Having long been a big-man’s ball game, the best bang for your buck in terms of scoring in recent years has seemed to trend farther and farther away from the goal after the three-point revolution spurred by the Golden State Warriors’ NBA dynasty.
And in what could be one of Monday’s most entertaining matchups in the NCAA tournament’s second round, the dynamic trio manning the backcourt for 8-seed LSU will go toe-to-toe with an equally offensive-minded group repping top-seeded Michigan.
While the Wolverines and the Tigers won by 16 and 15 points, respectively, in the opening round of play, these are two teams perhaps trending in opposite directions.
While Michigan is just 3-3 in their last six games, LSU has been hot lately, going 5-1 in their last six with the only loss coming by a single point to Alabama in the SEC tournament final. Against 9-seed St. Bonaventure in the NCAA tournament, they weathered an early defensive clinic by the Bonnies, responding with an impressive defensive showing of their own to make sure St. Bonaventure couldn’t pull ahead.
And once the Tigers solved the defensive puzzle, they poured it on. Cam Thomas led the way with 27 points but four Tigers scored in double-figures by the end of the day.
Michigan’s box score from their win over 16-seed Texas Southern looked similar, with four Wolverines also crossing the double-digit scoring threshold, paced by 18 from Mike Smith.
The big difference is that Michigan got more out of their bench in the first round than LSU, and that could be the case again Monday when the two square off. But the Wolverines will also still be without the heart and soul of their team.
Forward Isaiah Livers, the team’s top shooter, suffered a stress fracture in his right foot midway through the Big Ten tournament, and the senior scoring powerhouse was quoted as saying a return in the NCAA tournament would be “miraculous.”
Even with their depth, Livers is a big loss for Michigan, and they’ll have to spread the weight of his absence across multiple players to hang with an LSU squad with three legitimate future NBA players and the eighth-highest scoring offense in the nation.
This game has been tabbed by numerous prognosticators as a potential second-round upset, so despite playing a #1 seed so early in the tournament, LSU has a very solid opportunity to advance to their second straight Sweet 16.
#8 LSU faces off with #1 Michigan Monday at 6:10pm. The game will be televised on CBS and can be heard on WWL Radio.