The No. 7 Michigan Wolverines are moving on to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament after beating No. 2 Louisville 73-69 on Sunday behind strong shooting from Moe Wagner.
Wagner had a career-high 26 points to lead the Wolverines to the win.
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"It’s a dream come true and I wouldn’t want it to be with anyone else,” Wagner said after the game.
Both teams played well in the first half with Louisville getting the upper hand late.
Despite tying the game with about two minutes left in the half, the Wolverines gave up an 8-0 run, including two 3-point shots, and went into halftime down 36-28.
Michigan was just 36 percent from the field in the first half and 27 percent from beyond the arc. That’s compared to Louisville’s 42 percent form the field and 40 percent from 3-point range.
Louisville also dominated the glass in the first half, totaling 20 rebounds to Michigan’s 13. It’s the second straight game in which Michigan was losing the rebound game.
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All year long we’ve played with A-plus effort, but where we’ve struggled is with the mental facets of the game,” Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino said after the game. “We beat ourselves tonight.”
After halftime, John Beilein said his team just had to come back and hit singles and not let the last minute and 8-0 run effect them. That's exactly what happened.
Wagner led the Wolverines with nine points at half and came out hot in the second half, scoring four of the first six points for Michigan.
He is the first Michigan player to have more than 25 points and shoot better than 75 percent since Chris Webber in 1993.
After trading baskets to start the second half, the Wolverines went on a 8-2 run and cut the lead to 3 points behind back-to-back baskets from Zak Irvin.
Michigan took its first lead since they were up 2-0 to start with just under nine minutes left in the game, but Louisville tied it seconds later.
The Wolverines started playing strong, going up six points at one point, but Louisville cut that lead to two with just under a minute left.
After shooting poorly from the field in the first half, Michigan ended up shooting 49 percent for the entire game, topping Louisville's 45 percent from the field. They were also 35 percent from 3-point range compared to Louisville's 25 percent.
Wagner was 11-14 from the floor to earn his career-high 26 points.
Michigan will take on the winner of No. 3 Oregon vs. No. 11 Rhode Island in Kansas City on Thursday night.
