When it came to filling out one’s March Madness bracket, there is a good chance that either Duke or Michigan ended up being someone’s national champion. Both were No. 1 seeds in their respective regions. However, their results on Thursday could not have gone any differently. While Michigan messed around with Howard in the first half, Duke almost got upset by Siena in its first-round game.
Michigan did not take its first-round opponent very seriously. The No. 16-seeded Bison only trailed the Wolverines by four at halftime, 50-46. Then, Dusty May’s team hunkered down on defense to fully take control in the second half. The Wolverines outscored the Bison 51-34 in the final frame to win comfortably, 101-80. As far as Duke was concerned in its first-round game, it was a tale of two halves.
Duke played awful in the first 20 minutes, trailing the No. 16-seeded Saints by nine heading into halftime. Down 43-32 entering the second half, Duke similarly put the clamps down on defense, outscoring Siena 39-22 after intermission to win by the slimmest of margins, 71-65. Although Gerry McNamara put on a coaching clinic in defeat, Jon Scheyer is feeling less comfortable about his team…