Michigan basketball's Elite Eight run sparked by one key change
Michigan basketball's Elite Eight win over Tennessee was fueled by a 24-2 run and a focus on team physicality.
When the 11-minute mark hit in the first half of the Elite Eight, Michigan basketball and Tennessee were all knotted up at 16-all. The Vols were heavily outrebounding the Wolverines, particularly on the offensive boards. If Michigan was going to advance to the Final Four, something had to give.
And then, it did. The maize and blue went on a 24-2 run, with 21 unanswered points. No longer could UT crash the offensive glass with impunity.
And the Wolverines offense started picking things up in their own right. The game changed on a dime, and the Vols could do next to nothing on either side of the court. After the game, Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg shared his thoughts on what changed and how the team came together to ensure the game was theirs.
"Yeah, well we knew the name of the game was going to be physicality, and they were the number one offensive (rebounding) team in the country for a reason," Lendeborg said. "They showed us in those first four minutes. In the media timeout we all regrouped, we thought about what we needed to do.