Michigan basketball lights up Toledo from deep in 90-80 win in NIT opener
Michigan basketball entered its matchup against Toledo in the National Invitational Tournament opener with a focus on the 3-point line.
The Rockets were the second-best 3-point shooting team in the nation (39.7%) and the Wolverines' ability to limit them from deep was key. But U-M flipped the script with one of its best shooting performances of the season.
Michigan opened the second half with three straight 3-pointers, part of a 13-2 run where all five starters scored, and rode the momentum to a 90-80 win in its NIT opener over Toledo on Tuesday.
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U-M went 13-for-23 (56.5%) on 3-pointers, led by Joey Baker (5-for-7) started in place of guard Jett Howard who was ruled out shortly before tip-off with an ankle injury and had a new Michigan-best 21 points.
Kobe Bufkin had a team-high 23 points, eight rebounds and five assists, Hunter Dickinson added 19 points and nine rebounds, Dug McDaniel finished with 16 points and eight assists as he made four long balls of his own.
Michigan advances to the second round and will play the winner of No. 2-seed Vanderbilt and Yale. If Vanderbilt wins, U-M will play in Nashville, Tennessee, on Saturday or Sunday, if Yale wins, the Bulldogs will visit Crisler Center.
Toledo, the fourth-ranked scoring offense in the nation (85.6 points per game), got a team-high 19 points from Setric Millner Jr., while JT Shumate added 18 points and seven rebounds, Ra'Heim Moss added 15 and RayJ Dennis scored 13 points with eight assists.
Closing out strong
Baker, McDaniel and Bufkin all started with 3-pointers to turn a two-point deficit into a 49-42 lead with less than two minutes into the half.
Will Tschetter hit a mid-range jumper before Dickinson added a hook to go up, 53-44. It was the first of seven straight points for Dickinson, who later added a slam on a pick-and-roll with McDaniel, a free throw and then another layup.
The Rockets went on a run when Moss hit consecutive 3-pointers from the corner to get within 61-57 but Bufkin hit one of his three long balls to stop the bleeding. Toledo would then close within three, 66-63, on a Millner jumper, before McDaniel hit a 3-pointer from two steps inside the half court logo to stretch the lead to six.
With 6:23 to play and U-M up only three, Bufkin hit a layup, Baker hit a fast-break layup and then Bufkin hit a jumper to go up nine with 4:41 to play. It would never get inside seven points again as Michigan closed the game out from the free throw line and made 13-of-16 on the night.
Track meet starts early
Toledo didn't take any time to show its high-powered offense.
The Rockets hit each of their first four shots, capped by a JT Shumate 3-pointer at the top of the key to take a 9-2 lead less than two minutes into the game. Michigan chipped away with an 8-1 run of its own as McDaniel assisted on two straight buckets before he hit a 3 of his own to get within one.
After five straight Rockets points including another Shumate long ball McDaniel hit a deep 3-pointer with one second on the shot clock before he threw a skip pass across the court to Joey Baker for a 3-pointer of his own.
Michigan opened the game 4-for-4 from deep before a Baker crossover tied the game at 18.
The Rockets then went on a 9-0 run over the next three minutes to take their biggest lead of the half as they held a 16-6 edge on points in the paint and 6-0 lead in fast break points.
But Toledo would go cold, making just 1-of-13 shots the next eight minutes as Michigan chipped away. Dickinson scored four straight in the paint before Bufkin hit a slashing layup and then a jab-step 3-pointer to get within one, 28-27.
After an And-1 Milliner layup gave Toledo a 32-29 lead, U-M scored the next three buckets to take its first lead, 35-33, of the game.
After exchanging buckets the rest of the half, Baker hit a 3 to put U-M up by one in the final minute before a Shumate with three seconds to play.
Contact Tony Garcia at apgarcia@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @realtonygarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball rains 3s in 90-80 NIT opening win over Toledo
