Michigan dominates Texas A&M to reach Elite Eight

LOS ANGELES — In a mismatch of a Sweet 16 game, the only question in Michigan’s victory over Texas A&M on Thursday night was whether the Wolverines’ offense was better than the defense, or the other way around.

In what was supposed to be a close game — the oddsmakers had Michigan as a 2½-point favorite — the Wolverines built a lead that reached 29 points late in the first half and coasted to a 99-72 victory in the West Regional semifinal.

This was a Michigan team that needed a desperation three-point shot at the buzzer to make it this far, and an A&M squad that crushed perennial power North Carolina, 86-55, in its last game. But A&M was never in this one, and the Wolverines were never threatened.

“I’m really proud of our team,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “I think they beat a really good team, a team that beat Providence and North Carolina. They have a lot of weapons, and we played good defense.”

Defense wins championships, basketball and football coaches will tell you.

Michigan swarmed the Aggies, who shot only 37 percent in a first half that ended with the Wolverines in front 52-28. The misses were turned into wide- open shots at the other end as the Wolverines shot 20-for-35 (57.1 percent).

“Fourteen assists and only one turnover,” Beilein said of his team’s efficiency in the first half. “What happened against North Carolina, they were very good, and today they had about as bad a day as they could.”

Overall, Michigan shot 14-for-24 from three-point range. Texas A&M was 3-for-15.

Michigan (31-7), with 12 straight wins, advanced to the Elite Eight against the winner of the Gonzaga-Florida State game late Thursday night. One more win and the Wolverines will be in the Final Four for the first time since 2013, when they lost to Louisville.

The two previous games, Michigan struggled to score, and in fact was fortunate to beat Houston when Jordan Poole made that three-pointer as time expired. But over a stretch of weeks, a team rarely plays to its best consistently, and champions always look back on games they could have lost but won.

There was never a doubt in this one, however, and only a burst in garbage time brought A&M as close as it was, which wasn’t close at all.

The Wolverines got a lot of points from a lot of people. Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman scored 24. Moritz Wagner, the forward born and raised in Germany, scored 21, and Charles Matthews had 18. Tyler Davis scored 24 for Texas A&M.

The Aggies figured to hold down Michigan the way they did North Carolina, but the Wolverines were unstoppable.

Michigan won the Big Ten Tournament championship over Michigan State and Purdue, teams that had been favored. The Wolverines kept improving and of course kept winning.

“I felt like we ran into a buzzsaw,” Aggies coach Billy Kennedy said. “I felt like Michigan, the first eight to 10 minutes, played about as well as anybody played against us this year. You’ve got to give them a lot of credit. It seemed like everything they shot went in.”