The state of Michigan will be well represented in the sweet 16 this year, as Michigan and Michigan State have made it to the second weekend of the tournament. MSU defeated North Dakota State and Louisville the first weekend and draw a sweet 16 matchup with the Uconn Huskies. Michigan rolled Howard and St. Louis on the way to their matchup with Alabama, let's take a look at the matchups for both teams.
3 MSU Vs. 2 UCONN
MSU will take on the UCONN huskies on Friday night at 9:45. Uconn is coming off a convincing win over UCLA, led by senior Alex Karraban who scored 27 points. Uconn has been inconsistent the last month of the season, but Championship coach Dan Hurley has the Huskies playing their best ball at the right time. The Huskies are led by Alex Karraban, the senior has won 123 games with the Huskies in his career, averaging 13 ppg this season. There will be some familiarity down low, with Michigan transfer Tarris Reed. Reed has been a walking double-double, and put up an astonishing 31 points and 27 rebounds in their first round game. Another name to watch for Uconn is freshman sharpshooter Braylon Mullins. Mullins had 17 against UCLA and is playing his best ball of his Freshmen season right now. The recipe for MSU will be the same as it has been all season. The Spartans know what they are going to get from Jeremy Fears and seniors Carson Cooper and Jaxon Kohler, but it will be the offensive production they get from guys like Coen Carr, who had maybe the best game of his career against Louisville. Guys like Cam ward, Kur Teng, and even Trey Fort will have to play a prominent role offensively for MSU. The winner of this game will matchup with the winner of Duke and St. Johns.
1 Michigan Vs. 4 Alabama
Michigans frontcourt of Yaxel Lendeborg, Morez Johnson, and Aday Mara has been elite in the first two rounds of this tournament and that will most likely continue. Where this game will be won and lost is the guard play of both teams. Alabama is a top 3 offensive rating team in the country, playing an extremely fast pace and averaging almost 92 points per game. The Crimson Tide feature an elite backcourt that is led by LaBaron Philon who averages nearly 22 ppg, and senior Latrell Wrightsell who averages 13 ppg but had 24 in their last game against Texas Tech. The key to the game will be how Michigan guards Elliot Cadeau, Trey Mckinney, Nimari Burnett, and Roddy Gayle can matchup and limit the guards from Alabama. The winner of this game will take on the winner of Tennessee and Iowa State.