Sports

Actions

Michigan having ‘fun’ in NCAA tournament

Posted at 6:04 PM, Mar 22, 2019
and last updated 2019-03-22 19:31:57-04

DES MOINES, Iowa — Michigan not only beat Montana handily in the first round of the NCAA tournament, it had fun doing it.

"I never have fun but I know the team had fun," head coach John Beilein said. "Just getting a win and enjoying this and what's best about the NCAA tournament is we don't have to get up at 6 a.m. and play at noon tomorrow, we can enjoy the win and have a whole day to think and prepare."

The Wolverines had their usual recipe of tough defense and making shots on their way to leading by as many as 26 points in the first round win.

"It was a big win," junior center Jon Teske said. "This one is kind of the toughest one, a little bit of nerves but just go out there and play our game, Coach B did a good job preparing us for the game plan we went out and executed and defensively we started off well and we were knocking down some open shots as well."

"It was really nice," freshman Ignas Brazdeikis said. "We showed our defensive capabilities and offensive capabilities, when we play in a rhythm like that and we have confidence in ourselves then we're a tough team to beat."

Michigan will play 10-seed Florida at 5:15 p.m. Saturday in the round of 32.