Michigan Seals Final Four Spot by Showing It Can Win Any Way It Has To

LOS ANGELES — Over and over again Saturday night, a Michigan player would square up for an open three-point look, and the Wolverines faithful would rise to their feet with an early cheer. And over and over again, as the ball clanked off the rim, the fans would slink back into their seats with a sigh. In its Sweet 16 matchup against Texas A&M, Michigan had seemed almost incapable of missing. But against Florida State in the Elite Eight, the Wolverines weren't as fortunate. And yet, when the final buzzer sounded, the Wolverines were winners of the West Regional, with tickets booked for San Antonio.

Through two games at the Staples Center, Michigan showed not just why it belongs in the Final Four, but also why it is such a threat to cut down another set of nets: These Wolverines can win in so many different ways.

Against Texas A&M on Thursday night, Michigan scored 52 first-half points en route to a 27-point thrashing of the Aggies. The Wolverines shot 61.9 percent from the floor and an astonishing 58.3 percent from the three, and the 99-72 win was the most potent offensive performance of any team in this NCAA men's tournament outside of No. 1 seed Xavier's 102-83 win against No. 16 seed Texas Southern in the opening round. Five players—including senior guard Duncan Robinson off the bench—scored in double figures. The story Saturday night was quite a bit different.

Against the Seminoles, the Wolverines went the final five minutes and 46 seconds of the opening period without a made field goal, and they managed just 27 first-half points. But they held Florida State to 26 and went to the locker room with a similar level of confidence as they'd had against the Aggies.

In the second half, they built leads as large as 10 points, but the Seminoles stuck around. It wasn't until Robinson's dagger at the 2:26 mark that Michigan was able to get enough breathing room to knock off the Noles, 58-54. 

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"I've never seen a team work so hard and be so connected on both ends of the floor, even when things do not go right on the offensive end," Michigan coach John Beilein told reporters after the game. "They were exceptional on defense. We had that string of plays where Moe [Wagner] was wide open, Charles [Matthews] is wide open, Duncan [Robinson] was wide open, and they didn't go down and sulk at the other end. They ended up just playing better defense so that we could win the game."

Michigan held the Seminoles to 32.0 percent shooting from the floor and 23.5 percent shooting from three. The Wolverines forced 15 turnovers and netted 12 points off them. "We have a bunch of talented defensive players that really care," said assistant coach Luke Yaklich. "And when you care and have talent and have grit, that'll take you where we are right now."

Beilein has been at the helm for Michigan since 2007, but he has never been known as a defensive coach. Before this season, his best defensive team was the 2013 squad that finished 37th in defensive efficiency, according to KenPom.com, and wound up the national runner-up. This year's team is No. 3 in efficiency, making it the stingiest defense remaining in this NCAA tournament.

And Yaklich is the main reason for the improvement. Two years ago, Beilein lost two assistants to head coaching vacancies, and he decided to hire a defensive-minded coach in Billy Donlon. When Donlon left this offseason for Northwestern, Beilein spent six weeks evaluating Yaklich, whose background was as a high school basketball coach and teacher, and who had been working at Illinois State. And when Beilein finally brought Yaklich on board, he handed his new assistant the keys to the defense.

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"I said, you know what, we had gotten to the NCAA tournament, but our defense was not terrific," Beilein said. "We made it by outshooting people, that's when I said, you know what, I know what I know, and I know what I don't know. I want to hire somebody that thinks differently than me and prioritizes defense."

No Michigan players are spouting cliches like "defense wins championships," but there's a palpable sense of confidence in the locker room that comes from knowing they can excel at one aspect of the game every night, as long as they give enough effort. "We can't control if shots go in or not, but we got to control our energy and effort," said junior guard Charles Matthews, who finished with a game-high 17 points. "And we did that on the defensive end."

At the beginning of the season, the Wolverines were quite literally an afterthought: In the preseason poll, they were relegated to the "others receiving votes" section. But now they are riding a 13-game winning streak and will be the heavy favorites in Saturday night's national semifinal matchup with the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers. Over and over again, this team has found has found ways to win. And now it's two games away from giving the Wolverine faithful something to celebrate for years.