Buffalo
guard Wes Clark (10) jumps to shoot
against Arizona during the first
half of a first-round game in the
NCAA men's college basketball
tournament Thursday, March 15, 2018,
in Boise, Idaho. (AP Photo/Otto
Kitsinger)
Charles
Matthews
and the
Michigan
basketball
team
opened
the 2018
NCAA
Tournament
on
Thursday
with a
win over
Montana
in
Wichita,
Kan.
(Photo
by Jamie
Squire/Getty
Images)
No Bull:
Buffalo
pulls
off big
upset,
knocks
off
Arizona,
Michigan
cruises
to round
2
By
JOHN
MARSHALL
AP
Sports
BOISE,
Idaho -
Inside
Buffalo’s
locker
room
hung a
handwritten
sign
with two
words:
Ball
Pressure.
Coach
Nate
Oats
knew the
Bulls
had a
shot at
beating
big, bad
Arizona,
but only
if they
could
put lots
of
pressure
on
Arizona’s
guards
and make
them
shoot
from the
perimeter.
It
worked
to
perfection.
Call
them the
bracket-busting
Bulls.
Pushing
the pace
and
hounding
Arizona
into
submission,
13th-seeded
Buffalo
pulled
off the
NCAA
Tournament’s
biggest
upset of
the
opening
round,
rolling
to an
89-68
victory
over the
fourth-seeded
Wildcats
in the
South
Region
on
Thursday
night.
“I
felt
like we
had a
shot,”
Oats
said. “I
didn’t
think we
were
going to
win it
like
that.”
The
MAC’s
Bulls
have a
decided
size
disadvantage
against
the
Pac-12′s
Wildcats
and
their
pair of
their
7-footers.
Buffalo
(27-8)
shredded
Arizona’s
defense
with its
quickness,
getting
to the
lane for
shots at
the rim
and
kickouts
to
shooters.
RECAP:
Michigan
vs
Montana
No.
3-seeded
University
of
Michigan
basketball
team
spotted
No. 14
seed
Montana
10
points
to start
the game
before
they
controlled
play and
eased
its way
to a
61-47
victory
in the
first
round of
the NCAA
Tournament
on
Thursday
night at
Intrust
Bank
Arena.
Montana
started
the game
on a
10-0 run
and
sophomore
guard
Zavier
Simpson
was
saddled
with two
early
fouls.
Despite
the
lead,
Montana
also
found
itself
in foul
trouble
as its
biggest
player,
6-foot-8
forward
Jamar
Akoh,
and its
leading
scorer,
Michael
Oguine,
were
also hit
with two
fouls
apiece
before
the
first 10
minutes
had
elapsed.
Michigan
kept up
the
pressure,
as the
Wolverines
came out
of the
media
timeout
and
junior
guard
Charles
Matthews
brought
the
Wolverines
back to
even for
the
first
time at
17, with
a runner
at the
6:39
mark.
Senior
Muhammad-Ali
Abdur-Rahkman
gave U-M
its
first
lead
with a
3-pointer
at the
3:51
mark to
make it
22-19;
Matthews
followed
with a
layup
and slam
dunk to
give U-M
its
largest
lead of
the
half,
26-21,
en route
to a
31-28
halftime
advantage.
Michigan
kept it
going to
start
the
second
half,
highlighted
by a
step-back
floater
from
Abudur-Rahkman,
a
driving
layup
from
Simpson
and a
backdoor
feed
from
Simpson
to
Duncan
Robinson
to build
a 44-30
lead
with
9:51 to
play.
Michigan's
defense,
which
has been
outstanding
throughout
the
year,
stepped
up the
intensity
and held
the
Grizzlies
in check
to the
tune of
1-of-14
shooting
to start
the
half.
UP
NEXT
Buffalo
will
face
Kentucky
and
Michigan
takes on
Houston
in the
round of
32 on
Saturday.