BUFFALO, NY − Michigan basketball could have its hands full in the second round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
The 1-seed Wolverines (32-3) will play 9-seed Saint Louis (29-5) at 12:10 p.m. on CBS at KeyBank Center. The Billikens –an mid-major foe that didn’t win its conference tournament – opened some eyes on Thursday, March 19.
The Billikens obliterated 8-seed Georgia, 102-75, in their first game since losing in the Atlantic-10 semifinals almost a week ago.. The final score didn’t quite tell the tale, as Saint Lous led by 40 in the second half before calling off the dogs against the Dawgs. Georgia shot 34.7% from the floor while Saint Louis finished at 58.3%.
Senior Dion Brown led Saint Louis with 18 points, sophomore Amari McCottry added 13 and six other Billikens scored in double digits. It’s a familiar recipe for coach Josh Schertz, thanks to one of the most balanced lineups in the nation.
No Billiken averages 13 points a game – but seven average at least nine. The team’s hub is goggles-wearing center Robbie Avila − who arrived at SLU with Schertz two years ago after a pair of seasons at Indiana State – where he gathered a slew of nicknames, such as “Cream Abdul-Jabbar,” “Milk Chamberlain,” “Larry Nerd,” “Steph Blurry,” or, in the moniker most descriptive of his style, “College Jokic.” The 6-foot-10, 240-pounder has a slow-moving and patient (yet effective) game in which he averages 12.9 points to go with 4.5 rebounds, 4.1 assists and a 41.6% mark on 3s.
Saint Louis has three other players hitting on more than 40% of their 3, too – the Billikens are the No. 2 3-point shooting team in the nation at 40.5%.
Against Georgia, the Billikens shot only 32.1% beyond the arc but still ended with their usual efficiency on both ends of the court. Saint Louis is No. 2 in effective field goal rate (59.7%), per KenPom, and is somehow better on defense: No. 1 at 44.8%, thanks to holding opponents to 30% shooting on 3s and just 44.6% on 2.
Then again, Saint Louis’ schedule hasn’t quite prepared the Billikens for Michigan. Saint Louis went 2-1 in Quad-1 games, with a one-point win over Santa Clara (which opens NCAA play Friday) and a 71-62 win over VCU (which upset 6-seed North Carolina on Thursday), and 6-3 against Quad 2 (falling to the ACC’s Stanford on a neutral court and conference-mates Rhode Island and Dayton on the road).
Recent history
The Billikens also stumbled into the postseason, going 4-4 in their final eight games before March Madness, after opening the season 24-1 with an 18-game win streak.
Michigan coach Dusty May discussed his potential foe Thursday after his team’s 101-80 win over Howard (but before the Billikens destroyed the Bulldogs) and about rewatching his own squad’s victory. Unfortunately for the Wolverines, the lessons learned against Howard may not carry over to Saint Louis.
“I’ll certainly watch it because you want to put yourself in their eyes and see what they’re going to try and attack,” he said. “Probably should just move on … because Saint Louis is so different than Howard.”
Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Is Michigan basketball ready for ‘Milk Chamberlain’ in March Madness?