Thursday NCAA: South Region – Michigan vs. Clemson
It appeared Michigan was light years from getting back to the NCAA Tournament following last year’s 10-22 record, but second-year coach John Beilein led the Wolverines to big wins over UCLA and Duke this year, and UM snuck in as one of the final at-large teams for its first trip to the Big Dance in 11 years.
The No. 10 Wolverines face No. 7 Clemson in a South Regional game Thursday night in Kansas City, with the Tigers opening as 5-point favorites on WagerWeb.com.
“Coach Beilein deserves 90 percent of the credit because he did a great job in getting us to believe,” standout forward DeShawn Sims said. “Believing has been lost in Ann Arbor since the last time we went to the tournament. Once you teach people to believe, it’s easy from there.”
With Sims (15.7 ppg) and Manny Harris (16.8 ppg), UM has an excellent 1-2 punch. Harris is an inside-outside scoring threat, while Sims is tough to control when he gets in the paint. The Wolverines primarily have four guards on the floor and just one true post player.
Clemson has been very good at times this year, including starting the season 16-0 (it hasn’t lost a non-conference game) and later beating Duke by 27. But since that historic win over the Blue Devils, they have dropped six of 10, including a first-round ACC Tournament loss to Georgia Tech, which was the lowest-seeded team in the field.
The Tigers run a pressure-style defense, which can be very hit or miss. The Yellow Jackets continually beat the press, scoring 32 points in transition and 42 in the paint on the way to running away with the game.
Clemson is led by big man Trevor Booker (15.3 points, 9.7 rebounds per game), wing K.C. Rivers (14.2 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 39.8% three-point shooting) and guard Terrence Oglesby (13.5 ppg). Oglesby is the primary threat from 3-point range. He’s taken just less than one-third of the Tigers’ 662 3-point attempts and made nearly 40 percent.
Clemson lost in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament to Villanova last year as a sizable favorite.
This one should come down to if Michigan’s guards can handle the pressure as both these teams are inconsistent. The winner will play the winner of No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 15 Morgan State on Saturday.
WagerWeb.com Trends
* Wolverines are 6-0 ATS in their last 6 Thursday games.
* Wolverines are 5-1-1 ATS in their last 7 non-conference games.
* Wolverines are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games vs. a team with a winning S.U. record.
* Wolverines are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600.
* Wolverines are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall.
* Wolverines are 3-7 ATS in their last 10 neutral site games.
* Wolverines are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games as an underdog of 0.5-6.5.
* Wolverines are 2-7 ATS in their last 9 neutral site games as an underdog.
* Wolverines are 1-5-1 ATS in their last 7 vs. Atlantic Coast.
* Tigers are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 vs. Big Ten.
* Tigers are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall.
* Tigers are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 neutral site games.
* Tigers are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 neutral site games as a favorite.
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