunch of turnovers.
It's a tough matchup but here are three things Michigan can do to avoid an upset.
Limit turnovers
The Tritons are one of the best teams in college basketball when it comes to turnover margin. They force 16.8 per game which is among the top 10. They also turn the ball over just 8.7 times per game.
Obviously, playing in the Big Ten is different than the Big West. But Michigan had the 23rd-most turnovers in college basketball, so that's worrisome.
Michigan kept the turnovers under 10 against Purdue and Wisconsin. They had 16 against Maryland and it nearly led to blowing a 15-point lead.
If Michigan can keep that number below 10, it should win the game.
Bother Tait-Jones
Tait-Jones is a tough matchup. He's a capable 3-pointer who is a great finisher around the basket, and also a playmaker, averaging 3.7 assists per game.
The Tritons are loaded with 3-point shooters. If Michigan helps off or focuses to much on Tait-Jones then it could be a long day.
It will be interesting to see if Nimari Burnett or Rubin Jones takes Tait-Jones. My guess is that they will switch all screens to force him to make contested shots over longer defenders. That might be better than the Tritons knocking down double-digit 3s.
Tre Donaldson needs to show up
Donaldson will likely get a heavy dose of Hayden Gray in this matchup. Gray has an 88.4 defensive rating per 100 possessions, which leads the conference. He also notched 3.7 steals per game which led the Big West Conference.
If Tre Donaldson plays the way he did at the Big Ten tournament, Michigan basketball should be just fine. It would be nice to avoid going cold from deep but if Donaldson is attacking and making shots, the offense reaches another gear.
That's what happened in two of the three games at the Big Ten tournament. Everyone knows you need your guards to play well to advance and for Michigan, that starts with Donaldson.