BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Maurice Johnson Jr. had 21 points and 10 rebounds on a perfect shooting night and No. 1 seed Michigan surged in the second half to beat No. 16 seed Howard 101-81 in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Thursday.
Tall center Aday Mara had 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Wolverines, who set a Big Ten regular-season record with 19 conference wins. Johnson made 8 of 8 shots, helping Michigan (32-3) come within one victory of tying the record set in 2017-18.
advertise
Top seeds improved to 160-2 against No. 16 seeds, and Duke defeated Siena earlier in the day.
Michigan advances to play the winner of the Midwest Region game between eighth-seeded Georgia (22-10) and ninth-seeded St. Louis (28-5).
Cam Giroux and Bryce Harris each scored 21 points, and Cedric Taylor had 19 points and 6 rebounds for Howard (24-11). The Bison beat UMBC 86-83 in Dayton, Ohio, on Tuesday to set up a Final Four game two days later, marking the program’s first March Madness win in six games.
Michigan’s depth and ruthless, attack-from-anywhere style eventually overwhelmed Howard — though it took the Wolverines a while to get going. Howard’s 46 first-half points were the third-highest total by a No. 16 seed against a No. 1 seed in tournament history and the most since Florida A&M scored 52 points in a 96-76 loss to Kentucky in 2004.
advertise
The Bison extended their lead to 50-48 on Ose Okojie’s breakaway into the paint 14 seconds into the second half, and Michigan began to pull away, eventually leading 77-59 on Roddy Gayle Jr.’s three-pointer at 7:30 of the quarter.
Howard’s three-point shooting went cold. The Bison hit 11 of their first 17 attempts and ended up hitting 14 of their 29 attempts.
Fans can watch a close game
After the Wolverines built a 20-plus-point lead, the Buffalo crowd was more interested in watching the double-box broadcast on the scoreboard and cheering on the final minute of VCU’s 82-78 victory over UNC.
___
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
