Playing against Syracuse takes a lot of patience.
Michigan did not shoot well at all. Trey Burke was 1-8, Tim Hardaway III 4-16 and Nik Stauskas 0-5, but what they did do was hit the offensive boards hard and enough YOLO 3s to hold off Syracuse.
Syracuse zone was shaky in the 1st half. They gave up 33 points, when in their previous game they only gave up 39 points the entire game. Their problem has been the same all year, they can’t score.
They had several opportunities to close the gap, but they would miss an open 3 or wide open layup. They were 3-14 from three and a lot of those looks were without anyone near them.
CJ Fair carried them with 22 points, but curiously was left out of the offense gameplan in the final minutes. A controversial charge call on Travor Cooney (it looked like a block) and a terrible last possession when they had a chance to tie the game sealed their fate.
Mitch McGary continues to impress with a 10 point, 12 rebound and 6 assist game. He ha clearly been the Wolverines best player in the tournament. While the rest of the Wolverines were shooting badly, Glenn Robinson III chipped in with 10 points of his own on 5-7 shooting.
Similar to Louisville, you have to expect Michigan’s star players to play better on Monday night, but a win is a win.