Alabama was going punch-for-punch with Michigan in the first half. Coming out of the locker room is where Michigan played like the favorite that everyone touted them to be. Alabama never recovered from Michigan's aggressive intensity. Here are three takeaways from Michigan's second-half onslaught of the Crimson Tide.
Michigan's shooters basically matched Alabama's three-point output
Leading into Friday night, all the talk was about Alabama's 3-point shooting and for good reason. They made 32 in two 20-plus point wins. On Friday, they hit 14, but Michigan matched their effort with 13 of their own. Labaron Philon made half of them for the Crimson Tide, while Yaxel Lendeborg, Elliot Cadeau, Roddy Gayle Jr., and Trey McKinney shared the sugar, as Steve Lavin would say, for the Wolverines. Michigan shot 50% from two and almost the same from deep. The No. 1 shooting team from beyond the arc wasn't enough for Michigan's buzzsaw defense.
Because of Michigan's relentless defense, Alabama only made nine shot after halftime
Played with a lot of heart! pic.twitter.com/Zkq3tZlivk
— Michigan Men's Basketball (@umichbball) March 28, 2026
28 points is the fewest that the Crimson Tide have scored in the second half all year long. After cutting the deficit to five, Michigan extended the lead to 15 in the span of five minutes. At the under-eight-minute timeout, Alabama got it down to single digits, but it only had 10 points from then on. Philon accounted for half of the offense. London Jemison was the only Tide player to shoot at 50% on the night. Michigan added eight more blocks and now has 25 since the tournament began. Michigan also won the rebounding war with 46 boards. Alabama shot 47 attempts from three.
Michigan has broken the 90 point barrier for the 15th time this season
Scoring at this rate, this deep into the tournament is harder to do with every win that the Wolverines collect. Statistically speaking Alabama is the worst defense that Michigan has faced in their three wins, but they were coming off one of their best defensive performances of the year against Texas Tech.