INDIANAPOLIS — As Michigan’s players, coaches, and staffers made their way through the bowels of Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Thursday afternoon, they were greeted with the best three words a team can hear during the NCAA Tournament: “See you tomorrow.”
Several Wolverines — Jace Howard, Will Tschetter, and Ian Burns among them — wore suits and ties as they headed towards the exit. Their attire’s message was clear: This was a business trip. And Michigan had no intention of making it a short stay.
As student managers hauled boxes and bags of shoes and shirts down a hallway, they also carried the knowledge that they’d be bringing those items back to the arena.
The Wolverines have practice on Friday and a game on Saturday.
Thursday’s comeback victory over Colorado State made it possible.
“It’s not going to always go perfect for 40 minutes,” Juwan Howard said afterwards. “It just doesn’t work that way. But our guys stepped up when they had to.”
Michigan, an 11 seed, trailed by 15 points 15 minutes into the game. Colorado State, the 6 seed, was the quicker, hungrier, and much better shooting team. Michigan, which had blown an even bigger lead in the same building just a week ago, flipped the script Thursday.
Hunter Dickinson actually found inspiration from the Big Ten Tournament collapse against Indiana. “I know I was thinking, Shoot, if they (Indiana) can do it to us, we can do it to them (Colorado State),” the sophomore center said.
Freshman point guard Frankie Collins, thrust into the spotlight because of DeVante’ Jones’ concussion, shined in his first career start. The Wolverines’ defense went from abysmal to stifling. And Michigan never forgot that Dickinson was the biggest player on the court.
It added up to a 75-63 victory and, barring an absurd late comeback from 14 seed Longwood, a date with 3 seed Tennessee in the second round (tip time for Saturday may not be announced until after midnight; another early start is a strong possibility).
“I think that was a true test for us of mental toughness,” Howard said of the deficit, which was seven at half. The Wolverines aced it.
Defense fueled the turnaround. Colorado State made eight 3-pointers in the first half, and several were uncontested.
“Any good team in Division I basketball can hit wide-open looks like that,” Dickinson said.
The Rams made just four 3s and shot 29 percent in the second half, though that alone was not the difference. Michigan cut down on its turnovers in the second half and did a better job on the defensive glass. Colorado State star David Roddy (13 points) was contained.
And the shots started falling for the guys in yellow. Michigan, which went 0-for-7 from 3 in the first half, went 4-for-7 after halftime. Caleb Houstan hit three of those.
Howard and his players gave Colorado State credit for a great start to the game. Niko Medved gave the Wolverines credit for how they finished.
For one half Colorado State looked like the better seed. For another Michigan looked like the mightier program, the preseason national championship contender, the more talented team.
Right in the middle of it was Collins, who picked the perfect time to have a breakout game. His performance was due to opportunity more than anything else. Jones didn’t travel to Indianapolis. It’s possible he could show up and suit up on Saturday; Howard didn’t provide a meaningful update there.
“We expect to see him soon,” Howard said. “Right now, we’re just praying that he has good health and can come back whenever he’s ready to come back.”
Collins proved he is a capable understudy.
“They really just told me to be Frankie,” he said matter-of-factly of his teammates’ and coaches’ support. “Go out there, play with confidence, and lead the team.”
He did just that, and Michigan’s season marches on a result.
As Roddy and teammate Dischon Thomas left the postgame press conference and made the walk down the final, long hallway back to their locker room, their heads were down. They didn’t say much, if anything. There is no tomorrow for them, not in a basketball sense.
There is for Michigan.
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