NCAA Tournament: Michigan handles Florida, will play Buffalo or Texas Tech in Sweet 16

Michigan Basketball (30-6) is on to the Sweet Sixteen for the fifth time in the last seven years after taking down the No. 10-seeded Florida Gators (20-16) by a score of 64-49 on Saturday evening in Des Moines, Iowa in the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 32.

Jordan Poole led the Wolverines in scoring with 19 points on the day, while his roommate and best friend Isaiah Livers had 10 off the bench, including the play of the tournament for the Wolverines so far with a monstrous dunk over the Gators. Charles Matthews and Zavier Simpson had 9 points apiece, while Jon Teske finished with 8 points and 10 rebounds.

It was a defensive contest between these two squads, but it did not start out that way early on. Both teams were able to get the offenses going in the early part of the first half, headlined by the Gators getting uncharacteristically hot from outside. However, the pace of play would settle down and the Wolverines would head into the locker room with a 32-28 lead.

However, water would find its level with the Gators and their outside shooting and they could only muster 21 points of offense total in the second half. Michigan was able to push its lead out to 11 early on in the half before a Florida run, but Michigan took control and was able to finish off the Gators and ultimately win by 15.

Next up for Michigan is a trip to Anaheim to take on the winner of Sunday’s game between No. 3 Texas Tech vs. No. 6 Buffalo. That game will be played Thursday with tipoff times set to be announced, but except a later game with the location out West.