Michigan learns valuable lesson from Duke's near-upset against Siena
Michigan learns valuable lesson from Duke's near-upset against Siena
Paul Myerberg, USA TODAY Fri, March 20, 2026 at 3:03 AM UTC
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Michigan learns valuable lesson from Duke's near-upset against Siena
BUFFALO, NY — No. 16 Howard was making No. 1 Michigan sweat. Dusty May thought of the author Malcolm Gladwell, who wrote in his 2013 book "David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants" that David was not, in fact, an underdog.
After all, David had a slingshot.
“David versus Goliath, according to Malcolm, wasn't necessarily an upset because there's a slingshot involved,” May said. “In the first half Howard had their slingshots out. They were shooting the cover off of it off the bounce, off the catch. I was actually thinking, ‘This is how they usually happen.’”
Up by just 50-46 at halftime and then 50-48 after the first possession of the second half, the Wolverines found themselves in the deeply uncomfortable position of battling not only the hot-shooting Bison, who had made 10 of 16 from 3-point range at the break, but an ignominious place in Men's NCAA Tournament history.
Only two No. 1 seeds had lost to a No. 16, both in recent history: Virginia lost to UMBC in 2018 and Purdue lost to Farleigh Dickinson in 2023.
And earlier on Thursday, No. 1 Duke became the first No. 1 seed to trail by double digits at halftime to a No. 16 seed before righting the ship to beat Siena, 71-65.
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A Texas Christian University Horned Frogs cheerleader practices before the game during a first round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on March 19, 2026 in Greenville, SC.
Michigan might be able to thank Duke for turning a nailbiter into a humdrum, nothing-to-see-here blowout of a game against an overmatched opponent.
Waiting for their turn to come on Thursday night, Michigan players watched Duke struggle against Siena and took away a valuable lesson: There are no cakewalks in March, and if this can happen to the Blue Devils it can happen to us, too.
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“Definitely with Duke, we were just watching the game,” guard Roddy Gayle Jr. said.
“We knew that they came out a little flat, but that's just ... 16-1 game, you kind of look at them like this should be a cakewalk, but that's just really never the case. Every team deserves to be here, and you can't look at any team like that.”
The lesson paid off. The Wolverines wrestled away control from Howard five minutes into the second half, turning a 63-56 game into an 18-point lead just three minutes later and eventually winning 101-80 to advance out of the first round for the seventh time in as many tournament appearances.
“Well, these games are tricky, as we saw earlier with Duke and Siena, and I thought Duke handled that near upset with great maturity,” May said. “When things weren't looking great for them, and this is what I learned and we learned from it today, they didn't try to go one-on-one and play hero ball.
“They made some hustle energy plays, and those are the ones that turned the tide, offensive rebounds, second, third shots, maybe a stop that turns into a transition basket.”
In the end, this was nearly a run-of-the-mill win for a team that breezed through the Big Ten before losing to Purdue in the finals of the conference tournament. Michigan shot 67.3% from the field, handed out assists on 27 of 37 field goals, made 11 of 24 attempts from deep, clamped down on Howard’s outside shooting in the second half — the Bison went 4 of 13 from 3-point range after the break — and outrebounded Howard 37-23.
“I thought in the second half we did a really good job of looking up the floor early, recognizing they have advantages, we have advantages, recognizing our advantages,” said May, “and I think those body shots probably affected their shooting and everything else during that stretch when we were able to separate.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Michigan learned from Duke's brush with March Madness infamy
Source: “AOL Sports”
