Saturday, March 23, 2013

NCAA Tourney: Saturday Third Round Early Games: Wolverines, Spartans Advance

South Region

(4) Michigan 78 (5) VCU 53 - The Commodores wanted to press the Wolverines, but it didn't work, as Trey Burke found open teammates and Michigan built a 15-point half time lead that VCU was never able to overcome.

6'10" freshman Mitch McGary got a rare start and came through with a huge effort, leading all scorers with 21 points on 10-for-11 shooting and 14 rebounds. Burke dished seven assists and scored 18 points as the Wolverines cruised to an unexpectedly easy victory and became the first team in the tournament to reach the Sweet 16.

Midwest Region

(3) Michigan State 70 (6) Memphis 48 - The spartans took an early 15-point lead, but Memphis began employing an exotic triangle-and-two defense which slowed down Michigan State and allowed the Tigers to close to within three points (32-29) at the break.

That didn't faze the Spartans, however, as Michigan State opened the second half with a 13-3 run and put their own defensive pressure on Memphis, holding the Tigers to just 19 points in the half and 30% shooting for the game.

Gary Harris was the game's high scorer with 23 points on 6-for-9 shooting (4 of 7 on threes).

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