Final Four 2018: Michigan vs. Loyola-Chicago’s first half was super ugly
Loyola-Chicago was up 29-22 over Michigan at halftime in the first game of the 2018 Final Four. If you’re looking for an excellent display of what makes college basketball fun, well, this wasn’t it.
Here’s the halftime box score:
Michigan’s been involved in some ugly games, so maybe this shouldn’t be a surprise
The Wolverines and Ramblers play with some of the slowest pace in the country. KenPom ranks Michigan’s tempo as 326th in the country, while Loyola-Chicago comes in at No. 315. Michigan shot below 40 percent in two NCAA Tournament wins en route to the Final Four.
Without a heroic effort from Moe Wagner, the Wolverines would have been in even more trouble.
Michigan came in as the favorite, but Loyola-Chicago is here for a reason
The No. 3-seeded Wolverines were favored coming into the game, and with good reason. Advanced stats like them a lot more than they like Loyola-Chicago. But the Ramblers are still here and showed they can hang in the first half.
#OnwardLU fired back with its own 9-0 run as they lead 21-19 with 3:40 min to go in the 1st half! #FinalFour pic.twitter.com/EyrfNHq9Xs
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 31, 2018
After going on an 8-minute scoreless stretch, Loyola-Chicago went on a 15-5 run to make it a game again. The Ramblers got back into the game thanks to some aggressive offense. They couldn’t get 3-pointers to go against Michigan’s lockdown defense, but were able to get to the free throw line for some easy points.
