BUFFALO, NY − KeyBank Center was where Michigan basketball’s postseason book began. The rest is still unwritten.
The Wolverines warmed up to Natasha Bedingfield’s 2004 hit song “Unwritten” prior to their first practice in Buffalo and it seemed like an internal message.
Michigan was a 31-point favorite over 16-seed Howard. Its offense looked the part of the 1-seed, but its defense did not. Still, a second-half barrage allowed Michigan to stampede over the Bison, 101-80, to advance to the second round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament on Saturday against either 8-seed Georgia or 9-seed Saint Louis.
Morez Johnson Jr. had 21 points on 8-for-8 shooting and 10 rebounds, and Aday Mara collected 19 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three blocks, as the Wolverines shot 67% and sunk 11 of 24 3s (46%).
Roddy Gayle Jr., from nearby Niagara Falls, hit two 3-pointers for the first time in a game since Nov. 25 to finish with 14 points, Nimari Burnett hit three 3-pointers on his way to 15 points and Trey McKenney scored 10.
The Wolverines (32-3) shot 67% overall and sunk 11 of 24 3s (46%).
“We played horrible in the first half,” Johnson said postgame on CBS, and said the team talked in the locker room about playing harder for the second half.
Michigan led by as much as 11 in the first half, but Howard (24-11) answered every Michigan 3-pointer with one of its own, canning 10 of 16 attempts to Michigan’s 7 of 13 to creep within 50-46 at halftime. Michigan shot 10 of 13 on 2s for 65% shooting overall.
The Wolverines put together a stretch of nine consecutive made baskets early in the second half to go ahead by 18 which turned the tide. Johnson, who was quiet early, took over in the second half. He scored 12 of Michigan’s first 15 points out of the break while finishing with a team-high 21 to go with 10 rebounds on a perfect 8-for-8 shooting.
Mara 12 during Michigan’s 17-1 run in less than five minutes which turned the game into a rout.
Malick Kordel threw down a slam with 60 seconds left to give Michigan its first 100-point game since Dec. 29 against McNeese, Michigan’s ninth game of scoring at least 100 points. It outscored Howard, 51-34 in the second half.
Michigan’s next game in NCAA Tournament
The Wolverines will play the winner of Thursday’s nightcap between 8-seed Georgia and 9-seed Saint Louis on Saturday in the second round in Buffalo. Time and TV channel will be announced late Thursday.
The winner of that game will advance to the Sweet 16 at United Center in Chicago − where Michigan just played in the Big Ten Tournament, losing Sunday to Purdue in the championship.
Morez Johnson and Aday Mara mania
It was curious why U-M didn’t go to its bigs early in the game, but it learned its lesson by the break.
Michigan fed Johnson who feasted both inside and out after the half. He began by lowering his shoulder and bulldozing his way to an and one. After Michigan forced a 10-second violation, he caught a lob from Elliot Cadeau for a slam. After a Burnett 3, it was Johnson’s turn, as he spaced into the left corner, caught a feed from a slashing Cadeau and drilled it, before he added a midrange fadeaway and then finished down low as U-M started to pull away, 65-56.
He made smart plays too. The Bison had to react and send a double team his way, which he found his way out of with a feed to Yaxel Lendeborg (nine points), who swung the ball to Cadeau for a straightaway 3.
Moments later, Howard pressed, which U-M broke for a runout and thunderous dunk by Johnson. When he threw down his next dunk on a bounce pass from Mara, U-M went up 85-65.
That’s when Mara got cooking, scoring the next three buckets, all on dunks, as Michigan poured it on.
Bench provides a boost
U-M’s starters were surprisingly quiet to open the game, combining for just 28 points before the break, but the bench picked up the slack by scoring 22. McKenney, Gayle and Will Tschetter combined to make 9 of 11 buckets in the first half, which included various stretches from all of them.
Gayle scored nine of U-M’s first 24, which started with a 3 from the left corner, then he had a stretch of three made layups in less than two minutes. Tschetter sandwiched a pair of 3s from the left wing around a Mara offensive board and putback to give U-M an eight-point lead. Then, McKenney got going, hitting 3 in the right corner before drilling a midrange fadeaway to lead, 45-34, its largest.
Michigan’s defensive deficiencies
For the second game in a row, the defense hasn’t looked the part of its No. 1 KenPom ranking. On Thursday, it was a 3-point barrage for the Bison, which made 14 3s, including 10 of 16 (62.5%) in the first half.
U-M tried switching one through four, but Howard’s small lineup of four guards and one forward (who is only 6 feet 5) simply spread the floor and pulled Mara from the basket. Cam Gillus got going, making his first four 3-pointers, Cedric Taylor Jr. nailed three and Bryce Harris made two, including one after a U-M turnover just before the buzzer to have the Bison down just 50-46.
It was the third time this season the Wolverines allowed 46 points or more in the first half.
The Wolverines picked it up in the second half. Burnett came away with a strip which led to an and-one by Johnson, before they went into a full-court trap that forced another turnover.
After making more than half its shots in the first 20 minutes, Howard made 10 of 30 (33.3%) after the break, which included only 4 of 13 3s.
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: Michigan basketball stampedes Howard in March Madness first round