Free Press sports writers Christian Romo and Ryan Ford break down Thursday’s NCAA Tournament Midwest region first-round game between No. 3-ranked Michigan basketball and Howard.
Fast facts
Matchups: 1-seed Michigan (31-3) vs. 16-seed Howard (24-10); NCAA Tournament Midwest region first round.
Tipoff: 7:10 p.m. Thursday, March 19; KeyBank Center, Buffalo, N.Y.
TV/radio: CBS, WCSX-FM (94.7).
At stake: Thursday’s winner advances to face either 8-seed Georgia or 9-seed Saint Louis in Saturday’s second round.
Series: Michigan leads, 1-0, with a 76-58 win on Nov. 11, 2016.
Michigan basketball: Meet the Wolverines
Location: Ann Arbor.
Coach: Dusty May.
School tournament record: 68-31 in 33 appearances (eight Final Fours, one championship).
Past 10 games: 8-2.
Scoring leaders: F Yaxel Lendeborg, 14.6 points per game; F Morez Johnson Jr., 13.1; C Aday Mara, 11.6.
Rebounding leaders: Johnson, 7.2 rebounds per game; Lendeborg, 7.0; Mara, 6.9.
Assist leaders: PG Elliot Cadeau, 5.6 assists per game; Lendeborg, 3.2; G L.J. Cason, 2.4 (out for season); Mara, 2.3.
3-point leaders: Cason, 40.2% (out for season); Johnson, 37.9%; G Nimari Burnett, 37.7%.
The buzz: The Wolverines looked like the most dominant team in college basketball for long stretches of the season, and their blemishes from arguably their greatest regular season ever are few. A non-conference loss to Duke plus a Big Ten Tournament loss to Purdue are the two biggest reasons why the Wolverines are not the No. 1 overall seed, but there are three big reasons why Michigan has a strong chance to win it all.
Reason No. 1 is big man Yaxel Lendeborg, the first-team All-American and Big Ten Player of the Year who does just about everything on the floor. Reason No. 2 is center Aday Mara, the 7-foot-3 defensive stalwart whose offensive game has matured in Ann Arbor. And reason No. 3 is big man Morez Johnson Jr., the "junkyard dog" that's the beating heart of this Michigan team.
Howard dominated the paint against UMBC but will have a tough time matching up with even one of these star bigs, much less all three. The Wolverines should win, well, big.
Howard basketball: Meet the Bison
Location: Washington.
Coach: Kenneth Blakeney (97-106 in seven seasons, all at Howard).
School tournament record: 1-4 in five appearances (including a win Tuesday).
Past 10 games: 8-2.
Scoring leaders (entering Tuesday): Bryce Harris, 17.1 points per game; Cedric Taylor III, 17.1; Cam Gillus, 10.6; Ose Okojie, 10.5.
Rebounding leaders: Harris, 6.9; Taylor, 6.7; Gillus, 4.3.
Assist leaders: Gillus, 4.6; Taylor, 3.3; Harris, 2.5.
3-point leaders: Isaiah Brown, 43.8%; Okojie, 42.9%; BJ Powell, 40%.
The buzz: The Bison – so nicknamed to honor the Black “buffalo soldiers” who impressed Native Americans with their fighting spirit after the Civil War – picked up the first NCAA Tournament victory in program history on Tuesday, topping America East champs UMBC, 86-83. Still, Howard is no stranger to the NCAAs, making their third appearance in four seasons after winning the MEAC regular-season and tournament titles. Howard plays an opportunistic defense, with 8.7 steals per game, good for 27th nationally, to hold opponents to just 67.8 points a game, 40th in Division I.
The Bison and Wolverines shared a pair of opponents this season, with Howard falling to Duke by 37 on the road in November and losing to Northwestern by 20 on the road in December, while U-M lost to Duke by three in February and beat Northwestern by 12, also in February.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball vs Howard March Madness game: What to know